A woman selling the house where Pope Benedict XVI was born said today that she has received more than 400 offers, including at least one bid of $10.9 million.

Claudia Dandl announced in June that she intended to sell the traditional Alpine house in the Bavarian village of Marktl am Inn, with a white stucco plaster decorated with a yellow trim, because she couldn’t cope with the growing crowds of sightseers.

Ms Dandl bought the building and the adjoining yard in 1999, and refurbished it for herself and her two young children.

But she says that life has become unbearable because of the swarms of tourists, some of whom peek through the windows or ring the doorbell to ask if they can come inside.

Ahead of the deadline for offers at midnight tonight, more than 400 interested parties had submitted bids, including a firm from the United Arab Emirates, a spokeswoman for the family said.

However, only between 20 and 30 of the offers appeared "serious", spokeswoman Viktoria Rauh said. She didn’t say who offered the biggest sum.

Ms Dandl has said that the two-storey house on the market square will not automatically be sold to the highest bidder, but to someone who has come up with a good proposal to open it to the public.

Town officials would like to turn the rooms where Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was born into a museum, and all bidders are required to also submit a proposal of how they would use the house. The town, which has an option to buy it, is among the bidders.

Ms Rauh said that Ms Dandl would consider all the proposals carefully, and it was unclear when she would announce the winning offer.

Built in 1745 as a customs house, the building had been turned into a police station when the former Cardinal Ratzinger was born on April 16, 1927. His father was the local police commander and had his living quarters there.

Benedict lived in the house for only two years as a baby before his family moved.

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