A row has erupted over plans to install the waxwork of Adolf Hitler [Images] at Madame Tussauds new Berlin museum, with critics describing it as an attempt to glorify the Nazi dictator's reign.

"It's tasteless. A waxworks museum is meant to entertain and to amuse. It's not appropriate to have a Hitler figure there," said Johannes Tuchel, from the Gedenkstaette Deutscher Widerstand, a memorial for opponents of the Nazi regime.

Many fear that the waxwork, which will go on display when the museum opens next month, will glorify Hitler's reign, allowing younger visitors and neo-Nazis to pose for pictures with the replica dictator.

However, a Madame Tussauds spokesman said Hitler deserved a place in the museum due to his impact on German history.

However, the organisers plan to prevent visitors from posing with the 'Great Dictator'.

Hitler is already featured alongside US President George W Bush [Images] and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the London [Images] museum's 'world leader' section.

The report said the new museum would also feature waxworks of scientist Albert Einstein, Chancellor Angela Merkel and sports stars including former tennis champion Boris Becker.