Protests fly over hotel plan for Nazi internment camp

A row has broken out in Germany about whether one of the country's first concentration camps can be sold for conversion into a hotel.

Lichtenburg Castle, in Prettin, on the river Elbe west of Berlin, dates from the sixteenth century. It was turned into an internment camp in 1933, the year Hitler took power.

It currently stands empty, except for part of the castle that is used as a museum and memorial to the victims of the Nazis.

The German government has put the building up for sale, saying that it can no longer afford the upkeep. Observers believe that it could be turned into a luxury hotel.

The local Communist party has called for a halt to the sale, while organisations representing those persecuted by the Nazis say that it must be put to an appropriate use, such as an international youth centre.

Josef Gerats, regional representative of the Association for Victims of Nazi Persecution, said: "A Nazi concentration camp cannot be sold off. It's a place in which crimes were committed. You can't turn it into something like a hotel or a residence."

The mayor of Prettin, Karl Hennig, said that he would not oppose the castle being turned into a hotel, provided it was a "serious" hotel and did not include a disco. He said that a suitable hotel could provide a few much-needed jobs.

As a condition of the sale, any buyer would have to maintain the on-site memorial.