Hitler’s former home to become police station to stop it becoming pilgrimage site for right wing extremists

The house where Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria
AFP via Getty Images

The birthplace of Adolf Hitler is to be turned into a police station, Austrian officials have confirmed.

The announcement follows years of debate over how to stop the house from becoming a pilgrimage site for right wing extremists.

The Nazi leader spent the first few weeks of his life in the 17th-Century building in the German border town of Braunau am Inn.

But now architects will be invited to submit plans for a redesign of the building, which will house the local police force's offices.

Local authorities reportedly hope neo-Nazis will be dissuaded from visiting the house once it's full of police officers
Getty Images

"The house's future use by the police should send an unmistakable signal that this building will never again evoke the memory of National Socialism," Interior Minister Wolfgang Peschorn said in a statement on Tuesday.

For years, the government rented the site from its former owner in a bid to stop neo-Nazi tourism, before eventually taking possession of it in 2016.

It bought the house under a compulsory purchase order, for a price of around £694,000 (€810,000), the BBC reported.

There has been fierce debate in Austria over the fate of the building, with some calling for it to be torn down and others arguing it should be used as a house of reconciliation.

But under the new plans, architects from across the EU will be able to submit their ideas for the building's police station revamp this month.

A jury of experts and public officials will then pick the winning design in the first half of next year.

Hitler was born in the house on April 20, 1889, after his father was posted to Braunau am Inn for work.

After his birth, the family stayed in an apartment in the building for a few weeks before moving to another address in the area.

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