Austria passes law to seize house of Hitler's birth

VIENNA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The Austrian government passed a law allowing authorities to seize a Braunau, Austria, home in which Adolf Hitler was born, it announced.

The expropriation of the property ends a long legal standoff between the government and the home's owners, the Pommer family. Purchased by the Nazi Party in 1938, it was returned to the family after World War II.

Despite government payments to ensure the building was used for purposes other than as a neo-Nazi shrine, it nonetheless attracts sympathizers. Harry Buchmayr, a Braunau resident and member of Parliament, said neo-Nazis often "stop in front of the house to be photographed making the Hitler greeting," a reference to the straight-right-arm salute.

The Pommer family will be compensated for the three-story structure, built in the 17th century, but plans for it remain unclear. It has been considered for a supermarket or a memorial; some advocate demolishing it, and the controversy has awakened interest in the study of Austria's Nazi past.

Hitler was born in the home in Braunau, near the German border, on April 20, 1889, and spent his early childhood there.

German historian Wieland Gerber said Hitler's last residence, a Berlin underground bunker in 1945, is now a parking lot which attracts only those with an interest in history, and not neo-Nazis. Gerber recommended the Braunau building should become less of an attraction. A panel of experts convened to consider the future of the "Hitler House" suggested the building should be altered to prevent the curious. Vienna's Jewish community favors having the house demolished, reasoning that if it is gone, it cannot be misused by future political movements.

Walter Rosenkranz, a member of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, noted, "Expropriation is not a nice thing, rather the last resort, but we've had five years of negotiations that were carried out in a very considerate way, but which didn't lead to any result."