When you search the south of Bavaria with “Google Earth” you will inevitably find an ominous “Adolf-Hitler-Berg” (Hitler mountain). Several tries to erase or change the name have been unsuccessful. The neighbors are not pleased. Now Google has promised to de-nazify.

Google Germany spokesman Stefan Keuchel has a simple answer to this: “This was the name of the hill in the past time. That’s just how it is.” According to the local journalist Christoph Schnitzer, it is true that the elevation was renamed by Hitler henchmen in 1933. At the time the municipality of Wackersberg – like many other towns – declared Hitler as an honorary citizen and dedicated the hill to him, as it is evident in the local newspaper archives. In July 1933, a 10 meter high illuminated swastika was erected on the top. The symbol of terror stood there until the end of World War II in 1945, when local citizens removed it.

However, the history surrounding the hill is nowhere to be found in Google Earth. Normally they have related annotations for historical labels, Keuchel says. Unfortunately they are missing in this particular case, he admitted when contacted by German news agency DPP.

The problem is actually known for some time in Bad Toelz, the district’s capital. “We are trying for year to have the Adolf Hitler label removed”, says the city’s prss secretary Gerhard Grasberger. “At one time Google actually reacted but later on the name reappeared”.

Google spokesman Keuchel conceded: “That process wasn’t handled by us very well. I admit that”. He explained that the problem lies within Google’s frequent software updates. “We are accessing many different resources for Google Earth and apparently the name “Hitler-Berg” is stored somewhere in those and resurfaces.”

The name does not appear anywhere in the official archives of Bavaria’s office for Geo-Information. Office director Wolfgang Koehler told DPP, his files show that the hill has always been the “Heiglkopf”, no matter if the year was 1864, 1943, 1944 or later.

At any rate, Keuchel has promised to get rid of the label once and for all, with the next update scheduled for no later than two weeks. “In my opinion, the name ‘Hitler-Berg’ has to go”, he said.

Ultimately the label has only been used locally “during the dreadful time of national socialism” and Google certainly doesn’t want to be connected with some Neo-Nazi tendencies.”

(Journal Peru)