Reichstag fire
February 27, 1933
Related events (1 degree away • 2 degrees away)
Arson attack on the German parliament building in Berlin on 27 February 1933, four weeks after Adolf Hitler became chancellor. Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested at the scene, and the Nazis blamed a Communist plot. Hitler used the fire to persuade President Paul von Hindenburg to suspend civil liberties via the Reichstag Fire Decree, pivotal in establishing Nazi rule.
