09. 09. 10. - 12:00

Anger over Nazi-named hiking paths

Constitutional authorities are under pressure to act after it emerged that the names of dozens of hiking paths implied links to the neo-Nazi mindset.

Austrian hiking and climbing platform Bergsteigen.at revealed popular paths across the country had names like "Riefenstahl" or "Swastikaar". While the former term clearly seems to refer to Third Reich filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, the latter name resembles the word swastika.

The homepage reports other routes are called "Kristalltag" and "Ewiges Reich". "Reichskristallnacht" describes the night of 9 November 1938 when Nazi henchmen set hundreds of Jewish shops and institutions across Germany on fire. "Tag" means day in German, while "Nacht" stands for night. "Ewiges Reich" can be translated into Eternal Empire.

Hikers who walk paths in the Austrian Alps first are eligible to give them names. Bergsteigen.at claimed Lower Austrian climber and book author Thomas Behm was responsible for the controversial names evoking far-right propaganda.

Behm dismissed the accusations. He claimed they had "nothing to do with the Nationalistic mindset. I oppose that ideology."

Sweden was hit by similar revelations recently when it emerged hiking routes bore names like "A Small Hitler" and "Cyclone B", which was the trade name of the agent the Nazis used in forced labour camps’ gassing chambers.