Reichstag fire
Sign in to savearson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933
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The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on Germany's parliament building in Berlin on February 27, 1933. It matters because the Nazi government used the fire as justification to suspend civil liberties and consolidate power, marking a turning point in their rise to total control.
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The Reichstag fire (German: Reichstagsbrand, pronounced [ˈʁaɪçstaːksˌbʁant] ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch council communist, was said to be the culprit; the Nazis attributed the fire to a group of Communist agitators, used it as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government, and induced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties, and pursue a "ruthless confrontation" with the Communists. This made the fire pivotal in the establishment of Nazi rule in Germany.
The first report of the fire came shortly after 9:00 p.m., when a Berlin fire station received an alarm call. By the time police and firefighters arrived, the structure was engulfed in flames. The police conducted a thorough search inside the building and found Van der Lubbe, who was arrested.
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1930s crimes in Berlin1930s fires in Europe1933 crimes in Germany1933 firesArson in GermanyArson in the 1930sAttacks on buildings and structures in BerlinAttacks on buildings and structures in the 1930sAttacks on government buildings and structures in GermanyAttacks on legislatures in EuropeBattles of the Political violence in Germany (1918–1933)