Last week the Austrian Constitutional Court, the top court in the country, ruled to uphold a law that allowed the government of Austria to expropriate the purchase of the house that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was born in. This decision came following a legal challenge by the former owner of the home. This news comes only about two weeks after a treasure trove of Nazi artifacts were found in the South American country of Argentina.
The league challenge over Hitler's birthplace
The former owner of Adolf Hitler's birthplace, Gerlinde Pommer-Angloher, had submitted a legal challenge to the Austrian Constitutional Court back in January shortly after it was seized by the government.
The retired local woman brought the house back in 1977 and was arguing that the expropriation of the three-story home was unconstitutional. This all came to a head after the government had been locked in negotiations with Pommer-Angloher for years over the house, located in the Austria-German border city of Braunau am Inn. She has turned down multiple offers from the government to buy it.
Pommer-Angloher refused any kind of renovations to the house, including any kind of monumental plaque. Eventually, the Austrian government put an inscribed stone on public land directly in from of the house that says "Never again fascism. In memory of millions of dead." The building had accommodated a day center for people learning disabilities until 2011 and since then the Austrian government has paid rent to keep any Neo-Nazis from moving in. However, this has not allowed the government to prevent them from visiting the site.
The Austrian Constitutional Court's ruling
As mentioned in the opening, the Austrian Constitutional Court ultimately decided to uphold the law allowing for the compulsory purchase of the birthplace of Adolf Hilter. In their judgment, the court said that the government's decision to take control of the house was a necessary step to stop it from potentially being used to as a Neo-Nazi shrine or to glorify Nazi ideology.
In response to the losing verdict, Pommer-Angloher's lawyer said that he expected her to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Regardless of the case being taken to the ECHR, the two sides will begin negotiations on July 26 for payment compensation. Pommer-Angloher's lawyer has already stated that the previous offer of about 300,000 euros ($342,090) was not good enough for his client. Austria plans to refurbish the house and turn it into a full-time center for people with learning disabilities.
