Yahoo News German theme park forced to close ride in shape of giant swastikas
A small theme park in southern Germany has been forced to close a new attraction after visitors pointed out it resembled two giant swastikas.
The “Eagle Flight” ride at the Tatzmania theme park in the Black Forest is supposed to provide visitors with the experience of flying on the back of eagles.
But in what appears to be a bizarre blunder rather than a deliberate design, the ride looked like two giant rotating swastikas silhouetted against the sky.
The management of the theme park said it had closed the ride as soon as the mistake was pointed out and was redesigning it to remove the offending shape.
The public display of swastikas and other Nazi imagery is illegal in Germany and punishable by up to three years in prison.
The Tatzmania theme park is mainly a zoo with tigers, lions, wolves and other exotic animals on display.
But it also offers a number of rides, including a rollercoaster, a freefall tower and the "Eagle Flight".
The ride’s unfortunate resemblance to Nazi insignia was spotted by visitors soon after it opened and pictures and videos were shared on social media.
Rüdiger Braun, the theme park’s 62-year-old managing director, said he shut the ride down as soon as he saw the images.
“We didn't notice the gondolas are in the form of a swastika. It wasn’t obvious from the manufacturer’s sketches,” he told Bild newspaper.
Mr Braun said the ride would be redesigned. “There will be only three instead of four two-person gondolas per axle,” he said, adding that half the cost of the revamp would be paid by the ride’s Italian manufacturer.
“It was wise of the operator to react so quickly,” said Michael Wehner of the regional government agency for political education.
“Displaying prohibited symbols is an offence and sooner or later some one would have filed a complaint.”
