Braunau am Inn

... much I could tell you about this lovely town, which, in fact has been a City since 1200 AD.
Some of the time it belonged to the German State of Bavaria, then it changed into the possession of Austrian Monarchs of various descriptions.
For me, it was simply the place in which I grew up, in which I spent my recollectable childhood, where I was a teenager and which I finally left to come to the place I now call my home: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I still have friends in Braunau and I go there now and then to visit them and the town.
Each time I'm there, I take pictures and I would like you to see some of them:

Part of the "Upper Main Square" with the "Fish fountain" in the foreground.

In the back is the restored Stadtturm, (City Tower)

What you see here is probably less than one third of the entire Town Square.

The "Rathaus" (City Hall )

The steeple of the church of St. Stephan.

On the right hand side of this narrow street (Gasse)

you may notice a lamp and below it the frame of the entry door to 

Stadtplatz 22. The building in which I grew up

The Stadtturm from the other side,

 provides a vary narrow entrance to the main square.

It is now, of course, a One-way street.

Between the lowest two windows you may note an inscription

which I shall show you below and give you an interesting translation.

"In 1966 this tower was reconstructed in its old form

as a permanent memory of the 700th Anniversary of Braunau as a town celebrated in 1960

First mention of the Latin "Brundunum" later "Braunau" was documented in 1260.

Just outside the Stadtturm, shown earlier,  

in the 'Salzburger Vorstadt', 

is the building in which Adolf Hitler was born.

Many of Braunau's citizens wish it went away. 

A reminder of a time of Austria's and Germany's darkest days in their respective histories.

But even if one would demolish the structure and build a children's play ground in its place,

The part of the world would always remain in existance

and one could point to it and say: 

This is the spot where Hitler was borne.

It is Histoy and will remain History. 

The building has no significance.

What we do with the memory, that is of significance.

In front of this infamous building a rock was placed 

from the Quarry near  the Concentration Camp Mauthausen,

with the inscription:

"For Freedom, Liberty 

and Democracy

Never again Fashism

so warn Millions of Dead"

In earlier days, one of Braunau's mayors was called 

"Hans Staininger".

He was famous for his long beard, which he normally

carried, tightly rolled up, in a small  leather sack, around his neck.

One day, the fire alarm, sounding throughout the town,

caused him to rush downstairs.

In his haste he had forgotten to roll up his beard,

stepped on it,

fell,

downstairs

and

broke

his

neck.

poor Hans  Staininger.

This is the rear view of a less significant building.

Its address: Stadtplatz 22

The five windows in the middle, is exactly where I grew up.

This too is History and can never be changed.

But then, why would you want to ?

A view from the bush land outside the town, 

running for miles up river.

I knew every square foot of it.

It was my "Dorado"

The "Stadtplatz" ( Main square)

I suppose I could show many more pictures and tell

many stories of this town

 "Braunau on the river Inn"

Bertstravels 

however,thinks this is enough.