The Kloss auction house in Berlin had put the paintings, which had reportedly been authenticated as being done by Adolf Hitler, up for sale to much controversy, but local authorities took them Thursday morning on suspicion of being forgeries.
Three watercolors said to have been painted by a young Adolf Hitler were seized by police before they could be sold at auction.
The Kloss auction house in Berlin had put the paintings, which had reportedly been authenticated, up for sale to much controversy, but local authorities took them Thursday morning on suspicion of being forgeries, according to the BBC.
They had been expected to fetch high prices because of their infamous painter.
Police wrote on social media that they had opened an investigation into attempted fraud and whether the documents authenticating the watercolors had been falsified. There have been no arrests and the auction house has not commented.
Before he ruled Germany, Hitler tried to make a living as an artist. As a youngster, Hitler sold postcards and paintings on the streets of Munich and had hoped to attend the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts but failed the entrance exam twice.
He ultimately enlisted in the German army and fought in World War I. The rest, as they say, is history.
Hundreds of Hitler's paintings are still in existence, but many were confiscated by the U.S. Army after the end of World War II and are still held today.
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