Hitler’s Austrian birthplace reopens as a police station to deter neo-Nazis

Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn, Austria, has been officially inaugurated as a police station. This action was taken to prevent the building from becoming a pilgrimage site for those who glorify the Nazi dictator. A memorial stone with an inscription about freedom, democracy, and the dangers of fascism will remain outside the house. Hitler was born in the building on April 20, 1889, but his family moved to another residence in Braunau am Inn shortly after. The building's transformation into a police station aims to erase its association with Nazism.

Austria has converted the building where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn into a police station. The Austrian government purchased the property in 2017 and announced renovation plans in 2019, with the remodeling costing approximately 20 million euros. The aim of this transformation, according to Austrian politicians, is to prevent neo-Nazis from visiting the site as a place of pilgrimage and to strip the building of its association with Hitler. The new police station will house district and local officers. The mayor of Braunau am Inn stated that the change demonstrates the community confronting its history and assuming responsibility.

Austria has opened a police station in the Braunau am Inn house where Adolf Hitler was born in 1889. This decision follows years of controversy regarding the future of the 17th-century building, which authorities aimed to prevent from becoming a neo-Nazi pilgrimage site. The Austrian interior ministry rented the property for decades, paying the owner to prevent its use for extreme right-wing tourism. The building, previously used as a day center for people with special needs, has been substantially refurbished with a changed facade. Hitler lived in the house for only a few weeks before his family moved, and he left the town permanently at age three.