- Headline
-
Berlin Battles Reichstag Fire
- Sub-Headline
- 100 Reds Arrested in Incendiary Blaze
- Publication Date
- Tuesday, February 28, 1933
- Historical Event
-
Reichstag Fire Plunges Germany into Virtual Martial Law
This database includes 486 articles about this event - Article Type
- Newspaper
- Page Section and Number
- 1
- Author/Byline
- AP
- Article Text
- BERLIN. Feb. 27—(A. P.)—Fire of incendiary origin swept the large, ornate Reichstag tonight and did damage estimated at millions of marks.
Every fire company in Berlin was rushed to the scene. After two hours' hard work they had the flames under control at 10:45 p. m., but ruins still smouldered in the east wing. The gilded cupola above the Reichstag meeting hall was almost completely destroyed.
Wilhelm Goering, cabinet minister without portfolio, ordered the arrest of 100 Communist members of the Reichstag and the suspension of the entire Leftist press.
Police immediately began making the arrests.
Red Plot Blamed
Authorities, who believe that the fire resulted from a Communist plot, previously had arrested several Communist leaders and a twenty-four-year-old Dutch Communist named Van der Luebbe, who admitted starting one fire in the Reichstag with his shirt. The blaze had been started at 14 places throughout the building.
Van der Luebbe also said that he had set fire last Saturday to the historic palace of the Hohenzollerns on the Lustgartten.
He said his motive was to "get revenge on capitalism."
Van der Luebbe, whose passport indicated that he lived in Amsterdam, was discovered running from the hall by a squad of police who were searching the building. He admitted having used his shirt to start one fire in the Reichstag.
From the knowledge he displayed of the arrangement of the ground floor, police deduced he must have had several accomplices, but they said he refused to disclose their names.
Police were informed that some Communist members of the Reichstag were seen hurriedly leaving the building shortly before the fire started.
The interior of the plenary hall, including wooden seats, the presidential tribune and the public galleries, was completely burned out and otherwise damaged by falling iron supports and water which was ankle deep in the corridors.
Bomb Blast Recalled
The last previous attempt to damage the building was in September, 1929, when a bomb exploded in the cellar, with only slight damage. Authorities believed that ammunition had been placed in the burning heaps.
Firemen worked valiantly to remove a valuable collection of volumes and documents from the library in the building. Among them was the first Constitution of 1848, upon which the present Weimar Constitution is based.
Police said they believed the incendiaries used the door through which Reichstag members are customarily admitted on the pretext of delivering messages to the members.
The conflagration was started by means of oil-soaked heaps of coal waste and shavings.
The building, which measures 420 by 300 feet, was built on the banks of the Spree at a cost of more than $6,000,000 in 1884-1894. The front faces the Place of the Republic, and is accessible by way of a ramp and a wide staircase. In the front part is the large Reichstag Hall used for plenary meetings. - History Unfolded Contributor
- Margaret L.
- Location of Research
- Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com)
Learn More about this Historical Event: Reichstag Fire Plunges Germany into Virtual Martial Law
- The Reichstag Fire (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Reichstag Fire Decree (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Arrests Without Warrant or Judicial Review (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- The Enabling Act (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Law for the Imposition and Implementation of the Death Penalty (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- Law Against the Founding of New Political Parties (Holocaust Encyclopedia)
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