Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest retreat was torched in an arson attack. Should it be rebuilt?

With the far right resurgent in Germany, experts are divided as to whether the dictator’s former mountaintop retreat is better restored or left a ruin

One of the last structural relics of Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship was conceived to project indomitable power. Last month it was destroyed in a suspected arson attack. Will it, and should it, be rebuilt?

The historic Nazi mountaintop retreat known as the Eagle’s Nest is perched on an Alpine peak at an altitude of 1,834 metres (6,000ft), with stunning views over southern Germany and Austria. In German, its design is known as Überwältigungsarchitektur, intended to overwhelm and intimidate.