Gnomes Giving Hitler Salute on Display

If you like to include unusual art exhibits in your travels, keep an eye out for these garden gnomes.

More than 1,000 plastic garden gnomes with arms outstretched in the Hitler salute stand in military formation in an historic area of Straubing, Bavaria. The satiric exhibit, upsetting to many locals, will be on display in the city for a couple more days. While the garden gnomes have made their way into various art galleries, they’ve not been so publicly displayed in the past.

The artist Ottmar Horl has had to defend his work. Nazi symbols can’t be displayed in Germany, but the controversial exhibit was allowed to stand since a German court ruled the garden gnomes are intended as artistic satire. The artist wants the gnomes to send a message about the political disease he believes is still present in his country.

Have you seen this exhibit in person in a gallery or in Straubing?

(Image credit: Newscom)