In 1889, Adolf Hitler was born in an apartment on the top floor of an inconspicuous building in Braunau am Inn, Austria, close to the border with Germany.
Since the end of World War II, the Austrian government has been eager to dissociate the house with Hitler’s legacy. Two years ago, it seized the home from its longtime owner, Gerlinde Pommer, whose family owned it since before Hitler’s birth, except for a short stint during the war when it belonged to Hitler’s secretary.
Now Pommer wants $1.7 million for it.
This week, Deutsche Welle, a German news wire, reported that Pommer’s lawyer is seeking a significant amount of compensation for the building after initially receiving around $355,000 from the government. The house and its parking lot were recently appraised at $915,000 to $1.7 million, DW reported, and Pommer’s lawyer said the Austrian government did not adequately reimburse his client.
Austria had regularly leased the property from Pommer since the 1970s, using it as a space to support disabled people. But Pommer has long refused offers for them to purchase it from her. When the government wanted to renovate parts of the property in 2011, Pommer refused and terminated the lease.