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| Austrian politicians pass law to seize house where Hitler was born | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Austria’s parliament has passed a law allowing authorities to expropriate the house in which Adolf Hitler was born in 1889. | Austria’s parliament has passed a law allowing authorities to expropriate the house in which Adolf Hitler was born in 1889. |
| The law, passed on Wednesday night, ends years of dispute between the building’s owner, Gerlinde Pommer, and the authorities in Braunau am Inn. For years, Pommer refused to sell the building or allow it to be renovated. | The law, passed on Wednesday night, ends years of dispute between the building’s owner, Gerlinde Pommer, and the authorities in Braunau am Inn. For years, Pommer refused to sell the building or allow it to be renovated. |
| Pommer, who once ran it as a guesthouse and was compensated by the government with a generous level of rent to prevent it from becoming a lure for neo-Nazi tourists, is due to be compensated for the loss of the three-storey house with an undisclosed sum. | Pommer, who once ran it as a guesthouse and was compensated by the government with a generous level of rent to prevent it from becoming a lure for neo-Nazi tourists, is due to be compensated for the loss of the three-storey house with an undisclosed sum. |
| But quite what the government plans to do with it remains unclear. | But quite what the government plans to do with it remains unclear. |
| While their main aim is to prevent the building becoming a shrine for the steady stream of neo-Nazi supporters who still make their way to Braunau, there has been an ongoing discussion over what more positive purpose it might serve. | While their main aim is to prevent the building becoming a shrine for the steady stream of neo-Nazi supporters who still make their way to Braunau, there has been an ongoing discussion over what more positive purpose it might serve. |
| Ideas have ranged from turning it into a labour office or a cultural centre to tearing it down altogether, though detractors say that would amount to an attempt to erase Austria’s Nazi past. Heritage experts are against pulling it down, arguing the house has an important place in Braunau’s architectural history. | Ideas have ranged from turning it into a labour office or a cultural centre to tearing it down altogether, though detractors say that would amount to an attempt to erase Austria’s Nazi past. Heritage experts are against pulling it down, arguing the house has an important place in Braunau’s architectural history. |
| Marcus Franz, an independent politician, has suggested the Bulgarian wrapping artist Christo should be invited to cover it up as an art installation. | Marcus Franz, an independent politician, has suggested the Bulgarian wrapping artist Christo should be invited to cover it up as an art installation. |
| Previous uses have included a workshop for people with learning difficulties and a day centre operated by a local charity, which rented the building from Pommer but was forced to give up the lease after she refused to carry out any repairs. | Previous uses have included a workshop for people with learning difficulties and a day centre operated by a local charity, which rented the building from Pommer but was forced to give up the lease after she refused to carry out any repairs. |
| Hitler was born on the top floor of the house on 20 April 1889. Close to the border with Germany, Braunau has never been able to shake its association with the Nazi leader. | Hitler was born on the top floor of the house on 20 April 1889. Close to the border with Germany, Braunau has never been able to shake its association with the Nazi leader. |
| “It is not so seldom that neo-Nazis stop in front of the house to be photographed making the Hitler greeting,” Harry Buchmayr, a Social Democrat who lives in Braunau, told parliament. | “It is not so seldom that neo-Nazis stop in front of the house to be photographed making the Hitler greeting,” Harry Buchmayr, a Social Democrat who lives in Braunau, told parliament. |
| Walter Rosenkranz, of the rightwing Freedom party, defended parliament’s decision to buy the building. “Expropriation is not a nice thing, rather the last resort,” he said. “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.” | Walter Rosenkranz, of the rightwing Freedom party, defended parliament’s decision to buy the building. “Expropriation is not a nice thing, rather the last resort,” he said. “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.” |