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Hitler waxwork back on display in Berlin

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Hitler waxwork back on display in Berlin
Photo: DPA

He's back. Two months after a visitor ripped the head off a controversial Hitler waxwork at the new Berlin branch of Madame Tussaud's, the museum is again displaying the figure, this time protected by a wall and extra security.

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Some aspects of the display have remained the same – the effigy of the Nazi dictator still appears seated at a desk in his bunker apparently awaiting the approaching Red Army. But big and small changes have been made since July 5 when one of the first visitors to the new museum stormed the display, wrenching the head off the 200,000-euro figure and screaming “No more war!”

For one thing, a grey wall with three windows now separates visitors from the simulated bunker. There's also a sign requesting tourists to refrain from touching, photographing or posing with the waxwork, “out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War II.”

But, as the Berliner Morgenpost reported, there have been other, more subtle changes to the display. It would appear that museum staff have given the figure a rather less polished look now, the paper reported. Instead of a strict parting, the Führer's hair now falls haphazardly in his face. His tie is also not so neatly knotted as it was for the museum's opening. And a staff member now stands guard alongside the exhibit, which is also under video surveillance.

In a statement given on Saturday, Madame Tussaud's declared itself to be apolitical. “We are proud of our 200-year history, in which we have never allowed ourselves to be influenced by radical opinions when it comes to deciding which figures should be included in our attractions,” the statement said.

The British company defended its decision to persist with the Hitler display despite the controversy it has unleashed in Germany, saying that “Hitler represents a decisive part of Berlin's history which we can't just pretend did not happen."

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