The Berlin Philharmonie, home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, was hit by fire Tuesday.
Smoke pours from the roof of the Berlin Philharmonic's iconic downtown Berlin home on Tuesday. (Herbert Knosowski/Associated Press) There were no injuries, but firefighters had to cut open the tent-shaped roof of the building to quell the blaze.
Welding work had been carried out on the building's tin roof earlier in the day, and police are investigating that as a possible cause.
The fire was discovered as a midday performance was letting out at about 2 p.m., and firefighters announced they had it under control five hours later.
The fire was centred beneath the roof directly over the concert hall — famed for its acoustics.
Though no flames were visible on TV footage of the fire, thick smoke poured from the rooftop of the iconic yellow building, designed by Hans Scharoun and unveiled in 1963.
More than 100 firefighters arrived to battle the fire, with some joining musicians to remove valuable instruments from inside the downtown building, according to reports.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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