WHAT do YOU think of, when you think of Austria? Mountains? Hitler? The Sound of Music? Well, think again.

From this week it’s quite probable the central European country will be forever linked to Bruno, the uber-gay, lederhosen-wearing, fashionista alter ego of Borat and Ali G creator Sacha Baron Cohen.

Styling himself as “the most famous Austrian since Adolf Hitler”, Bruno launched the world premiere of his movie in Leicester Square, wearing a bearskin, military waistcoat and a pair of leather shorts so tiny they’d barely cover a bratwurst.

His mockumentary shows him travelling the USA, Borat-style, as a camp, Austrian fashion journalist offending just about everyone, while he exposes latent homophobia and embarrasses annoying celebrities.

Sample Bruno quotes include his belief that Austria is a place where people are brought up to “try and achieve ze Austrian dream – find a job, get a dungeon, raise a family”, and that Hitler is merely “Austria’s black sheep”.

That one has already offended Austrian columnist Lisa Trompisch who demanded to know how it could be funny, but Austrians themselves are still unsure what to make of it all.

“Provocation at the highest level” was one broadcaster’s assessment, although street interviews in Vienna have shown that Austrians are preparing to take a joke even if they are secretly wondering “why us?”

After all, they do seem to have had a shedload of bad luck on the image front.

Is it their fault the shooting of their Archduke Franz Ferdinand helped spark World War I?

Or that a man called Adolf Hitler happened to be born within their borders?

Or that the two most shocking cases of imprisonment, torture and child incest in recent times have occurred in Austrian households?

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The general view is that Austria certainly didn’t have to welcome Adolf Hitler with open arms when he annexed their country in 1938.

The population didn’t have to denounce Jews and help deport them to their horrific fate.

In 1938 the Jewish population of the country was estimated at 181,882 people.

By October 1942 it was estimated that due to deportation to concentration camps and people who had managed to flee, that population had been decimated to less than 5,000.

Facts like these have sat heavily on the republic and it didn’t help when it was discovered that Dr Kurt Waldheim, the Austrian head of the United Nations and later their president, had been a member of the German military force.

For millions, the images they will always treasure are those helicopter shots of Julie Andrews, singing her heart out in The Sound of Music.

Thanks to its mountainous terrain – only 32 per cent of the population live below 3,500 metres – Austria is a top skiing destination (the winter Olympics have twice been held in the city of Innsbruck).

Three per cent of the country comprises nature parks and there is even a small colony of wild bears lurking in one of them.

Austria is one of the richest countries of the world and a declared neutral state, although it is part of the EU.

And while Hitler is now its most famous deceased citizen, why, Austrians might be entitled to wonder, don’t people remember that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one, too?

Austrian Nurse Margit Kuenzler is currently studying English in Bournemouth and believes her fellow Austrians will be able to cope with the Baron Cohen treatment.

“It isn’t the same as Kazakhstan – it wasn’t so good for the people there because they were proud that someone was interested in them and maybe didn’t understand what was happening.

“Because Austria is better known, I think they can handle this.”

She believes Austrians will see the joke because: “We have a special humour.”

But what about jokes about Hitler and dungeons?

“I think it’s OK to make jokes about the past.

“Laughing is another way of crying, sometimes.”

In the end, it is Bruno himself who has the last laugh.

He may be Austrian but the butt of his jokes are nearly all puffed-up celebrities.

Who could fail to warm to a character who says of the bad-tempered model Naomi Campbell: “She’s amazing – 20 years in ze business und all ze pressure und fame hasn’t changed her a bit – she’s remained a total bitch.”