The 17<sup>th Century building where Adolf Hitler was born has been a subject of dispute for a number of years. The Austrian government has been trying to prevent the birthplace from becoming a tourist attraction commemorating Nazism. After multiple failed plans to utilise the building, the Austrian government decided to turn it into a police station.

The building, located in the town of Braunau am Inn, was where Hitler was born. The dictator only spent the first few weeks of his life in the building. However, the birth house has attracted far-right tourists who still believe in Nazi ideologies. To dissuade such people from turning the building into a pilgrimage site, the Austrian government will be turning it into a police station.

The decision to utilise the building in this manner has been allowed by the fact that the government recently bought the building from its previous owner.

Adolf Hitler's birthplace
The house in which Adolf Hitler was born is seen in Braunau am Inn, Austria Leonhard Foeger /File Photo/Reuters

Gerlinde Pommer, the previous owner of the building, had refused the government's proposals of renovating and utilising the building. Previously, the building acted as a daycare for people with disabilities. The daycare had to be shut down when Pommer refused to allow the government to renovate the building and make it wheelchair accessible.

Pommer also threw a spanner in the government's plan of utilising the building as a refugee centre in 2014. Even though the government had been renting the building from Pommer, without the owner's permission, the government could not do much with the building.

BBC pointed out that in 2016, the Austrian government finally forced Pommer to sell the building for €810,000 ($897,000; £694,000). Since the state took possession of the building, the debate of what to do with it heightened.

While some Austrians felt that tearing the building down would be apt, others wanted the building to be utilised for charitable causes.

The decision to turn it into a police station ensures that far-right supporters will not flock to the site. Interior Minister Wolfgang Peschorn believes that the transformation will act as an "unmistakable signal" that the building will no longer be associated with Nazism.