Hitler cups embarrass German furniture store

Updated April 11 2014 - 7:18am, first published 5:51am

Berlin: A small German furniture store chain says it inadvertently ordered 5000 coffee cups bearing a faint portrait of Adolf Hitler from China.

Christian Zurbrueggen, co-owner of the Zurbrueggen chain, told German news agency DPA on Thursday that 175 of the offending cups were sold before customers reported the problem.

Mr Zurbrueggen said he wants to take the cups "out of circulation."

The 4825 unsold cups have been destroyed and Mr Zurbrueggen says he's offering a €20 ($29) voucher for the return of the others, which were sold for €1.99 each.

The cups have a faint feature of a Nazi-era stamp bearing Hitler's portrait and a postmark with a swastika in the background overlaid with another layer of decoration. They were ordered from a trade fair in China and delivered last month.

AP