Berlin museum extends popular Hitler exhibition

A groundbreaking exhibition in Berlin tackling the personality cult of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler has been extended because of large numbers of visitors, organisers said Thursday.

"Hitler and the Germans" at Berlin's German Historical Museum (DHM) had been due to close on February 6 but will stay open another three weeks until February 27, spokesman Rudolf Trabold told AFP.

The exhibition, open since October, uses items ranging from propaganda posters, busts of Hitler, children's games and swastika Christmas decorations to show how Nazi imagery was present in almost every aspect of life.

These are juxtaposed with exhibits showing the sinister reality of life in the Third Reich behind the propaganda: the fate of Jews, political opponents or the mentally ill with no place in the Fuehrer's "Volk".

"So far we have had around 170,000 visitors," Trabold said.

Such an exhibition would not have been possible in Germany even 10 years ago, commentators say, and follows a recent change in popular attitudes in Germany towards Hitler.

The 2004 film "Downfall" portrayed Hitler as a deeply flawed human, not a monster, for example, and Germans have even learned to laugh at the dictator.