A group of 14 paintings, watercolors, and drawings by Adolf Hitler went under the hammer at the Weilder auction house in Nuremberg this weekend, collectively fetching €400,000 ($450,000).
The most expensive work, which fetched €100,000, went to a buyer from China. The painting is of King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle, which is now a popular tourist attraction. A floral still life sold for €73,000.
Adolf Hitler Vase Mit Blumen (1912)
Photo: Nate D. Sanders Fine Autographs and Memorabilia
The unidentified buyers of the works, signed “A. Hitler,” came from all over the world, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Germany.
“These collectors are not specialized in works by this particular painter but rather have a general interest in high-value art,” said Kathrin Weidler of the auction house to DPA.
Adolf Hitler The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich (1914)
Originally from: Adolf Hitler: Bilder aus dem Leben des Führers
A watercolor from Hitler’s mediocre artistic oeuvre, The Old Town Hall (1914-15), was sold at Weilder’s last November for €130,000 ($147,444). A terrible flower painting of his was withdrawn from auction at Nate D. Sanders Fine Autographs and Memorabilia in Los Angeles in March of this year.
Hitler initially wanted to become an artist, and applied to the Vienna Academy of Art but was rejected. He went on to sell paintings to tourists that he had copied from postcards.
In an Oct 30, 1939, article in Life magazine, Hitler reportedly told a British ambassador at the time, “I am an artist and not a politician.” He continued, “One the Polish question is settled, I want to end my life as an artist.”
It is not illegal to sell the Nazi leader’s paintings in Germany as long as they do not bear any banned, related symbols.