Paintings, drawings from Adolf Hitler's time as a failed artist up for auction in Nuremberg


When the paintings and drawings go up on the auction block next week in Germany, collectors of macabre pieces of history and mediocre art will have the chance to buy one of 14 works created by a young Adolf Hitler from 1904 to 1922.
Some of the artwork is expected to bring in tens of thousands of euros, with a watercolor of Bavaria's famous Neuschwanstein Castle — likely made as an 80th birthday gift for the German industrialist Otto von Steinbeis — possibly fetching €45,000, or more than $50,000. Most are signed by "A. Hitler," who wanted to become an artist but was rejected twice by an art academy in Vienna after failing the entrance exam, causing him to go down a very different path once he entered politics.
Last year, one of Hitler's watercolors of a Munich town hall sold for €130,000 ($145,312) to an anonymous buyer in the Middle East, UK's The Telegraph reports. Because of his monstrous past, most buyers want to stay anonymous, and some auctions houses have canceled events due to worries about dealing with anything related to Hitler. In Germany, it is legal for his artwork to be sold, as long as it does not feature any swastikas or Nazi symbols.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Can Trump put his tariffs on stronger legal footing?
Today's Big Question Appeals court says 'emergency' tariffs are improper
-
Film reviews: The Roses, Splitsville, and Twinless
Feature A happy union devolves into domestic warfare, a couple's open marriage reaps chaos, and an unlikely friendship takes surprising turns
-
Thought-provoking podcasts you may have missed this summer
The Week Recommends Check out a true crime binger, a deep-dive into history and more
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle