Police move into Hitler's birthplace in Braunau

Architektonischer Anspruch und historische Verantwortung

Memorial Stone as a Warning

A central design element is the window arches, intended to recall the original construction. The architecture firm Marte Marte from Feldkirch sought to preserve the historical impact of the building while at the same time creating a contemporary functional structure. The aim is to prevent the house from becoming a pilgrimage site for right-wing extremists.

In front of the house, the well-known memorial stone bearing the inscription "Für Frieden, Freiheit und Demokratie. Millionen Tote mahnen" still stands before the building. This stone commemorates the victims of National Socialism and sets a clear sign against forgetting. The address Salzburger Vorstadt 15 is thus not only an administrative location but also a place of remembrance.

Political Symbolic Impact

The use as a police site is regarded as a politically deliberate decision. Through the presence of law enforcement, the building is to be more closely monitored in the future and protected from misuse by neo-Nazis. At the same time, the location is intended to set an example against right-wing extremism and fascism.

For years now, there has been discussion about how to deal with the building. The previous tenant, Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich, was housed in the house until 2011. Since then, the building has gone through several phases of conversion and redesign before the final solution with the police was now found.

The architecture firm Marte Marte Architekten from Feldkirch, which was responsible for the conversion, specializes in historic and sophisticated buildings. The orientation to the 17th-century facade is intended to make the building's historical context visible.

With the move-in of the police, a decades-long debate about the future of the house comes to an end. The city of Braunau am Inn thereby sets an example: the building is to neither fall into disrepair nor become a place of pilgrimage for right-wing extremists, but rather serve as a place of democracy and the rule of law.