The Adlerhorst ("Eagle's Nest") was a World War II bunker complex in Germany, located near Langenhain-Ziegenberg, the later settlement of Wiesental and Kransberg within the districts of Wetteraukreis and Hochtaunuskreis in the state of Hesse.

There were no official Führer Headquarters before World War II because Hitler used either existing military complexes, or mobile facilities close to the battle lines.

Chosen due to its central location as the proposed main military command headquarters of Hitler, it was appropriated by the Nazi government in 1939.

[citation needed] Although each building was designed as an air raid bunker with 3 feet (0.91 m) thick concrete walls, each had the appearance of a traditional locally built Fachwerk (half-timbered) style wooden cottage, complete with second storey dormer windows and flower baskets under a sloped tiled roof.

[1][better source needed] During construction of Adlerhorst, Hitler had used the castle to plan some of the early western campaigns, including the Battle of France and the drive to Dunkirk.

However, after a visit by Hitler in February 1940, he dismissed it as an operational base, as he considered it too lavish for his Spartan taste (and image as a man of the people).

This defence line had been weakened by U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had ordered troops, equipment and supplies north to reinforce the American armies involved in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.

This resulted in a bitter attritional campaign that was lost from the 25th January onwards, with the Germans running out of replacement man power, machinery and supplies.

[1][better source needed] On 6 January 1945, a blockbuster bomb was jettisoned on Ziegenberg by a returning Allied bomber, damaging some buildings and killing four residents.

On March 19, the Allies, once alerted of the original purpose of the complex, and not knowing if Hitler was still in residence, subjected the castle and surrounding area to a 45-minute fire bombing air raid by a squadron of P-51 Mustangs.

[1][better source needed] On March 28, with the American army only 12 miles (19 km) away, Kesselring ordered all civilian employees and families of military personnel to evacuate.

Soon afterwards in Operation Paperclip, a British-American detention centre was established in parts of the complex for high-ranking German non-military prisoners of war.

It focused on key industrialists, scientists and economists; among those interrogated here were Hjalmar Schacht,[5] Wernher von Braun, Ferdinand Porsche, and the leaders of the IG Farben chemical conglomerate.

Returned to the reunified German government in 1990, it was subsequently sold to members of the family of the pre-war owner, and converted into luxury apartments from 1991.