The former owner of the Hitler birth house in Braunau am Inn could get more money for the house. According to the regional court Ried she is to be compensated with 1.5 million euros. She had sued for the amount of the damages.
The ex-owner should be entitled to one and a half million euros – that is about five times the originally paid 310,000 euros, which has received the woman from the Republic of Austria. The compensation payment was part of the law on expropriation adopted in 2015 in the National Council (SPÖ, ÖVP, Grüne and NEOS).
The former owner had then sued in court against the amount of compensation and now get right, also reported the „Salzburger Nachrichten“ (Online). However, the verdict is not final – it should be seen whether it will be invoked, it said Tuesday night.
Expert opinion: „Consideration of the specificity“
The court held that the house was worth more, „especially taking into account the peculiarity that the main building is the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.“ This was followed by the appraiser appointed by the Regional Court of Ried, who said in June 2018 that the property is worth much more, namely up to 1.5 million euros. Even without regard to the special history of the house, he still estimated the value with 800,000 euros.
The Constitutional Court (VfGH) had previously stated that the expropriation itself, which was preceded by a year-long discussion between the owner and the Ministry of the Interior, was legal. A decision of the European Court of Human Rights is pending.
Republic paid rent
In 1889 Adolf Hitler was born in the house in Braunau, a few weeks later the family moved to Hitler, three years later they moved to Passau. After the end of World War II, in 1952, the republic sold the house back to the original ownership family. It was regularly rented by the Ministry of the Interior, at last it was empty and the owner got rent for the time being.
