Hitler link alarms German resort

By Steve Rosenberg
BBC News, Bad Doberan, Germany

A Nazi rally in 1938: Hitler has returned to haunt Bad Doberan

Germans have been embarrassed by the fact that Adolf Hitler remains an honorary citizen of Bad Doberan, a town that will host the annual G8 summit.

The town council has held a special meeting to officially remove Hitler from the roll of honour.

Leaders from the world's major industrial nations will meet in one of the town's districts, Heiligendamm, in just over two months' time.

The small resort by the Baltic Sea was previously part of East Germany.

During the Nazi period, more than 4,000 towns and cities awarded Adolf Hitler the title of honorary citizen.

After 1945 most revoked that honour, but not Bad Doberan. It spent more time under communism trying to forget the past than dealing with it.

So, quietly, and rather embarrassingly, Hitler remained a figure of honour until now.

But with the G8 summit looming the local council has suddenly realised that having the Fuehrer in the book of honour does not reflect well on the town.