Image by getty images

The Austrian government reportedly is drafting a law that would transfer ownership of Adolf Hitler’s birthplace to the state.

The owner of the home has refuse for at least the last five years to sell the property to the Austrian government, which is working to prevent the site from becoming a shrine to the neo-Nazi community.

“We are currently examining the creation of a law, which would force a change of ownership and pass the property to the Republic of Austria,” interior ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told the French news agency AFP.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“We have come to the conclusion over the past few years that expropriation is the ony way to avoid the building being used for the purposes of Nazi” sympathizers, he said.

Local resident Gerlinde Pommer’s family has owned the house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, for more than a century. The town has tried for decades to purchase the building.

The ministry had rented the home in the German border town of Braunau for decades and sublet it to charitable organizations. The house, which draws neo-Nazi visitors, especially on the anniversary of Hitler’s birthday, has stood empty for the last about five years after the owner refused to authorize needed renovations.

The building is listed as a historical landmark and cannot be razed.

A stone outside the home is inscribed with the words: “Never again Fascism. In memory of millions of dead. For Peace, Freedom and Democracy” Hitler’s name does not appear anywhere near the home.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount