“By some quirk of Brussels chicanery or a triple ironic bypass after a liquid lunch, Linz has been chosen to succeed Liverpool as Europe’s artistic hub for the year 2009. It’s a decision beyond satire, or reason. Even if there were cultural grounds for celebrating Linz – and there are some – someone on an EU salary should surely have spotted that 2009 is the 70th anniversary of Hitler’s war and the 120th of his birth.”