AUSTRIA: HITLER'S BIRTHPLACE TO RENAME STREETS HONORING NAZI PARTY MEMBERS

Two streets in Braunau am Inn, Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Austria, currently named after two Nazi Party supporters—composer Josef Reiter and entertainer Franz Resl—will be renamed.

Local media reported that the decision was made on Wednesday following a "secret ballot" by the city council, with 28 councilors in favor and nine against. Local authorities had previously released a report deeming the retention of these street names unconstitutional.

Honoring Victims and Opponents of Nazism

Once the name change is implemented, approximately 200 families will receive new addresses. The Mauthausen Committee, an organization dedicated to raising public awareness about the nearby Mauthausen concentration camp, stated that renaming the streets is a decision of "symbolic significance."

At least 90,000 prisoners were killed at the Mauthausen camp. During the Holocaust, 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered, and 130,000 were forced to flee the country. The Mauthausen Committee informed local media that they aim to honor Austrians who fought against the Nazis with the new street names.

Across Austria, other street and site names have been changed to avoid glorifying Nazism. For example, in 2022, the city of Linz in Upper Austria announced it would rename "Porsche Street," named after one of the Third Reich's most infamous engineers.

The Enduring Controversy of Hitler's Birthplace

Adolf Hitler's childhood home in Braunau am Inn, where he was born in 1899, has long been a source of controversy. Despite serving various purposes over the years, including a library, a school, and a shelter for people with disabilities, it remained, and continues to be, a pilgrimage site for many neo-Nazis.

To prevent the house from becoming a mass gathering point for neo-Nazis, the Austrian government acquired the property from its owner in 2016 through a compulsory purchase order, following intense public debate. While many advocated for its demolition, critics argued that such a move would deny Austria's history and its role in the Holocaust.

In 1989, a memorial stone was placed outside the house, bearing the inscription: "For peace, freedom, and democracy. Never again fascism. Millions of dead are a warning." Three years later, the Austrian government announced that Hitler's childhood home would undergo extensive renovations to be transformed into a police station.

In Austrian politics, the Freedom Party, founded in the 1950s by former SS members and other Nazi veterans, has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, even finishing first in the September general election.