Joseph Goebbels' unwanted lakeside villa to be given away for free

The 17-hectare estate and villa have been uninhabited since 2000 and have fallen into disrepair. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP

German officials have offered to give away the former country home of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, for free after decades of trying to find a buyer for it.

Stefan Evers, the financial senator from the state of Berlin, said on Thursday that he is ready to give the dilapidated estate to “anyone” who wants to take it.

The estate and villa, which covers an area of ​​17 hectares, currently belongs to the state of Berlin and has been attracting attention for many years officials are worried about the astronomical costs of maintaining them, not to mention the dark history.

“I suggest that anyone who would like to take possession of this place should receive it as a gift from the state of Berlin,” he said this week Mr. Evers in the Berlin House of Representatives.

Goebbels, a member of Hitler's inner circle, built the house in 1936 and used it for affairs with various actresses.

The property is currently time belongs to the state of Berlin and has been causing concern among officials for many years due to the astronomical costs of its maintenance. Photo: Michael Urban/AFP/Getty Images

After the fall of the Nazi regime, it was briefly used by the Allies as a military hospital before falling into the hands of the Soviets, who turned it into a youth camp.

The estate, about 10 miles north of Berlin, has been uninhabited since 2000 and the villa, surrounded by dense forest behind Lake Bogensee, has fallen into disrepair. Many of the windows are boarded up or broken and parts of the façade are missing.

Mr Evers said he was looking for proposals that would do justice to the site's historical significance, such as taking it under the control of the federal government or the neighboring state of Brandenberg, where it is located.

Another possibility could be a new private owner, perhaps with the intention of turning the area into a museum.

The senator warned that if the new owners do not step forward, “as was the case in last decades, the State of Berlin will have no choice but to carry out the demolition.»

The State of Brandenberg has so far been reluctant to acquire the site because, according to the German broadcaster ZDF, the cost of its reconstruction will be around 350 million euros.

This leaves Berlin with the significantly cheaper option of demolishing the site, which would cost 50 million euros.