Pope tours force birthplace sale

The owner is fed up with tourists hanging around outside her house

The owner of the house in Germany where Pope Benedict XVI was born wants to sell because she says she is tired of tourists gawping through the windows.

Homeowner Claudia Dandl says strangers ringing the doorbell of the 18th Century house in Marktl am Inn are making her life impossible.

The Pope, elected following the death of John Paul II in April, was born in the house on 16 April 1927.

The former customs house has been designated a historic site.

It was the marketplace police station when Joseph and Marie Ratzinger had their son Joseph. Mr Ratzinger senior was a local police commander and the family moved after two years.

But Ms Dandl says she still gets several hundred sightseers visiting on some days.

"The faithful's desire to see the house of Pope Benedict XVI's birth is very strong," she said in a statement.

The town's mayor would like to turn the house into a museum, but he has not said whether the local authority will bid for the property.

Last month, the Pope's old Volkswagen Golf was sold to a US casino for about 189,000 euros ($244,000; £127,000) on the online auction site eBay Germany.