Hitler returns to Berlin ... this time as a dummy

Madame Tussauds threw open their new waxworks on the Unter den Linden, Berlin to reporters ,but not to the public , today. Judging by the Der Speigel photographs, the realism of the figures is several times better than those in London.

The figure of Adolf Hitler in his bunker with shades of the Oliver Hirschbiegel's brilliant film, Der Untergang (The Downfall) has predictably received attention . .... although Marlene Dietrich, Karl Marx, Einstein juggle for attention with modern german politicians ( and some old ones like Erich Honecker) and second rate German fussballern

Madame Tussauds (first seen in England in 1802) is now part of the Poole (mysterious place) based Merlin Entertainments who are majority owned by the Blackstone Group which was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman , when the management company was IPO's last year the Chinese Government (AKA The China Development Bank, ) took 9.9% of the offering at a value of some US$7.8Bn (nominal share value US$29-31) which Tony Lueng out of Hong Kong oversees. (Shares closed at US$17.23 today so the Chinese are left nursing a bruising loss ... but not as much as the US$2.2 BN they put into Barclays at the same time.

Blackstone for example own approximately 20 million square feet of office space in the SF Bay Area ... On the Peninsula and throughout Silicon Valley.

Practical jokers and thrill seekers or the barmy will be herded off the stand at Madame Tussauds - there is a sign on Hitler's desk telling visitors not to take photos.

Unlike the other exhibits, Hitler will be kept cordoned off and will be guarded permanently by a member of staff, and the area will be permanently monitored by video surveillance cameras.

Der Speigel report that Council of Jews in Germany have not ob jected and take a refreshingly relaxed view. The General secretary Stephan Kramer, doesn't want Hitler to become a tourist attraction in Berlin. "But if such an exhibition helps to normalize the view of Hitler and to demystify him, one should try it," he said.

"Erasing him from history is not going to bring the perished ones back, it's not going to heal the damage that he did, the crimes that he did. That would be counter-productive," he said.

Naturally it hasn't been without criticism and politicians have jostled for their sound bites , Michael Braun, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).. "distasteful beyond comparison." Danny Cohn Bendits colleague Green politician Alice Ströver ...."tasteless, disgusting and in bad style."

"Unspeakable," commented Brigitte Lange from the Social Democrats.

For more news from Germany try this.."Heidelberg woman bites rapist's penis and escapes" Ouch!


Worth taking a look at Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Mein Kampf - German Academic calls for re-publication