BRAUNAU AM INN, Austria – Work to convert the Austrian house where Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 into a police station began Monday, part of a project to make the site unattractive to people who glorify the dictator. Nazi.
The decision regarding the future of the property in the city of Braunau am Inn, a town on the Austrian border with Germany, was made at the end of 2019. The plans call for a police station, the district police headquarters and a branch of the security academy where police officers will receive human rights training.
On Monday, workers put up fences and began taking measurements for construction work. Police are scheduled to occupy the space in early 2026.
Before the remodeling project, there was a years-long tug-of-war over ownership of the house. The issue was resolved in 2017 when Austria’s supreme court ruled that the government was within its rights to expropriate the building after its owner refused to sell it. The suggestion that it could be demolished was dismissed.
The building had been rented by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior since 1972 to prevent misuse, and was sublet to various charities. It was left empty after a care center for seniors with disabilities moved out in 2011.
Read also: Television company buys a painting of Hitler: the public will decide if it is destroyed
A tombstone with the inscription “for liberty, democracy and freedom. Never more fascism. Millions of dead people remind us” that is located outside the building will remain in that location.
The Austrian government argues that moving the police, as guardians of civil liberties, is the best use for the building. But there has been criticism of the plan.
Historian Florian Kotanko complained that “there is a total lack of historical contextualization.” He argued that the Home Office’s intention to remove the “recognition factor” from the building by refurbishing it “is impossible to fulfill.”
“Demystification must be a fundamental part,” he added, defending the suggestion that an exhibition about people who saved Jews under the Nazi regime be displayed in the building.
Read also: Urban warfare: the successful Soviet strategy in Stalingrad
Join our channel
EL UNIVERSAL is now on Whatsapp! From your mobile device, find out the most relevant news of the day, opinion articles, entertainment, trends and more.
item
2023-10-03 17:47:02
#House #Hitler #born #converted #police #station #Austria
