BRAUNAU AM INN, Austria — Austrian officials officially opened a new police station at the birthplace of Adolf Hitler on Wednesday. Government leaders made the change to stop neo-Nazis and far-right extremists from visiting the house.
Police officers now work inside the remodeled building near the German border. Workers painted the old yellow walls white, swapped the arch windows for rectangular ones, and raised the roofline. Officials disposed of the building debris at a hidden location so people could not collect pieces as Nazi souvenirs.
A memorial stone stays on the sidewalk right outside the building. It displays the inscription, “For freedom, democracy and liberty. Never again fascism. Millions of dead remind us.”
“The Republic of Austria, the state, the county is facing up to this heritage, the terrible heritage of this time, and commits itself to deal with it,” Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said during the opening ceremony of the police station on Wednesday. “This entails this house and this address.”
The government spent roughly 20 million euros ($22.8 million) to remodel the building. The state took control of the property in 2017 after Austria’s highest court ruled it could seize the house from a private owner who refused to sell. Officials considered tearing down the home before choosing the police station plan.
Austria’s Interior Ministry had rented the house since 1972 to stop misuse. A care group for adults with disabilities used the space until moving out in 2011. The structure sat empty for years while leaders debated its future.
Expert advisors recommended against opening a museum. They wanted a clean design that people would not easily recognize.
Extremists visited the site repeatedly over the years. Visitors took photos, placed flowers, and picked up stones as keepsakes. Police caught four German citizens at the building in 2024 after they left white roses in the window frame and posed for pictures, including one woman who gave a Nazi salute.
Hitler was born in the house on April 20, 1889. His family moved away from Braunau am Inn a few months later. During World War II, his Nazi regime murdered about 6 million Jews and millions of other minority group members. The war caused at least 60 million total deaths before Hitler died by suicide in April 1945.
Some critics feel the remodeled site lacks enough history lessons. However, government leaders believe adding a active police force best protects civil rights and deters neo-Nazi groups.
Read More: Work stress can turn people gay, claims Malaysian minister