Freaky Weird Hitler-Themed Saloon

OK, here’s a VolumeOne.org exclusive we’ve been holding onto for a few weeks. Our pal Joel is living in Korea right now, and he came across a bar with an out-of-the-ordinary theme: friggin’ Hitler. At first, he thought “Hitler” might mean something else in Korean, and this was merely an unfortunate/whacky cross-cultural misnomer. But then he went inside...

This just got, like, 200 times better. “Hitler” means Hitler, as in Adolf. I went in there, and (since it was Monday night) it was empty. The bartenders (as expected) didn't speak any English, so I couldn't get any sort of reason or anything as to why on god’s green earth this bar exists. Koreans aren't Anti-Semitic or pro-Third Reich that I know of, but this makes me wonder.

The whole place is black, completely black, and chrome. There is a replica of a war plane on the ceiling. It is a small, normal bar with beer and whiskey. Good-looking bartenders. The official name is 1939 Hitler Bar.

I. Could. Not. Believe what I was looking at... pictures of deiner Fuhrer and swastikas Lots of swastikas. I wish I would've taken a ton more pictures of the place, but here are a few that give you a good idea (here, here, and here). Note the swastika table with black leather chairs. In the background, comfortable Korean pop music played. Also, I paid goddamn 5000 won (5 bucks) for a Heineken (but got peanuts).

Thanks for the investigative reporting/drinking, Joel! Does anyone have any idea why Korea might have a Hitler bar?

Posted by Mike

Comments

[Shannon]

Joel-

Here's some interesting reading... I don't know
if it's the same place, but it may give some insight
as to why the bar exists.

[Ivan Illyich Lyi]

I know why there is a Hitler Bar. I am Korean-Russian and lived in Pusan for a while in an area called Russia town. THere is a Hitler bar close by and some of them want to just attract attention. One of them came up with the idea in an interior decorating meeting supposedly. Others are more ideological like some in Seoul, who believe in the Honorary Aryan theory. That whoever helps out the cause of Hitler is an honorary Aryan. (Only Applies to East Asians, Mediterraneans, and Middle Easterners) Also, I think Koreans have a poor understanding of anything not Korean.... So they don't fully understand what they are doing by opening up a hitler baer.

[Pym]

Hitler is seen as a symbol of power in Korea. I remember a full-page cellphone ad in a Korean newspaper in 1992 with a Korean woman in a full (male) Nazi uniform giving the salute. The copy translated as "Our cellphones will conquer the world".