FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Food

A German Restaurant Celebrated Hitler on 4/20 with Discounted Schnitzel

A restaurant in Mainz, Germany decided to pay tribute to Adolf Hitler by using a symbolic nod to the Nazi salute.
Photo via Flickr user tribp

There are a lot of ways to celebrate on April 20, and the vast majority of them involve marijuana.

Unfortunately, the global celebration of cannabis also coincides with the birthday of the most notorious dictator of the 20th century, and some people choose to celebrate that instead.

One restaurant in Germany commemorated what would have been Adolf Hitler's 127th birthday by lowering the price of their burgers and schnitzel, NBC News reported. The Gasthaus Goldener Löwe (or, Golden Lion Inn) offered these items for 8.88 euros, for one day only—April 20.

Advertisement

READ MORE: This Nazi-Themed German Beer Targets Muslim Immigrants and Jews Alike

The price is significant because the letter "H" is the eighth in the German alphabet and the 88-derived pricing appeared to be a not-so-subtle reference to the Heil Hitler ("HH") salute. Among neo-Nazis, the number 88 has become code for the salute ever since Germany banned it and made it punishable by three years in prison.

As soon as the Golden Lion's taunt began getting media coverage, Germans descended upon their Facebook page to call out the restaurant's blatant racism, as well of the irony of commemorating a famous vegetarian with discounted meat dishes. The eatery also received thousands of one-star reviews.

When anti-Nazi campaign Hate Helps caught wind of the pricing scheme, they pledged to donate cash to refugees for every verified racist post or comment. Since its inception in October, Hate Helps has raised approximately $11,300 for their "Donate the Hate" initiative.

Undeterred, the owner of the Golden Lion counterattacked by donating "anti-refugee" stickers to local "activist groups" for every one-star Facebook review of his restaurant. That'll show em!

The owner of the Golden Lion would be well-advised to smoke a big, fat joint on the next April 20, not that he would deserve it.