Austria has unveiled plans to transform Adolf Hitler’s birthplace into a police station, following years of debate and legal wrangling over the controversial site.
The three-story building in Braunau am Inn, near the German border, is set to undergo a substantial revamp that authorities hope will prevent it becoming a pilgrimage site for Nazi sympathizers.
Hitler was born in an apartment in the building on April 20, 1889, as his father worked as a customs official in the town. The family left Braunau am Inn, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, when Hitler was three years old.
Plans to turn the site into a police station were first announced last November, when Austria’s Interior Ministry launched an EU-wide design competition for its renovation. At the time, officials told CNN in a statement that the move could help deter “National Socialist activity.”