Austria to go ahead with conversion of Hitler's birth house into human rights training centre

The interior ministry of Austria on Monday (August 21) said that the redesigning of the birth house of Adolf Hitler will go ahead as planned after new claims about the wishes of the late Nazi dictator regarding the housewere aired in a documentary.

After years of legal wrangling, the government took the decision to convert the house into a police station with a human rights training centre. The house, where Hitler was born in 1889, is located in the northern Austrian town of Braunau.

So as to prevent the building from becominga neo-Nazi shrine on the border with Germany, the dilapidated building was taken under control by the government in 2016.

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The expropriation brought an end to the ongoing bitter saga between the former owner and the state.

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Conversion of house to begin on October 2

"The construction (to convert the house) is scheduled to start on 2 October 2023," said an interior ministry spokesperson, while speaking to AFP.

"Everything will go ahead as planned," he stated.

However, Austrian director Guenter Schwaiger, who is set to release a documentary regarding Hitler's house in late August, stated that the plans of the ministry for the future use of the house will "always be suspected" of being "in line with the dictator's wishes".

The director, as evidence, cited the local newspaper article's discovery from 10 May 1939, which states that it was the wish of Hitler to convert his birth house into offices for the district authorities.

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After the house is transformed into a police station it would be put into administrative use which was envisaged by the dictator all along, said Schwaiger at a press conference on Monday as he appealed to the government to reconsider its plans.

The 800-square-metre (8,600-square-feet) corner house's controversial redesign is currently estimated to cost around €20 million ($21.76 million) and is likely to get completed by 2025. By 2026, the police station is likely to become operational.

Although only a short time was spent by Hitler at the property, it continues to attract Nazi sympathisers from around the world.

(With inputs from agencies)

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