- Headline
-
Fire Breaks Out In Reichstag Building In Berlin
- Publication Date
- Monday, February 27, 1933
- Historical Event
-
Reichstag Fire Plunges Germany into Virtual Martial Law
This database includes 486 articles about this event - Article Type
- Page Section and Number
- 1
- Author/Byline
- AP
- Article Text
- BERLIN, Feb. 27.—(AP)—Fire, probably of incendiary origin, started simultaneously at three or four points in the reichstag tonight, and very soon the whole structure seemed enveloped in flames.
CALL ALL ENGINES
Fifteen companies were at work within a few minutes.
It was quickly apparent that these were not enough, and every fire engine in the city was called out. Tremendous crowds rushing toward the blazing building packed the streets.
Police placed a cordon about the reichstag square and barred the entrances to all but firemen.
The first squad to enter the building found there a man who said he was a member of the Communist party in the Netherlands and that he had started the fire.
COMMUNIST HELD
He was hustled, away and the police continued to search the building for others.
The crowds, gazing at the blazing cupola soon filled the Tiergarten nearby. It seemed certain that the reichstag hall, where the parliament meets, would be destroyed. It Is directly under the cupola.
Earlier today police disclosed that they had discovered a fire on Saturday night in the attic of the old Hohenzollern palace on the Lustgarten.
SECOND FIRE
It was extinguished before any damage was done, but afterward firemen found the ashes of combustible material which apparently had been dropped down through a ventilator. This led to the suspicion of arson.
The reichstag building, scene of many a conflict between the opposing forces of German politics, is an ornate structure in the Italian high renaissance style. It was begun in 1804 and completed ten years later. - History Unfolded Contributor
- Katherine V.
- 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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