Hitler's house may or may not be demolished

A new row erupts over Austria’s plans to demolish the house where Adolf Hitler was born, with experts saying they opposed its destruction only a day after a decision was announced.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said yesterday the listed property in the northern town of Braunau would be “torn down” to stop it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine, and a new building there would be used by a charity or the local authorities.

Sobotka said the decision was based on recommendations from an expert committee. But several of the 13-member panel now deny backing the push to bulldoze the yellow corner house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889.

“The demolition option had been explicitly mentioned in the [government’s] proposal and was not approved by us,” say two of the panel.

Sobotka then says the main goal is to destroy any “resemblance” to the current house, “especially its outer appearance.”