Austria Is Ordered to Pay $1.7 Million for House Where Hitler Was Born

A decades-long dispute involving the house where Hitler was born took a new turn on Thursday, as a court in Austria ordered the country’s government to pay the former owner of the building the equivalent of $1.7 million.

The Austrian government sought for decades to take over the three-story property in the medieval town of Braunau am Inn, to ensure that it did not fall into the hands of someone seeking to glorify its dark history. It used a compulsory purchase order in 2016 to buy the property for 310,000 euros, or $350,000 at current exchange rates, according to Deutsche Welle — a bargain price for a historic property of its size.

Unfairly so, ruled the district court in Ried im Innkreis, a town in northern Austria, on Thursday. It ordered the government to pay Gerlinde Pommer, a descendant of the original owners, €1.5 million, precisely the amount she had sought after having the property appraised.

The state has the right to appeal, but it was not clear if it would. Neither the Interior Ministry nor Gerhard Lebitsch, Ms. Pommer’s lawyer, responded to requests for comment.