there were 31 works in the auction, there will ultimately only five. The auction house Weidler, devoted to drawings and watercolours of Adolf Hitler, turns to the court case. The prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg has ordered on Thursday the seizure of 26 of these works. The reason for this? Doubts about their authenticity.
» READ ALSO – Germany: thirty-one paintings attributed to Hitler sold at auction
«We are conducting an investigation to the public prosecutor of Nuremberg on suspicion of forgery and attempted fraud», indicated to the AFP the chief prosecutor Antje Gabriels-Gorsolke, to the effect that an investigation would now be conducted to «check if the paintings are fake or original». «If it turns out that these are false, we will check that in the chain of custody knew what,» said the prosecutor. Some of the works were accompanied by certificates of authenticity but they could also be fake, according to the public prosecutor.
«Some of the tables had to be removed from the sale for verification. This does not automatically mean that it is wrong», defends the house Weidler in a press release. The auction house has already sold in the past several paintings attributed to the «Führer», in which a pair of watercolours for 32.000 euros in 2009.
The auctions were originally scheduled to start at 130 euros for a charcoal drawing, up to 45,000 euros for a watercolor painting. Another sale is planned around the furniture that belonged to the nazi dictator. You can find a wicker chair, a vase, Meissen porcelain and a tablecloth.
at the End of January, the office of criminal investigation Berlin had already confiscated three paintings of Adolf Hitler, initially offered at an auction. The bureau had expressed doubts as to their authenticity.