German police have arrested a suspect after a fire ripped through Adolf Hitler’s former mountain retreat in Bavaria, leaving the historic Nazi meeting place – known as the Eagle’s Nest – largely destroyed.

About 200 firefighters were deployed on Friday night to tackle the blaze at the Nazi dictator’s remote, purpose-built Kehlsteinhaus residence, a protected building on the peak of Obersalzberg in southern Germany .

Flames rose high into the air as firefighters approached the scene to find the building “completely ablaze”, police said.

“A suspicious person was taken into temporary custody,” they said in a later statement, adding that nobody was injured in the fire.

Lisa Maier, a police spokesperson, said firefighters struggled to tackle the blaze due to its location at an altitude of 1,834 metres (6,000ft).

The building, which was one of the few undamaged monuments of the Hitler era, was only accessible with “heavy breathing apparatus”, she said.

The Kehlsteinhaus the morning after the fire.…