How do you solve a problem like the Fuhrer? ; Europe's Capital of Culture next year is Hitler's home town, Linz, which could be a real headache for the organisers or a golden opportunity

AS THE Russians prepared to close in on Berlin in February 1945, Adolf Hitler ordered his secondfavourite architect, Hermann Giesler, to build a scale model of his hometown, Linz, and install it in his bunker.

One of the last photographs of Hitler shows him sitting at a low table, studying the Nibelungen Bridge he had thrown across the Danube as a prelude to more grandiose constructions. In his final will and testament, Hitler bequeathed Linz his personal art collection. Linz, in Hitler's fantasy, was going to be Europe's capital of culture.

Next year, that dream will be…