Plans to convert Adolf Hitler’s birthplace into a police station have stirred mixed reactions in Braunau am Inn, the Austrian town where the dictator was born.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Sibylle Treiblmaier, standing outside the house in the border town with Germany. While the move might discourage far-right extremists from gathering there, she added, “it could have been used better or differently.” The 53-year-old office assistant spoke to AFP about the project.
The Austrian government aims to “neutralise” the site, having passed a 2016 law to take control of the building from its private owner.
Austria, annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, has faced criticism for not fully confronting its role in the Holocaust.
The far-right Freedom Party, founded by former Nazis, is currently leading in national polls after achieving a historic high in the 2024 elections, though it did not succeed in forming a government.
In 2025, activist complaints led to the renaming of two streets in Braunau am Inn that had previously commemorated Nazis.
– ‘Problematic’’ –
Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, and spent the early years of his life in the centrally located house on a narrow, shop-lined street.
A memorial stone in front of the building reads: “For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism. Millions of Dead Warn.”
During an AFP visit, workers were adding the finishing touches to the facade. According to the interior ministry, officers are expected to move in during the “second quarter of 2026.”
However, some voices remain critical. Ludwig Laher, an author and member of the Mauthausen Committee Austria, representing Holocaust victims, said, “a police station is problematic, as the police… are obliged, in every political system, to protect what the state wants.”
An earlier plan to turn the house into a space for dialogue and peace-building “received a lot of support,” he told AFP.
Jasmin Stadler, a 34-year-old shop owner and Braunau native, also voiced her disappointment, it would have been interesting to place Hitler’s birthplace in a “historic context,” she said, explaining more about the house. She further criticized the €20 million ($24 million) reconstruction cost.
– ‘Bit of calm’ –
Others support the transformation. The building, previously rented by the interior ministry and once home to a centre for people with disabilities, had fallen into disrepair.
Wolfgang Leithner, a 57-year-old electrical engineer, said the police station would “hopefully bring a bit of calm,” preventing it from becoming a far-right shrine. “It makes sense to use the building and give it to the police, to the public authorities,” he added.
Braunau’s conservative mayor’s office declined to comment.
Austria continues to grapple with how to address its Holocaust past. During Nazi rule, some 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed, and 130,000 forced into exile
