VIENNA -- Hungarian neo-Nazis hoping to visit the Austrian art academy that rejected Hitler more than a century ago received the same response Thursday-- no admittance.
Advised of the group's plans, the Academy of Fine Arts shuttered its doors and about 30 protesters congregated in front of the institute, holding banners with anti-Nazi slogans in German and Hungarian.
Deputy rector Andrea B. Braidt said the academy will stay closed until late in the day, reopening only after the six adults and one child leave Vienna.
The academy twice rejected Hitler's application for admission in the early 1900s. Braidt said some Hitler fans argue that this turned him toward pursuing politics.
"That makes some neo-Nazis obliged to thank the academy, which is something we don't want," Braidt said.
The adults are members of the Hungarian chapter of "Blood & Honour," an international neo-Nazi organization counting an estimated 10,000 members.
They were being escorted by police through the Austrian capital until they move on to visit the house of Hitler's birth in the Austrian town of Braunau and other sites in Austria and Germany linked to the Nazi dictator.
