Hitler birthplace in Austria opens as police station

The building in Braunau am Inn, Austria, where Adolf Hitler was born officially opened as a police station on July 22, 2026, in a state-led effort to deter neo-Nazi pilgrimages and neutralize the site's symbolic power. The conversion concludes years of debate over the fate of the property, which the Austrian government purchased in 2017 after a protracted legal battle with its former private owner.

At an opening ceremony attended by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and Mayor Johannes Waidbacher, officials framed the transformation as the community assuming responsibility for its history. Waidbacher said he hoped the move would bring clarity and calm to the town. The building, where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, and lived only a few weeks, has been extensively renovated at a reported cost of approximately 20 million euros. Its exterior has been whitewashed, with a simple "Police" sign now hanging above the entrance. A memorial stone from the Mauthausen concentration camp, bearing the inscription "For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism. Millions of Dead Warn," remains in place on the pavement.

The decision to install a police station followed recommendations...