Austria’s highest court has ruled that the government was right to seize the house where Adolf Hitler was born, ending a long-running and bitter saga between the state and the former owner.

The government took control of the dilapidated building in the northern town of Braunau in December after MPs approved an expropriation law specifically aimed at the property.

The move came after years of wrangling with the building’s owner, Gerlinde Pommer, who had been renting the house to the interior ministry since the 1970s and refused to sell it or carry out essential renovation works.

The government said it had been necessary to force a decision on the issue to stop the premises from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.

Pommer’s lawyer said the move was excessive and launched an appeal in January.

But the constitutional court in Vienna sided with the government on Friday, arguing that the expropriation was in the public interest.

“The house is vulnerable to becoming a pilgrim site … for neo-Nazi ideology. It was therefore necessary to ensure that no criminal abuses take place,” the court said.

Judges pointed out that the owner would receive compensation for the property, which also comprises several garages and parking spaces behind the main building.

For nearly a century, Pommer’s family owned the yellow corner house where Hitler was born on 20 April 1889.

Although the future dictator spent only a short time at the property, it continues to draw Nazi sympathisers from around the world.

The 800 sq metre (8,600ft) building has been empty since the rental agreement between Austria and Pommer collapsed in 2011.

Until then, the government had been renting the premises for about €4,800 (£4,200) a month and used it as a centre for people with disabilities.

The deal came to an abrupt end six years ago when Pommer refused a much-needed upgrade.

It is not yet clear what the government plans to do with the property. The interior minister’s call for demolition was met with angry resistance from other politicians and historians. Instead, it will most likely be used by a charity.

Every year on Hitler’s birthday, anti-fascist protesters organise a rally outside the building, where a memorial stone reads: “For peace, freedom and democracy. Never again fascism, millions of dead warn.”