Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The house has been a gathering spot for neo nazis and sympathisers.
On Wednesday, a controversial building in Austria officially reopened in the quiet town of Braunau am Inn.
It is now a police station. The site also houses a Security Academy training center.
By putting law enforcement officers inside the structure, Austrian authorities hope to stop extremist groups from gathering at the location where Adolf Hitler spent his first three years of life following his birth in 1889.
Yes, the new police station is placed in the very building where Adolf Hitler lived for the first part of his life.
According to 20Minutos, renovation crews completely replaced the old yellow front with a clean white facade. Workers even carried away every scrap of debris to a secret site, preventing neo-Nazis from hoarding relics.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner hailed the shift. “Today’s police force is the exact opposite of the symbolism associated with this place. It represents democracy and the rule of law, freedom and human dignity, as well as their unconditional defense against all those who threaten them, against any form of extremism and totalitarianism,” Karner stated, as reported by Austrian authorities.
Stopping the shrines
For decades, the address attracted unwanted extremists. Right-wing visitors frequently snapped photos, dropped off flowers, or chipped away bits of stone.
Last year, four German tourists were caught placing white roses in the windows, with one woman giving an illegal Nazi salute. German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that hackers even manipulated Google Maps recently, altering the address to display a known neo-Nazi code number.
Outside, a memorial stone erected in 1989 still reminds passersby of World War II. Its inscription reads, “For peace, freedom and democracy. Never again fascism. Millions of dead warn of it.”
Decades of debate
The government rented the building starting in 1972. They wanted to maintain strict control over who accessed the space. But after a local disability charity moved out in 2011, the property sat entirely empty.
State officials eventually seized the house in 2016 following a long legal battle with the private owner. Should they tear it down or convert it into a museum? Expert panels weighed those contentious choices carefully.
Demolishing the structure felt like running away from history, yet a museum risked turning into a tourist trap for radicals. Administrative state use won out.
