The building where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, officially began a new life as a police station on Wednesday. The house, a 17th century building where the dictator was born in 1889, was inaugurated as part of an effort to destroy its appeal as a site of pilgrimage.
Austrian authorities have long sought to prevent the location from becoming an attraction for neo-Nazis, Nazi sympathizers, and far-right extremists. By repurposing the building, the government hopes to deter those who glorify the Nazi dictator from visiting the site.
The Austrian government insisted that the permanent police presence would neutralize the site. Officials stated that this change would clearly show that no commemoration of Nazism would be acceptable.