Austria turns Hitler's first home into police station, a move opposed by Holocaust survivors group
Austria has converted Adolf Hitler's birth house in Braunau am Inn into a police station to prevent the site from becoming a neo-Nazi pilgrimage destination. The decision has faced some opposition, but local officials believe it is the most effective way to strip the building of its historical mystique.
Why it matters
The repurposing of the site highlights the ongoing challenge of managing historical locations associated with traumatic events and extremist ideologies.
After years of debate about the large, traditional terraced house in the town of Braunau am Inn, which was in private ownership and had housed a charity for handicapped people, Austria made a compulsory purchase in 2017. The government announced in 2019 it would be remodelled and turned into a police station, with work beginning in 2023.
Even before the conversion, the only sign of its historical significance was a rock on the pavement from the Mauthausen concentration camp with the inscription "Never again fascism" that does not mention Hitler. The rock remains in place. The only sign added to the white facade reads "Police."
"The aim was to prevent any association with Adolf Hitler, so as to strip it of that mystique," the head of the Austrian interior ministry's history department, Stephan Mlczoch, told reporters on a tour of the building.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in