Berlin marks site of Hitler bunker, breaks taboo

BERLIN, June 8 (Reuters) A Berlin-based history society today unveiled an information sign at the site of Hitler's underground bunker, marking for the first time exactly where the Nazi leader took his life at the end of World War Two.

Just 200 metres (yards) away from Germany's memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the Berlin Underworlds society has erected a sign giving details of the layout and construction of the bunker -- since buried under a carpark.

''Visitors to this area ... have until now never received information about this site,'' Dietmar Arnold, head of the Berlin Underworlds organisation, told reporters.

The society, which runs guided tours of Berlin's network of underground bomb shelters, said the plaque was designed to dispel myths about the underground shelter where Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945 -- hastening an end to World War Two in Europe.

''Our visitors are told absolute rubbish. Myths are maintained about the Fuhrer's underground motorway running to the Tempelhof airport,'' Arnold said.

In dry, factual terms, the dual-language board explains the history of the shelter -- from the completion of construction by Hochtief AG in October 1944 to its present status as a carpark.

Until now, Berlin had resisted giving an indication as to the location of the bunker for fear that it could become a symbolic gathering point for neo-Nazi groups.

However, the city's attitude towards the site has changed and it now sees the site as an important counterpoint to the nearby Holocaust memorial.

''Their subject matters are closely related. I think is a very good addition. The one can only be understood with the other in the background,'' said Christine Wolf, a publicity officer for the state heritage authority in Berlin.

The bunker was blown up in December 1947 by Soviet troops, destroying much of the interior. The surrounding area was turned into park land in 1959 and later became part of the east Berlin border zone when the Berlin Wall was constructed.

In the 1980s, when the East German government constructed apartment blocks on the site, the roof of the bunker was removed and the interior filled with sand and gravel and turned into a carpark. The eight-storey apartments still stand.

Reuters KD BST1911