Following Adolf Hitler's suicide in 1945, the rights to his infamous autobiography, Mein Kampf (translation: “My Struggle”) were transferred to the state of Bavaria, who refused to ever publish the controversial book in Germany.

However, the country’s copyright law dictates that texts enter the public domain 70 years after the author’s death, meaning anyone could publish the work from 2016 onwards.

To some controversy, the Institute of Contemporary History (IfZ) released the first reprint of the anti-semitic manifesto last January, the two-volume book selling out on Amazon's German site within hours.

The IfZ has since revealed that 85,000 copies of the heavily annotated Mein Kampf have sold since January, making it one of the year’s bestsellers in Germany. A sixth print of the book will reach bookstores later this month.

A Day That Shook The World: Hitler elected German Chancellor Show all 3 1 /3 A Day That Shook The World: Hitler elected German Chancellor A Day That Shook The World: Hitler elected German Chancellor 30th January 1933: Soldier and statesman President Paul von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (1847 - 1934) handing over the rule of Germany to the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945). Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: Hitler elected German Chancellor Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen (1879 - 1969, centre) on their way to open the first session of the German Reichstag under Nazi rule, 1933. Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: Hitler elected German Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) and Dr Robert Ley (1890 - 1945) meet a line of workers at a party congress, 1935. Getty Images

Many commentators have expressed their worry that the IfZ is inadvertently spreading Nazi propaganda.

Addressing these controversy surrounding the reprint, Andreas Wirsching, the director of the IfZ, told The Guardian: “To the contrary, the debate about Hitler’s world view and his approach to propaganda offered a chance to look at the causes and consequences of totalitarian ideologies, at a time in which authoritarian political views and rightwing slogans are gaining ground.”

The institute reportedly collected data from regional booksellers that pointed to customers primarily being ‘interested in politics and history as well as educators, and not reactionaries or rightwing radicals’.

Despite various countries expressing an interest in the annotated version, for now, only translations to French and English are planned.