Waxwork of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg unveiled in Germany

A new homage to Greta Thunberg has been unveiled at a wax museum in the German city of Hamburg.

The waxwork of the Swedish climate activist, created by artist Gottfried Krueger, went on display on Wednesday at the Panoptikum Wax Museum.

Mr Krueger hailed the 17-year-old, who was named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2019, as the "most relevant personality" in the world.

His comments were echoed by Panoptikum museum CEO Dr Susanne Faerber, who called the teen one of the most "important protagonists of our time” who therefore “deserves her place here."

The museum also features waxworks of the likes of the Queen, Karl Lagerfeld and Henry VIII.

The installation of the new artwork came as Greta announced plans to trademark her name and her Fridays for Future founder school strike movement.

In an Instagram post shared with her 9.8million followers, the 17-year-old wrote: “My name and the #FridaysForFuture movement are constantly being used for commercial purposes without any consent whatsoever.

“It happens for instance in marketing, selling of products and people collecting money in my and the movement’s name.

She added: “Unfortunately there are still people who are trying to impersonate me or falsely claim that they ‘represent’ me in order to communicate with high profile people, politicians, media, artists etc.

“I apologize to anyone who has been contacted - and even misled - by this kind of behavior.”

She went on: “This action is to protect the movement and its activities. It is also needed to enable my pro bono legal help to take necessary action against people or corporations etc who are trying to use me and the movement in purposes not in line with what the movement stands for.

“I assure you, I and the other school strikers have absolutely no interests in trademarks. But unfortunately it needs to be done.

Fridays For Future is a global movement founded by me,” she concluded. “It belongs to anyone taking part in it, above all the young people. It can - and must - not be used for individual or commercial purposes.”

Greta said she had also applied to trademark “Skolstrejk for klimatet” (the Swedish translation of “school strike for the climate”) – which features on the placard she has held since she started her weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament in 2018.

She has not yet commented on her new Panoptikum Museum waxwork but, it should be noted, the model shows her brandishing the banner with pride.