ADOLF HITLER'S PAINTS

A German auction house Thursday scrapped the planned sale of 26 artworks attributed to Adolf Hitler, after doubts emerged about their authenticity just days before they were to go under hammer.

Five other paintings signed ''A.HITLER'', all of them watercolours, will still be auctioned on Saturday as scheduled, according to the Weidler auction house in the southern city of Nuremberg.

A vase, wicker armchair and table cloth presumed to have belonged to the late Nazi dictator also remains on offer in what Weidler has billed a ''special auction''.

''Unfortunately we must inform you that some of the pictures have been dropped because of a review,'' the auction house said in statement.

The move came after prosecutors on Wednesday collected 63 artworks from the Weidler premises bearing the signature  ''A.H''.  or ''A.HITLER''., over suspicions the works were not created by Hitler himself.

Twenty six of them - a selection of watercolors, oil paintings and sketches - had been advertised for Saturday's auction. They included mainly depictions of buildings and nature scenes but also several female nudes.

Sales of alleged artwork by Hitler, who for a time tried to make a living as an artist in his native Austria, have long been controversial - and have often proved to involve fakes over the years.

Just last month German police seized three watercolours presented as Hitler's works before they were due for auction in Berlin., claiming they were forged.

The Alpine and Rhenish landscapes were dated 1910 and 1911. They were signed  ''A. Hitler'' and offered by auction house Kloss. [Agencies]

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on Adolf Hitler's paintings. continues.