Austria turns Hitler's birthplace into police station

Austria will formally open a new police station on Wednesday in the house where Adolf Hitler was born, in the town of Braunau-am-Inn near the German border. Authorities hope the change will discourage far-right extremists from visiting the site.

The 17th-century building has been refurbished at a cost of 20 million euros, or about $23 million. The work finished three years behind schedule. The building's former yellow exterior has been whitewashed by the Austrian architecture firm Marte, and a police sign now hangs above the entrance. A memorial stone remains on the pavement with the inscription: "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism. Millions of Dead Warn."

Hitler was born in the house on April 20, 1889. After Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, 65,000 Austrian Jews were killed and another 130,000 were forced into exile.

The building had been owned by the same family from 1912. From 1972, it was leased to the Austrian state and used as a centre for disabled people, who were also among the victims of the Third Reich. Neo-Nazis frequently visited the address, but its last private owner, Gerlinde Pommer, opposed changes to the building and contested its expropriation by the state.

Austria passed a law in 2016 to take control of the property. Three years later, the Supreme Court approved the 810,000-euro purchase of the 800-square-metre property.

Historians opposed demolishing the building and urged Austria to confront its role in Nazi crimes. Officials also decided against turning the house into a historical monument, saying that could attract extremists. An expert commission chose its conversion into a police station.

The Austrian government said a permanent police presence would show that Nazi commemoration would not be accepted and would help neutralise the site. Robert Eiter, spokesman for the Mauthausen Committee Austria, criticised the decision, saying the renovation would not stop neo-Nazis from visiting Braunau.