The stones that were allegedly taken from the Berghof are thought by some to have been re-used in the construction of this roadside chapel. Others think they are not the same stones -- and are hoping the debate dies down soon. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
The Führer’s Flagstones: The Twisted Legacy of Hitler's Mountain Retreat
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: They may be simple flagstones, but they were once part of Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat in Obersalzberg. Now, a historian's claim that stones from the dictator's villa were used for the construction of a local chapel has many in the region up in arms.

It was a pleasant, dignified and very Bavarian celebration. There was a brass band, a group in lederhosen and dirndls, local dignitaries and even a close associate of the pope. All of them were there to attend the dedication of the Wegmacher chapel, a small roadside chapel in Obersalzberg, Adolf Hitler's mountain headquarters in the southeast corner of Germany.

Matthias Ferwagner, head of the building authority in the nearby town of Traunstein, told a touching story about a girl named Sophia who had cancer and placed daisies on the chapel's walls as a way of comforting her parents and how, shortly thereafter, the chapel was able to open its doors and fulfill its purpose of bestowing divine protection on Bavaria's road-construction workers and drivers.

Now, 13 years on, many of the guests who attended the dedication are starting to wish the chapel had never been built. It is difficult to ascertain, of course, whether the building is fulfilling is sacred function of protecting travelers. What is clear, however, is that the chapel is causing nothing but trouble in the secular world.

The red marble flagstones on the chapel's floor are now rumored to have an unpleasant past, and many locals fear that the nearly 10 square meters (108 square feet) of stone used to build it could become a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis and National Socialist die-hards, thereby creating a problem for the tourist industry serving the surrounding area.

The reason for this apprehension is a belief held by some that these flagstones may once have adorned the terrace of the Berghof, Adolf Hitler's mountainside retreat on the Obersalzberg, towering above the town of Berchtesgaden. Florian Beierl, a historian who has been looking into the history of the Berghof, is one of those who adheres to this idea.

Since Beierl went public with his theory in the International Herald Tribune in February, the chapel has been a major topic of discussion in the region. And now that some people are calling for the chapel to be demolished, local newspapers, Bavarian television stations and the online media have been debating whether Beierl should have just kept his mouth shut. In his defense, Beierl says that sweeping his suspicions under the rug would have gone against the seriousness called for when dealing with Germany's Nazi past. >>> Connie Neumann | Thursday, April 01, 2010

Fears of Hitler’s Childhood Home in Braunau-am-Inn Becoming Fascist Shrine
MAIL ONLINE: The owner of the house where Adolf Hitler was born wants to put it on the market with a likely asking price of over £2million.

But the local authority in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria, has vowed to try to find a way of blocking any sale because it fears it could land up in the hands of extreme right-wingers who would turn it into a grotesque shrine to his memory.

The mayor of Braunau, Gerhard Skiba, said ideally the town council would like to purchase it and so control its future fate.

But there is not enough money in the town coffers to buy the property, Salzburger Vorstadt 15.

He says he will appeal to the government in Vienna to help the town purchase the property if the owner goes ahead with the sale.

It was in a room on the first floor of the three-storey, 2,000 square foot house – the ground floor of which was a pub called Gasthof Zum Pommer – that Hitler’s mother Klara gave birth to her infamous son on April 20, 1889.

She and her husband Alois, a stern local customs official, rented a suite of rooms above the pub and continued to live in it until 1892 when they moved to Linz.

Alois, a drunkard, often availed himself of the beer on sale in the saloon downstairs before returning to the family home to abuse his timid wife 24 years his junior.

The house is still owned by the family after which the pub took its name. Owner Gelinde Pommer says she wants to sell because the tenants for the past two decades, handicapped people who worked and lived there under the care of a disabled organisation, are moving to more modern premises in January, and she no longer wants to have the responsibility for it.

She has not yet advertised it, but estate agents have suggested it will have an asking price of about £2million. She was not available to comment. >>> Allan Hall | Thursday, November 05, 2009