Germans wrestle with what to do with Hitler's destroyed Eagle's Nest retreat

Herrmann said they would look for a sensible solution in consultation with historians, given the historically complex circumstances surrounding the building.

Heinemann, who also heads the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, believes full-scale reconstruction should be "out of the question".

"I rather think we can document the state left by the fire and also document the historical remains of the Kehlsteinhaus, and then reconstruct parts in a modern design, to make clear the different layers of time that can be seen in this building," she told the BBC.

Germany and Austria have long struggled to deal with the fraught legacy of buildings and sites connected to the Nazi era.