Researchers at the Munich Institute for Contemporary History are responsible for republishing the text and have been preparing for the expiration of the copyright for years. Seventy years is the standard duration of author’s copyright for any work of literature.
The new edition will be over 2,000 pages long across the two volumes. Only 780 pages will be Hitler’s original work as the remainder will consist of over 5,000 comments by researchers. An introduction to the famous work will also be included.
It was decided last year by justice members from all the German states that it should be illegal to publish an unedited version of Mein Kampf. Anyone doing so could face prosecution for incitement to hatred. It is because of this ruling that the heavy annotations are required.
The rights to Hitler’s autobiography are currently held by the State of Bavaria who inherited them from the Nazi Franz-Eher Publishing House. After originally promising €500,000 of funding in 2012 to support the project, president Horst Seehofer later reconsidered saying “I can’t apply for a ban on the [neo-Nazi] NPD in Karlsruhe and at the same time support the publication of ‘Mein Kampf’ with the state coat of arms.”
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, translated as “My Struggle”, whilst in prison after World War I. Originally published in 1925, he used it to outline his political ideology and future plans for Germany including his anti-communist views and quest to reverse the Treaty of Versailles and gain new “lebensraum” living space for Germany in eastern European nations.
