Austrian minister: Hitler birth house could be demolished

FILE - This Sept. 27, 2012 file picture shows an exterior view of Adolf Hitler's birth house , front, in Braunau am Inn, Austria. Austria’s interior minister says Saturday June 11, 2016 he can imagine having the house where Adolf Hitler was born demolished, calling it “the cleanest solution.” The Austrian government wants to expropriate the house in Braunau am Inn where the future Nazi leader was born in 1889 to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. (AP Photo / Kerstin Joensson) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – Austria's interior minister says he can imagine having the house where Adolf Hitler was born demolished, calling it "the cleanest solution."

The Austrian government wants to expropriate the house in Braunau am Inn where the future Nazi leader was born in 1889 to keep it from becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.

It has been rented by the government for decades and has served many purposes. It's been vacant since 2011, when a care center for adults with disabilities moved out, but the Interior Ministry has said the owner isn't interested in selling.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told ORF television late Saturday that the expropriation is "necessary." He added: "For me, a demolition ... would be the cleanest solution."

Sobotka's ministry described that Sunday as the minister's personal opinion.