Braunau am Inn is a city in the Innviertel (River Inn area) of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), the north-western province of Austria. It lies about 90 km west of Linz and about 60 km north of GermanBundesland of Bavaria. The population in 2001 was 16,372.
The town was first mentioned around 810 and received the city statute in 1260, which makes it one of the oldest cities in Austria. It became a fortress and important trading route junction, dealing with the salt trade and with ship traffic on the River Inn. Through its history it changed hands several times and was Bavarian before 1779 and again 1809—1816.
Braunau is also notorious as the birthplace in 1889 of Adolf Hitler. The fact is acknowledged in town publications, and a memorial stone for the victims of Fascism has been erected near Hitler's birthplace.
Nowadays, Braunau has the full range of schools and colleges; industries include electronics, metal (AMAG) and woodworking, and glass. After two successful seasons, the local football team, S.V. Braunau, reached the Austrian 1st Division before suddenly going bankrupt in 2000. The team was refounded as F.C. Braunau.
Since the end of the Second World War, the people of Braunau am Inn, a pretty Austrian town with streets painted in pastel yellows, pinks and blues, have argued over what to do with the building in which Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889.
Their aim is to show that Braunau and Austria are prepared to confront their past and lead the world in preaching against fascism.
Florian Kotanko, the headmaster of Braunau's main secondary school and a force behind the project, admitted that some townspeople are opposed.
Braunau has a remarkable 15th-century church with a 99m-high spire, as well as castle remains housing a museum, and parts of the former town walls.
The fact is acknowledged in town publications, and a memorial stone for the victims of Fascism was raised by Major Gerhard Skiba in front of the house of Hitler's birth in 1989.
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