Image by getty images

A 1914 watercolor by Adolf Hitler fetched 130,000 euros ($161,000) at auction in the German city of Nuremberg on Saturday, the auctioneers said.

The buyer was a private person from the Middle East who attended the sale in person, said Kathrin Weidler, head of the auction house. She said there had also been inquiries from Asia and America.

The painting, entitled “Standesamt und Altes Rathaus Muenchen” (Civil Registry Office and Old Town Hall of Munich), is one of about 2,000 works that Hitler painted between about 1905 and 1920 as a struggling young artist.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Asked before the auction whether it was tasteless to auction the Nazi dictator’s works, generally considered to be of only limited artistic merit, Weidler said complaints should be addressed to the sellers – two unidentified German sisters in their 70s.

Weidler said the vendors had decided to donate around 10 percent of the proceeds to a charity that helps disabled children.

Hitler’s Nazi party held mass rallies in Nuremberg between 1933 and 1938. In his autobiography “Mein Kampf,” he wrote that, as a young man, his hopes of becoming an artist had been dashed by repeated rejection by Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts.

Five other Hitler paintings have fetched between 5,000 and 80,000 euros at auction.

Weidler said the original handwritten bill of sale, dated Sept. 25, 1916, had come with the painting and was a rarity for Hitler’s art. That also explained the relatively high selling price, she said.

But that has raised doubt among critics about the painting’s provenance. They recall how hoaxer Konrad Kujau used supposed certifications of authenticity to trick some historians when he marketed what proved to be bogus “Hitler Diaries” in 1983.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount