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Friday Photo: Triumph of the Gnomes

German artist Ottmar Hoerl poses after the opening ceremony of the art installation ‘Dance with the Devil’ at the main square of Straubing on October 15, 2009 in Straubing, Germany. Hoerl installed 1250 plastic garden gnomes giving a Nazi salute. The artwork has been highly controversial as Nazi salutes and symbols have been illegal in ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
579019_091016_gnome12.jpg
579019_091016_gnome12.jpg
1,250 garden gnomes with their right arms raised in a Hitler salute are presented in the southern German city of Straubing on October 14, 2009 -- all in the name of art. Artist Ottmar Hoerl, who has already displayed his provocative gnomes in Belgium, Italy and two German art galleries, said the display in Straubing in Bavaria was the first one in public in Germany. AFP PHOTO DDP / JOERG KOCH GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/AFP/Getty Images)

German artist Ottmar Hoerl poses after the opening ceremony of the art installation ‘Dance with the Devil’ at the main square of Straubing on October 15, 2009 in Straubing, Germany. Hoerl installed 1250 plastic garden gnomes giving a Nazi salute. The artwork has been highly controversial as Nazi salutes and symbols have been illegal in Germany since the end of the Second World War.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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