German police said they had detained a suspect after a fire broke out at a historic mountain guest house known as the "Eagle's Nest," used as a retreat by Nazi officials, including the dictator Adolf Hitler.

Around 200 firefighters and emergency personnel in the area around Berchtesgaden in the southern region of Bavaria battled the flames after the building, known as the Kehlsteinhaus, caught fire on Friday, police said.

Built in 1938 as a guest house for Nazi officials and their guests, the building sits in a spectacular Alpine setting above Berchtesgaden. Adolf Hitler used it occasionally, earning it the nickname "Hitler's Tea House." It is separate from his nearby summer residence, the Berghof.

Fire devastates former Nazi guest house 'Eagle's Nest'Bild newspaper quoted a police spokesperson as saying the building, preserved after World War Two as a historical monument linked to the Nazi era, had been so badly damaged that it "could probably not be saved."

Now owned by the state of Bavaria, the Kehlsteinhaus was classified after the war as a historical monument recalling the Nazi period.

Police are investigating whether the suspect, who was detained close to the scene, was connected to the fire, they said in a statement."

Whether the person is linked to the fire is currently the subject of a criminal investigation," Bavarian police said in a statement. There was no immediate word about a possible motive.