The building in Braunau am Inn—on Austria’s border with Germany—where Adolf Hitler was born has been converted into a police station. After years of public debate, Austria compulsorily acquired the privately owned property in 2017. Until then, it housed a charitable facility for people with disabilities.
A Symbolic Transformation
Two years later, authorities announced plans to renovate the site and repurpose it for police services. Today, the only visible reminder of its dark historical association is a stone from the Mauthausen concentration camp embedded in the sidewalk, inscribed with the words ‘Never Again Fascism.’ The building’s façade now bears only the word ‘Police.’
From Nazi Shrine to Public Service
During the Nazi era, the site—dubbed the ‘Führer’s birthplace’—was turned into an art museum as part of the personality cult surrounding Hitler. However, Austrian authorities note that Hitler lived there for only a few weeks after his birth in 1889 before his family moved away.
Although passersby still occasionally stop to photograph the building, local officials report a significant decline in visits by neo-Nazis in recent years. In Austria, the Nazi salute and related symbols are banned by law.
Braunau’s mayor, Johannes Waidbacher, told Reuters that the local community has broadly accepted the building’s new role. He explained that proposals had included using the space for either charitable or administrative public purposes—but opting for a social facility would have kept the building publicly accessible, potentially inviting unwanted attention.