Pommer house Putsch Pommer house Putsch

Austria to take control of Hitler birthplace

Government move aims to nip neo-Nazi attraction to site in the bud

By AP 12 July 2016, 11:13 pm

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This Sept. 27, 2012 file picture shows an exterior view of Adolf Hitler's birth house , front, in Braunau am Inn, Austria. (AP Photo / Kerstin Joensson,file)

Austria’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday that the government has drawn up a draft law that would allow it to take ownership of the house where Adolf Hitler was born.

Tuesday’s move follows steadfast refusal by owner Gerlinde Pommer to sell the empty building in the town of Braunau am Inn on the German border. The government has sought possession so it can take measures to lessen its draw as a shrine for admirers of the Nazi dictator.

The draft still must be approved by parliament, where the government is in the majority and can rely on the support of most opposition parties.

Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck says he expects a parliamentary vote sometime this year. Government considerations range from tearing down the house to making it into a museum documenting Nazi horrors.