Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spend 14.2 million euros ($14.7 million) to buy the legendary "Eagle's Nest" previously owned by Adolf Hitler? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Kehlsteinhaus, as the Eagle's Nest is known, told Lead Stories the claim was not true and that it had not been sold as of publication date. The German state of Bavaria, which owns the property, has publicly stated, "Kehlsteinhaus is still owned by the Free State of Bavaria."
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X on February 5, 2025. The post read:
Wow I was wondering where that missing 100 Billion went, Could this be a small Part of it? EXPOSED: Zelensky used €14.2M to buy the legendary 'Eagle's nest' previously owned by Hitler!
Now we know where the missing $100 Billion went!
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Feb 11 19:43:08 2025 UTC)
Adolf Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" is a building officially named Kehlsteinhaus (archived here) that is at the summit of Kehlstein mountain in the German state of Bavaria:
Situated 1834m (6017 ft.) above sea level in one of the most strikingly beautiful locations in Germany if not all of Europe, the Kehlsteinhaus, also popularly known as the 'Eagle's Nest', is a building steeped in history. Commissioned in 1937 by Reichsleiter Martin Bormann as a fiftieth birthday present for National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler, the spectacular mountain eyrie spectacularly perched at the summit of the Kehlstein mountain in the Berchtesgaden Alps has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in southern Germany.
The video in the post claims that Kehlsteinhaus was purchased by Zelenskyy's company San Tommaso SRL. Beginning at the 1:11 mark in the video, there are images of documents that are illegible and do not prove that a company owned by Zelenskyy bought Kehlsteinhaus. Lead Stories previously debunked the claim that Zelenskyy bought an Italian villa from Sting for 75 million euros using a company of the same name.
"The information that the Eagle's Nest has been sold is not true. These are false reports. The Eagle's Nest has not been sold," Irmi Gschoßmann with the Urlaubsberaterin Tourist-Information at Bergerlebnis Berchtesgaden (archived here) told Lead Stories via email on February 11, 2025.
The German state of Bavaria website (archived here) published a statement on February 7, 2025, about the false claim, writing:
Kehlsteinhaus remains the property of the Free State
February 7, 2025
A video is currently circulating on social media with claims about an alleged sale of the Kehlsteinhaus in the Berchtesgadener Land district. This is deliberate misinformation. The Kehlsteinhaus is still owned by the Free State of Bavaria. A sale has not taken place and is not planned. The alleged purchase contract shown in the video is a fake, as is the alleged quote from the IMBY management. The Kehlsteinhaus will resume its regular seasonal operations in May 2025. IMBY will take legal action against the authors of this misinformation.
The ownership details of the property are found on the Kehlsteinhaus website (archived here):
Today the Eagle's Nest remains in its original state. In 1960, on the occasion of the 150th celebration Berchtesgaden's incorporation to Bavaria, the Bavarian government relinquished its control over the building to a trust that ensures that the proceeds are used for charitable purposes.
Travel expert Rick Steves explained the history of the property on his website (archived here):
While for many modern visitors 'Berchtesgaden' is synonymous with 'Hitler's Eagle's Nest,' 'the Eagle's Nest' actually refers just to this small lodge itself, perched alone amid spectacular scenery like a Bond villain's lair. Built in 1939 with precision stonework evoking fascist obedience, it was Hitler's 50th birthday gift from his inner circle. The lodge and the road up to it cost a fortune -- but Hitler, who was afraid of heights, visited only 14 times. (It wasn't even much of a lodge: While Nazi officials met and hosted visiting diplomats here -- and Eva Braun was fond of sunbathing on the terrace -- it never had any beds.)
Britannica (archived here) wrote about the property:
Hitler's private retreat on top of the mountain, the 'Eagle's Nest,' which is now a teahouse.
Ukraine's government Center for Countering Disinformation (archived here) described the claim as a "fake," as this screenshot of the tweet shows:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Feb 11 19:53:34 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories previously debunked other claims about extravagant purchases falsely attributed to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Those fact checks can be found here and here.
