The Minister of the Interior of Austria, Gerhard Karner, inaugurated this Wednesday a new police station in the house where Adolf Hitler was born, located in the municipality of Braunau am Inn, very close to the border with Germany, with the aim of preventing the property from continuing to be a point of attraction for neo-Nazi sympathizers.
"Our police represent exactly the opposite of the symbolism associated with this place. Our police defend democracy and the rule of law, freedom, security, and human dignity, and above all, their unwavering defense against all those who threaten it, against any form of extremism or totalitarianism," Karner declared during the ceremony.
The governor of Upper Austria, Thomas Stelzer, stated that the building will become an emblem of the "rule of law." "Where the past serves as a warning, those who are today in the service of the community are those who dedicate themselves daily to law, order, and the protection of the population," he noted, according to a statement released by the Austrian government.
The property was expropriated in 2017 following a decision by the Lower House of Parliament, the National Council, and since then it has been registered in the name of the Republic of Austria. Two years later, the then Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Peschorn, announced that the property would be designated for police use.
For decades, the building operated as an inn and brewery, with residences on the upper floors; Hitler spent part of his childhood in one of those apartments. In 1938, the Nazi Party took over the property, although, after the end of the regime, ownership returned to its original owner.
In the 1970s, the place also housed a school and later a support entity for people with disabilities, but it had remained vacant since 2011. After the state expropriation, renovation work began in 2023, with a budget close to 20 million euros.
The new use of the building has generated intense public debate, especially among those who advocated for the creation of a memorial space dedicated to reflecting on democracy and anti-Semitism. Ultimately, the property will house a police station with 45 officers and the headquarters of the police of the district of Braunau am Inn.