A luxury hotel is set to open on the site of Adolf Hitler's Alpine retreat at Obersalzberg in Bavaria - triggering a fresh row about Germany's Nazi past. Michael Friedman, former vice-president of Germany's main Jewish organisation, said the project was "tasteless and robs the place of its history".

The 138-room Intercontinental Resort Berchtesgaden will open on 1 March.

The Bavarian finance minister insisted the hotel would not undermine the site's historical significance.

"There can be no covering up and absolutely no glorification of the Nazi regime," said Kurt Faltlhauser.

The hotel has been built on the spot where Hermann Goering, the former Nazi air force chief, had his summer residence.

Guests will pay 200 to 2,000 euros ($264 to $2,640; £138 to £1,383) per night for a room.




Joerg Boeckeler the General Manager of the Inter Continental hotel, stands in front of his new four-star holiday resort in southern Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden, February 24, 2005. The 138-room resort opens on March 1, 2005 and is located around the administration house of the former air-raid shelter of Adolf Hitler's Eagles Nest in Obersalzberg. REUTERS/Miro Kuzmanovic

Hitler developed Obersalzberg as a second seat of government for his regime after becoming German chancellor.

The site included various buildings and bunkers forming an Alpine fortress.

In 1999, Bavaria opened a documentation centre at the site.

An official at the centre, Albert Feiber, defended the hotel project. "It's a beautiful place - why shouldn't one build a hotel here?" he was quoted as saying.