In the early 1930s, Hitler promised his Third Reich would stand for a thousand years, and in a few years, Germany was in ruins. Wax Hitler’s reign was even shorter.

From the very beginning, Madame Tussauds’ plan to include a wax Hitler into its new Berlin exhibit was met with controversy. It’s illegal in Germany to show Nazi symbols or glorify Hitler.

A few years ago, another German wax museum featured a wax Hitler, and the uproar brought the exhibit to a quick end. Madame Tussauds, however, said the museum’s aim was to depict German history –- and how do you do that, and avoid World War Two?

The museum promised sensitivity. Hitler would be depicted in his final days, a broken man on the verge of suicide, locked in a bunker as his twisted society was about to collapse.

Jewish groups were brought in to consult on the exhibit, and they voiced their approval.

Still, on the museum’s first day, a 41-year-old man pushed passed two security guards, and ripped Adolf’s head off. Too bad the real Hitler didn’t meet the same fate on his first day on the job.

Richard Basler at Reuter’s Oddly Enough captures the “Big Furor Over Waxy Fuehrer” – and points out that guards remained on duty, even after Germany’s former head of state lost his head.

Weird News Highlights

• Baby Go Boom: Georgia teen faces cruelty charges after an Internet video shows him launching an 8-year-old across a room (YouTube Boobs);
• Sick Puppy: Oklahoma woman accused of making 150 movies engaging in various sex acts with dogs (That’s Disgusting);
• Lawn and Order: Swedish men accused of mowing while intoxicated (Drinking Tales);
• Potty Payments: Indian village pays residents to use urinals to promote public hygiene (Potty Issues);
• Unkindist Cut of All: Romanian doctor ordered to pay $795,000 for severed penis (Strange Medicine);

Photo © Steffen Kugler/Getty Images