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(CNN) - The house where Adolf Hitler was born will become a police station, in an attempt to prevent it from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis, says the Austrian government.
The building, located in the city of Braunau am Inn, in northwestern Austria, was forcibly acquired by the Austrian government in 2017.
The future of property has been a source of debate in Austria. In 2016, there were plans for its demolition.
The property represented during the Nazi era, around 1939.
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The Interior Ministry said they received "special legal authorization" to expropriate the property and paid compensation of 812,000 euros (898,389 dollars) to its former owner.
"The handling of Adolf Hitler's birthplace in Braunau am Inn has been a challenge for the Second Republic for more than 70 years, especially in relation to the history of the Third Reich in Austria," the Interior Ministry said in a statement sent to CNN.
He added that the legislator ordered the Austrian government to ensure that, after expropriation, the use of property should avoid any other "national socialist activity."
The Austrian government expropriated the property to prevent it from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.
Wolfgang Peschorn, Austrian Interior Minister, praised the acquisition of the property and said it would prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi symbol.
"The future use of the house by the police will be an unequivocal signal that this building will never serve to commemorate national socialism," he said in a statement.
While the legal case related to the expropriation of the property has already concluded, the local police have not yet planned to move to the building for some time.
Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in 1889, before his family moved to the German city of Passau.
The Austrian government will organize an architecture competition across the EU to redesign the building, the Interior Ministry said.
A winner of the contest is expected to be announced in the first half of 2020.
"The contest proposals will be evaluated by an independent jury of experts, which will include not only architects, but also a representative from the city of Braunau, BIG (Bundesimmobilien GmbH), the Federal Government and the National Fund," said the Ministry of Interior .
Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, near the German border, in 1889, and lived in one of the apartments of the property during the first weeks of his life.
Adolf Hitler
