April 20: the birthday of the man everyone loves to hate

You can read a news article about Hitler’s birthday at http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2016/04/09/Austria-plans-to-seize-house-where-Hitler-was-born.html

A photo of the building, where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, is shown at the top of the news article. My photo of this building is shown below. This is a “Gasthaus” with resident rooms upstairs.

The house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889

The following quote is from the news article cited above:

Begin quote

Austria said Saturday it wants to seize Adolf Hitler’s birthplace from its private owner in a bid to end a bitter legal battle and stop the house from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.

“We are currently examining the creation of a law, which would force a change of ownership and pass the property to the Republic of Austria,” interior ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP.

“We have come to the conclusion over the past few years that expropriation is the only way to avoid the building being used for the purposes of Nazi” sympathizers, he said.

The plan would involve the state making an offer of compensation to the current owner, he added.

The building in the quaint northern town of Braunau am Inn has been empty since 2011 when the government became embroiled in a dispute with owner Gerlinde Pommer, a local resident.

Her family has owned the large corner house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, for more than a century.

End quote

Door into the building where Hitler was born

Hitler was born in a Gasthaus on this street

The Holy Font that held the water with which Hitler was baptized

The photo above shows the Baptismal font in the Catholic Church of St. Stephan, Braunau am Inn.

Adolf Hitler was baptized a Catholic with water from this holy font. As was customary in Germany and Austria, Hitler’s baptismal name was Adolfus, the Latin word for Adolf. The name Adolf means noble wolf. His mother called him Adi.

Adolf Hitler’s father, Alois, and his mother, Klara Poetzl, were married on 7 January 1885 at 6 o’clock in the morning. It was a quiet ceremony because Klara was already 4 months pregnant. She was 24 years old; he was twice her age, at 48.

The following quote is from the news article, cited above:

Begin quote

In the early 1970s, the Austrian government signed a lease with Pommer and turned the premises into a center for people with disabilities.

But the arrangement came to an abrupt end five years ago when Pommer unexpectedly refused to grant permission for much-needed renovation works.

She also rejected a purchase offer made by the increasingly exasperated interior ministry.

The issue has sparked heated debated among Braunau’s 17,000 residents. Some want it to become a refugee center, others a museum dedicated to Austria’s liberation.

There have been even been calls for its demolition — but the house is part of the city’s historic center and therefore under heritage protection.

Every year on Hitler’s birthday, anti-fascist protesters organize a rally outside the building at number 15 Salzburger Vorstadt Street, next to a memorial stone reading: “For Peace, Freedom and Democracy. Never Again Fascism, Millions of Dead Warn.”

 

A house on the street where Hitler was born