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Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by monorail on Sun Jul 6 03:07:49 2008 Museum unveils wax Hitler Berlin - 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 criticised as being in bad taste. The row over the figure overshadowed the media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussaud's 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 realise 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 Tussaud's here. "It will be a shame if he dominates everything." Her plea appeared to fall on deaf ears. Bush, Merkel ignored About 200 reporters and cameramen all but ignored US 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 Tussaud's 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. Out of respect 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 behaviour, 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. 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. Wax Hitler loses his head 05/07/2008 14:42 - (SA) Berlin - A man tore the wax head off an effigy of Adolf Hitler in Berlin on Saturday, just minutes after a new branch of the Madame Tussaud's waxwork-museum chain opened for the first time to the public. German police said they detained the man, 41. He had crossed a rope barrier and touched the figure, and another member of the public tried to pull him away, with the head coming away in the melee. Police said the detained man, from the nearby leftist neighbourhood of Kreuzberg, appeared to have been opposed to the inclusion of the Nazi dictator in the 75-figure show. The decision by London-based Tussaud's, part of the Merlin Entertainments company, to include Hitler in the show, at an address on Berlin's grandest street, Unter den Linden, has roused fierce passions in the German capital. Responding to warnings that it might become a site of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, Tussaud's depicted Hitler as a broken man in his bunker just before his 1945 defeat and death. There are eight Tussaud's museums round the world. The other European shows are in London and Amsterdam. The Saturday opening was extensively reported in the German media. While Hitler has been shown in German school textbooks, television history shows and feature films like Downfall in 2004, critics said the Tussaud's show was using him for entertainment. The newspaper Bild reported on Saturday that another subject of a Tussaud's effigy, former chancellor Helmut Kohl, was seeking legal advice about his own inclusion in the show. Tussaud's had approached him and he had set certain conditions, but they were not met. "I never gave permission," he was quoted saying. - Sapa-dpa |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Orange Blossom Special on Sun Jul 6 03:44:45 2008, in response to Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by monorail on Sun Jul 6 03:07:49 2008. I thought it looked pretty good. There's a difference between promoting or creating shrines, and just deleting and erasing history.  At least there are people in Europe who feel that strongly, instead of all being neo-nazi's who care. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 05:08:42 2008, in response to Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by monorail on Sun Jul 6 03:07:49 2008. The only way Hitler should be depicted in wax or any other way should be as he appeared in "Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers." |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Jul 6 05:20:00 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 05:08:42 2008. My favorite part of that entire film was the look on the audience's faces with the dropped jaws ... Mel Brooks' BEST piece of work. :) |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 06:10:42 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Jul 6 05:20:00 2008. I saw the Broadway show and the movie. The show was splashier and very funny. But its tough to top Zero Mostel and Kenneth Mars. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Jul 6 06:27:11 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 06:10:42 2008. I'm SO glad both made it to the film ... and Gene Wilder. Heh. Yeah, have heard from others that the stage show was even better ... alas, couldn't do it back in those days ($) ... also saddened that I missed having a chance to meet Mel and Anne by minutes at one of Clay Felker's ("New York Magazine") shindigs ...Sad thing though is that "Spaceballs" was the beginning of a neverending decline of Mel Brooks' talent. Many forget that he was the brains behind the original "Get Smart" and so many other jewels. :) |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Orange Blossom Special on Sun Jul 6 15:01:43 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 05:08:42 2008. I like the original, the new one is kinda eh.But, as much as I love Steve Martin, and John Cleese, I'm more of a fan of the original out of towners too. The new one is kinda disney, except for a good apperance by Giuliani. But now I'm veering off course. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Jul 6 15:22:48 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Mitch45 on Sun Jul 6 05:08:42 2008. Or as Adenoid Hynkel from "The Great Dictator". |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by monorail on Sun Jul 6 17:45:56 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Jul 6 06:27:11 2008. 'and so many other jewels. :)'whose 'jewels' was he the brains behind? |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 18:06:41 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Orange Blossom Special on Sun Jul 6 15:01:43 2008. I never saw the new Out of Towners but I can't see how anyone can top Jack Lemmon & Sandy Dennis. Every time I think of the movie I think Of Sandy Dennis going "Oh my Gawd"!!! And the small part with a young Ann Meara as a robbery victim in the police station was hilarious. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 18:11:24 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Jul 6 15:22:48 2008. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by orange blossom special on Sun Jul 6 18:31:54 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 18:06:41 2008. I'd rate it as one of my fav films. only time I was in nyc I got lost with this chick, and told her it was becoming an Out of Towners moment.Wish it were on more. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by orange blossom special on Sun Jul 6 18:33:05 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Orange Blossom Special on Sun Jul 6 03:44:45 2008. For real, how can anyone delete history, and pretend the guy who forever changed european cities and demographics never existed?Don't think we should do that. |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 18:49:01 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by orange blossom special on Sun Jul 6 18:31:54 2008. ["Wish it were on more."] |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 19:00:28 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by orange blossom special on Sun Jul 6 18:31:54 2008.
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Orange Blossom Special on Sun Jul 6 23:21:51 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by Jeff Rosen on Sun Jul 6 19:00:28 2008. "I can verify that"That embedded scene wasn't in the remake.Apparently, nothing can happen to anyone to make them not want to live in NY. It's automatic that they must stay and go watch Broadway shows everyweek. The original was much more realistic. And I don't even mean from a NY standpoint. Any big american city. If I had a DVD collection, this should be in it. Never seen a trailer before. Then again, I forget I'm talking to a ny cop just like the film :p |
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Re: And the Decapitator is a Hero |
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Posted by Fred G on Mon Jul 7 07:54:01 2008, in response to Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by monorail on Sun Jul 6 03:07:49 2008. Read all about it in the Times OnlineThe quotes are pretty amusing. your pal, Fred |
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Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head |
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Posted by Grand concourse on Tue Jul 8 06:22:29 2008, in response to Re: Museum Unveils Wax Hitler, Hitler loses his head, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Jul 6 05:20:00 2008. I thought the 'Hitler on ice' bit of the so called History of the World "sequel" preview was good for a chuckle. |
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