In a significant transformation, the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, nestled near the Austrian-German border, has officially reopened as a police station. Austria’s government hopes this new purpose will deter neo-Nazis and far-right extremists from using it as a shrine.
The path to this transformation has been long and fraught with debate. The large terraced house in Braunau am Inn, once privately owned and used by a charity for people with disabilities, was acquired by the Austrian government in 2017. It wasn’t until 2019 that officials announced plans to remodel the site into a police station, aiming to erase its dark historical associations.
Before its conversion, the house’s historical weight was acknowledged by a simple yet poignant reminder—a memorial rock sourced from the Mauthausen concentration camp. The stone bears an inscription that urges vigilance against history repeating itself: “For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism. Millions of Dead Warn.” Notably absent is any mention of Hitler himself.
The memorial rock remains a steadfast presence. Meanwhile, the pristine white facade of the building now carries only a straightforward declaration: “Police”.
“Our goal was to completely sever ties with Adolf Hitler, removing any mystique associated with him,” explained Stephan Mlczoch, head of the Austrian interior ministry’s history department, during a media tour of the revitalized building.
That mystique was encouraged by the Nazis’ cult of personality around Hitler, under whose rule the “Fuehrer birth house” was an art museum.
Hitler only lived there for a few weeks in 1889 before his family moved out, Mlczoch said.
The roughcast yellow walls of the home have been whitewashed over by the Austrian architecture firm Marte.
Police station intended as ‘exact opposite’ symbolism
“Today’s police, our Austrian federal police, is the exact opposite of the symbolism tied to this place. Our police stand … for democracy and the rule of law,” interior minister Gerhard Karner told an opening ceremony.
Passers-by often stop to take pictures, but their views on Hitler are usually not known. Local officials said there are now only “isolated incidents” involving visitors, fewer than before.
While they did not elaborate, the Hitler salute and other Nazi symbols are banned in Austria.
Asked about the public response to the project, local mayor Johannes Waidbacher told Reuters: “I think on the whole, the people of Braunau have accepted it and can live with it.”
Waidbacher was on a commission that recommended the building be used either for a charitable or official administrative purpose.
In the end, having a charity based there would have made it too accessible to the public, he said.
“I think it isn’t a bad approach but whether it works as we all hope and expect, we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
Holocaust survivors’ group opposes the move
There has been some opposition, including from the Mauthausen Committee, Austria’s main Holocaust survivors’ group, which has argued both that a police station is inappropriate and that more should be done to draw attention to Hitler’s crimes.
“Every year at the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial there’s a ceremony to say: never again. And in Braunau they’re saying: let’s forget as soon as possible,” said Robert Eiter of the Mauthausen Committee and the Network Against Racism and Right-Wing Extremism.
For decades, Austria argued it was the first victim of National Socialism, having been annexed by Hitler’s Germany in 1938.
It now says Austrians were also perpetrators but rarely elaborates beyond that.
“The world won’t forget where the worst mass murderer in history was born. Wikipedia won’t change its entries,” Eiter said, adding there will be no reduction in the number of neo-Nazis making “the pilgrimage to Braunau”.
Some local residents questioned the conversion.
“I would have preferred if they had done something else but it is what it is,” said Irene, 74, adding that she would have wanted the charity to stay there.
Most, however, were supportive.
“It’s great and a good idea,” said Thomas Spreitz, an estate agent. “Every now and then there are [neo-Nazi] groups there, and now that’s history.”