Vienna: The house in Austria where Adolf Hitler was born is to be torn down to stop it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine, authorities said Monday after years of bitter legal wrangling.
"The Hitler house will be torn down. The foundations can remain but a new building will be erected. It will be used by either a charity or the local authorities," Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
He said the decision was based on the recommendations of an expert committee tasked with deciding what to do with the controversial building in the quaint northern town of Braunau am Inn.
The huge yellow house has been empty since 2011 when the government became embroiled in a dispute with owner and local resident Gerlinde Pommer.
For more than a century, her family has owned the large corner house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889.
In the early 1970s, the Austrian government signed a lease with Pommer and turned the premises into a centre for people with disabilities.
But the arrangement came to an abrupt end five years ago when Pommer unexpectedly refused to grant permission for much-needed renovation works.
She also rejected a purchase offer made by the increasingly exasperated interior ministry.
In July, the government approved legislation to seize the house from Pommer.
An interior ministry spokesman told AFP on Monday that the law amendment was still "under way" -- meaning that parliament has yet to approve the demolition. "But there is now a clear perspective regarding the future of the building under the ownership of the Austrian republic," Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said.
The issue has sparked heated debate among Braunau's 17,000 residents. Some wanted it to become a refugee centre, others a museum dedicated to Austria's liberation from Nazi rule.
A number of cultural organisations previously opposed the building's demolition because it is part of the historic city centre and therefore under heritage protection.
"The Hitler house will be torn down. The foundations can remain but a new building will be erected. It will be used by either a charity or the local authorities," Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
He said the decision was based on the recommendations of an expert committee tasked with deciding what to do with the controversial building in the quaint northern town of Braunau am Inn.
This file photo shows a memorial stone outside the house where Adolf Hitler was born. (AFP)
For more than a century, her family has owned the large corner house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889.
In the early 1970s, the Austrian government signed a lease with Pommer and turned the premises into a centre for people with disabilities.
Advertisement
She also rejected a purchase offer made by the increasingly exasperated interior ministry.
Advertisement
An interior ministry spokesman told AFP on Monday that the law amendment was still "under way" -- meaning that parliament has yet to approve the demolition.
The house where Hitler was born is to be torn down to stop it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. (AFP)
Advertisement
A number of cultural organisations previously opposed the building's demolition because it is part of the historic city centre and therefore under heritage protection.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Outrage After Class 8 Students In US Asked To Rate Hitler In Assignment Germany Wants To Give Away Hitler Aide Joseph Goebbels' Villa For Free 5 Skeletons Missing Hand And Feet Found At Hitler's Military Headquarters In Poland Vandalism At Kolkata Hospital Where Doctor Was Raped, Tear Gas Fired 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Trump Speaks With Netanyahu Over Gaza Truce And Hostage Deal, Says Sources Indian-Origin Man Jailed For Helping Friend In Singapore Football Scam Professor 'Digitally Arrested' For 12 Days By Scammers, Loses Rs 12 Lakh Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.