Josef Fritzl’s House in Austria to Be Demolished

The home of Josef Fritzl, in which he imprisoned his daughter for 24 years where she became the mother of his seven children, will be demolished, to prevent it becoming a popular tourist attraction. The decision by the Amstetten City Council will be carried out early in May.

This decision, taken in a closed session of town officials, was apparently leaked by an undisclosed source to the Austrian Times, an on-line news portal. According to the source, Amstetten authorities decided to tear down the building down some time the first week in the month and will be erecting special barriers to prevent the media from filming the process.

"How deep can our society sink? In what sort of world are we living? I’m deeply shocked," commented Amstetten Mayor Herbert Katzengruber bitterly, after news of trespassers came to his attention. The basement rooms of the house had earlier been filled with cement to deny access to the dungeon where the family was held.

Amstetten officials have been investing heavily in recent years to promote the town’s local pear Schnapps, and have been frustrated to see their efforts destroyed by the notoriety of the Fritzl story. Since the chances of finding a buyer for the house are slim, officials moved ahead with implementation of the plan.

- Grigory Borodavkin