Image Credentials: Image Title: Austria to Rename Streets Honoring Nazi Supporters in Hitler’s Hometown Source: (sora.chatgpt) Date: July 2025 Attribution: Created by AI-generated imagery (sora.chatgpt), it does not depict a real-world scene.
Braunau am Inn, Austria – July 3, 2025
By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
Two streets in Adolf Hitler’s hometown of Braunau am Inn are set to be renamed following years of criticism that they honored prominent Nazi supporters. The town council decided on a secret vote after a government-commissioned report concluded that keeping the names violated Austria’s constitution.
The streets in question are named after composer Josef Reiter and entertainer Franz Resl, both confirmed members of the Nazi party. Around 200 households will be affected by the address changes.
28 Mitglieder des Gemeinderats stimmten dafür, neun dagegen: https://t.co/jwpvU8Sdm8 pic.twitter.com/cVEC2BcpNt
— DER STANDARD (@derStandardat) July 3, 2025
The Mauthausen Committee, a group dedicated to Holocaust remembrance and education, hailed the move as a “symbolic victory.” Committee members have advocated for the streets to be renamed after anti-Nazi Austrians, such as resistance fighter and nurse Maria Stromberger, and Lea Olczak, a former deputy mayor whose father was killed at the Mauthausen concentration camp.
The renaming is part of a broader reckoning in Austria with its Nazi-era past. Despite past efforts—such as renaming a street in Linz previously honoring Ferdinand Porsche—many streets with Nazi associations still exist. Historians have long criticized Austria for portraying itself solely as a victim of Nazism, rather than acknowledging its role in the atrocities.
Austria lost approximately 65,000 Jews during the Holocaust, and tens of thousands of others, including Roma and Slavic people, were also murdered under Nazi rule. The Mauthausen concentration camp alone saw over 90,000 deaths between 1938 and 1945.
The renaming of the streets is expected to take effect later this year.
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