The house where Hitler was born has become a police station
This has been reported by Reuters and the Associated Press.
The refurbished building at 15 Salzburger Vorstadt has been made home to the district administration and the local police station in Braunau am Inn. The new addresses of these institutions have already been added to the official Austrian police directory.
The building has been significantly refurbished: the yellow façade has been replaced with a white one, distinctive architectural features have been removed, and a simple ‘Police’ sign has been installed. The refurbishment cost approximately 20 million euros.
A memorial stone from the site of the former Mauthausen concentration camp has been left in front of the building. The inscription on it calls for the protection of peace, freedom and democracy, and for preventing the return of fascism.
Why the building was handed over to the police
Adolf Hitler was born in this house on 20 April 1889, but lived there for only the first few weeks of his life. Despite this, the address has attracted the attention of neo-Nazis and supporters of Nazi ideology for decades.
The Austrian authorities considered various options for the use of the premises. Proposals included demolishing the house, creating a museum, an educational centre or a memorial site.
An expert commission opposed the idea of a museum, as it could attract even more of Hitler’s supporters. Demolition was also ruled out: historians warned that this could be perceived as an attempt to erase an uncomfortable chapter of the past.
The government chose the police station as a symbol of democracy and the rule of law. Austria’s Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, stated that the building’s new purpose must stand in direct contrast to the legacy of the Nazi dictatorship.
How much was paid to the former owner
The Austrian Ministry of the Interior had been renting the building from a private owner for decades. In this way, the state sought to control the use of the premises and prevent the establishment of a neo-Nazi stronghold there.
Until 2011, the building housed a support centre for people with disabilities. After it closed, the building stood empty, and the owner refused to sell the property or agree to its renovation.
In 2016, the Austrian Parliament passed a special law authorising the compulsory acquisition of the building. The following year, the property became the property of the state.
Initially, the authorities estimated the compensation at 310,000 euros, whilst the owner demanded 1.5 million. Following legal proceedings, the final sum was set at 812,000 euros.
Not everyone supported the authorities’ decision
The conversion of the building into a police station has sparked debate in Austria. Representatives of the Austrian Mauthausen Committee believe the building would have been better used to educate people about the crimes of Nazism, human rights and society’s responsibility.
Critics fear that altering the façade and the absence of a historical exhibition will not help people come to terms with the past, but will merely make it less visible. The authorities, however, insist that the permanent presence of the police will strip the address of its symbolic significance for neo-Nazis.
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