Adolf Hitler's autobiography "Mein Kampf" is to be republished in Germany in 2015 for the first time since being banned under the country's constitution at the end of the Second World War.

Under the post-1945 German constitution, the dissemination of Nazi philosophy has been a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment.

But the copyright, held by the state of Bavaria where the Nazi movement began life in the 1920s, expires in 2015, 70 years after the death of its author in his Berlin bunker.

On Thursday the Munich-based Institute of Contemporary History pledged to publish an "annotated version" with historical notes that it hopes will see the book used in schools and colleges.

The finance ministry in Bavaria said it had still not decided whether to give its permission but it is understood that with the lapse in copyright, the IfZ will not need the green light from it. "Besides, we think our version, with sensible notes and comments pointing out the falsity of much of what he wrote, will be far better than neo-Nazis putting out their own versions," said the IfZ.

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