German amusement park closes ride that resembles swastika

The ride, at the "Tatzmania" theme park in Löffingen, in southwestern Germany, is called "Alderflug" [Eagle's Flight in German] and has eagle-shaped cars connected to a spinning axis.

AUGUST 21, 2019 09:52

Nazi Swastika (photo credit: REUTERS) — Nazi Swastika

(photo credit: REUTERS)

A new ride at a German amusement park was shut down this week after people pointed out that the ride resembled a swastika, German news agency Deutsche Welle [DW] reported.

The ride, at the "Tatzmania" theme park in Löffingen, in southwestern Germany, is called "Alderflug" [Eagle's Flight in German] and has eagle-shaped cars connected to a spinning axis that closely resemble the infamous symbol of the Nazi regime.

Despite being a symbol of ancient Indian religions, the swastika, known in German as the Hakenkreuz, was adopted as the official emblem of the Nazi Party in 1920.

After a backlash on social media, the owners of the amusement decided to immediately close down the ride in order to redesign it together with the Italian manufacturer.

DW posted a video of the ride on their official Twitter account.

This amusement park ride in Germany turned a lot of heads. pic.twitter.com/A0mViur9yo
— DW News (@dwnews) August 20, 2019

Rüdiger Braun, the owner of the amusement park, apologized for the design of the ride.

"First of all, I would like to emphasize that I would like to apologize with all form to all persons who feel disturbed and insulted by our design," Braun told the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

DW also reported that Braun confirmed the ride will be redesigned with three eagles, rather than four.

"Then we will have this problem under control," he said.

One visitor to the amusement park reportedly said, "One wonders, of course, how one builds something like this; on the one hand because it still is a sensitive topic. On the other hand, it is only the engineering, and it just happens to look like that."

Another park visitor told DW that the ride didn't bother her.

"I'm not bothered because I didn't even notice that it looked like swastikas. And the children, they think nothing of it."