Hitler wax figure unveiled in Berlin amid criticism

Berlin's new waxwork museum on Thursday unveiled a figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life, an exhibit that has been criticized as in bad taste.

The row over the figure overshadowed the media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds which opens its doors to the public on Saturday.

Critics say it is inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

"Of course the figure will arouse interest but we hope people will realize he is part of an exhibition with a range of attractions," said Meike Schulze, head of Midway Attractions in Germany which is responsible for Madame Tussauds here.

"It will be a shame if he dominates everything."

Her plea appeared to be falling on deaf ears.

About 200 reporters and cameramen all but ignored U.S. President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, plus the likes of Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Madonna and Brad Pitt.

Instead, they pushed and jostled to peer into a dark corner where the unmistakable figure of Hitler is seated.

Dressed in a grey suit, Hitler gazes downwards with a despondent stare, his arm outstretched on a large wooden table with a map of Europe on the wall of his gloomy bunker.

"We wanted to show him like this, in the last days of his life," said Schulze who defended the decision to put him on show, saying market research had shown there was demand for his inclusion, as long his portrayal was sensitive.

About 25 workers spent about four months on the waxwork, using more than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of the "Fuehrer" in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where he is standing upright.

It is illegal in Germany to show Nazi symbols and art glorifying Hitler and the exhibit is cordoned off to stop visitors posing with him.

Unobtrusive signs ask visitors to refrain from taking photos or posing with Hitler "out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War Two". Camera surveillance and museum officials will stop inappropriate behavior, said Schulze.

Institutions such as the foundation for Germany's central Holocaust memorial site have condemned the idea of the exhibit as tasteless, saying it had been included to generate business.

However, the wax figure is the latest in a gradual breaking down of taboos about Hitler in Germany more than 60 years after the end of the war and the Holocaust in which some 6 million Jews were killed.

The 2004 film "Downfall" provoked controversy as it portrayed the leader in a human light during the last days of his life and last year a satire about Hitler by Swiss-born Jewish director Dani Levy was released in Germany.