IN GERMANY, as in the rest of Europe, copyright expires seven decades after the author’s year of death.

That applies even when the author is Adolf Hitler and the work is “Mein Kampf”.

Since 1945, the state of Bavaria has owned the book’s German-language rights and has refused to allow its republication.

German libraries stock old copies, and they can be bought and sold.

But from January 1st no permission will be needed to reprint it.

In a poll by YouGov this year, Germans were asked what person or thing they associate with Germany.

They named Volkswagen first (awkwardly, given subsequent revelations of its cheating).

Then came Goethe and Angela Merkel, the chancellor, next the anthem, the national football team and Willy Brandt, a former chancellor.

Hitler ranked a distant seventh at 25%

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