The Austrian house where Adolf Hitler was born is set to be converted into a police station in an effort to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi pilgrimage site.
Hitler was born in the disused yellow house in Braunau, Austria, a town of about 16,000 people near the border of Germany, on April 20, 1889, but only lived there briefly.
The fate of the building was part of a protracted legal battle between the owner, Gerlinde Pommer, and the Austrian government. Pommer had previously rented it to the government to use for housing for disabled people, but the arrangement fell apart in 2011 because Pommer was not maintaining upkeep up the residence. Since then, the building has been empty.
This year, a court ruled that Pommer would be paid $900,000 for the property, which was less than she was asking for but more than the government’s initial offer.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Peschorn said that there will be renovations to convert it into a police station and that a European Union contest would be held to find the best design.
“The house’s future usage by the police should set a clear signal that this building will never be a place to commemorate Nazism,” Peschorn said.
Nazi pilgrims have been attracted to the house, where an annual anti-fascist rally has been held on Hitler’s birthday.
