‘Hitler paintings’ fail to sell at auction

Five watercolours attributed to Adolf Hitler have failed to sell at auction.

The paintings, from his days as a struggling artist, went under the hammer in the German city of Nurembergamid speculationthat they could be fakes. The Nuremberger Nachrichten newspaper reported that no bids were received on the paintings, which had starting prices of between £16,600 and £39,300.

Three days before Saturday’s auction, prosecutors seized 63 other paintings attributed to the Nazi dictator from the auction house to investigate allegations they were fakes.

As a young man, Hitler is thought to have painted some 2,000 pictures as he unsuccessfully struggled to succeed as an artist in Vienna before the First World War.