Controversial artist brings gnomes to Bavaria

15.10.2009
Art fans taking ferries to france may want to continue their journey into Germany to see an art installation which has got the whole nation talking.

Ottmar Hoerl has put in place more than a thousand gnomes, which are all performing a Nazi salute in the centre of Straubing, Lower Bavaria.

People wanting to witness one of the most talked about art exhibitions of recent years may want to include a visit to Bavaria after they have travelled to continental Europe via ferry.

Before the installation was allowed Mr Hoerl had to argue in court that his 15-inch gnomes were ridiculing the Nazis, not promoting their ideology, which he successfully did.

The piece is called Dance With the Devil, has 1,250 gnomes and the artist first introduced the gnomes at an art gallery in Nuremberg earlier in the year.

Bavarian holiday homes are also close to Europe"s biggest nature reserve, which runs along the former Iron Curtain and the area"s founder now wants to extend it from the arctic to the Black Sea.

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