Rasp
Senior Editor
Ottawa Citizen
City of culture's top draw: Hitler
Fuhrer had big plans for Linz in Austria
Adolf Hitler is one of the last names you would expect to be used in a tourism marketing campaign.
But the Nazi leader has been given centre stage by the next European City of Culture.
Liverpool highlighted its connections to the Beatles when it became City of Culture in 2008. But the Austrian city of Linz has decided to showcase the works of the architect of the Third Reich.
This handout picture from the Schlossmuseum museum of Linz dated 1940 shows men conducting construction works in central Linz. During The Nazi era, Adolf
Hitler developed architectural plans including a ‘Führermuseum’ for his hometown Linz, which will be the European capital of culture in 2009.
Hitler spent nine years of his childhood in the city, which he loved so much he intended to make it the location for a magnificent five-star Adolf Hitler Hotel. He had also proposed building a 162-metre bell tower to house the remains of his parents.
He planned to make Linz one of the five model "Fuhrer Cities" of the Third Reich: a "Fuhrer Museum" would have housed 16 million works of art, the vast majority of which were taken from private Jewish collections.
The municipal leaders of Linz, buoyed by securing the city of culture accolade, which can generate millions of dollars in tourism revenue, have decided to exploit, rather than ignore, the Hitler connection.
Tourists can now explore Nazi remnants throughout town. Equipped with an audio guide, they can listen to footage of survivors from the Mauthausen/ Gusen con
centration camp.
Ulrich Fuchs, the deputy manager of events for 2009, said: "Whenever you come to Linz, you will find something related to this topic. We are not sweeping Hitler under the carpet." Martin Heller, the artistic director of Linz 2009, said there was an "obligation" to tackle the city's Nazi history. He said: "We want to reflect back and show how cultural and political ambitions went together in the Nazi time."
City of culture's top draw: Hitler
Fuhrer had big plans for Linz in Austria
Adolf Hitler is one of the last names you would expect to be used in a tourism marketing campaign.
But the Nazi leader has been given centre stage by the next European City of Culture.
Liverpool highlighted its connections to the Beatles when it became City of Culture in 2008. But the Austrian city of Linz has decided to showcase the works of the architect of the Third Reich.
This handout picture from the Schlossmuseum museum of Linz dated 1940 shows men conducting construction works in central Linz. During The Nazi era, Adolf
Hitler developed architectural plans including a ‘Führermuseum’ for his hometown Linz, which will be the European capital of culture in 2009.
Hitler spent nine years of his childhood in the city, which he loved so much he intended to make it the location for a magnificent five-star Adolf Hitler Hotel. He had also proposed building a 162-metre bell tower to house the remains of his parents.
He planned to make Linz one of the five model "Fuhrer Cities" of the Third Reich: a "Fuhrer Museum" would have housed 16 million works of art, the vast majority of which were taken from private Jewish collections.
The municipal leaders of Linz, buoyed by securing the city of culture accolade, which can generate millions of dollars in tourism revenue, have decided to exploit, rather than ignore, the Hitler connection.
Tourists can now explore Nazi remnants throughout town. Equipped with an audio guide, they can listen to footage of survivors from the Mauthausen/ Gusen con
centration camp.
Ulrich Fuchs, the deputy manager of events for 2009, said: "Whenever you come to Linz, you will find something related to this topic. We are not sweeping Hitler under the carpet." Martin Heller, the artistic director of Linz 2009, said there was an "obligation" to tackle the city's Nazi history. He said: "We want to reflect back and show how cultural and political ambitions went together in the Nazi time."