Decision no. 206a/2008

Application

 

Applicant, Status

Joan R., Recommendation
Paul Ludwig W., Recommendation

Public owner

Stadt Wien

Type of property

immovable

Real estate in

KG Neuwaldegg (01404), Wien, Wien | show on map

Decision

 

Number

206a/2008

Date

26 May 2008

Reason

Award of a comparable asset pursuant to Sec. 34 of the GSF Law

Type

substantive

Decision in anonymous form

Related decision

Press release

Press Release Decision No. 206a/2008

Vienna, Neuwaldegg

On 26 May 2008, the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution recommended, as a supplement to decision 206/2006, that assets amounting to 7,400 Euros be awarded to the applicants. In decision 206/2006, the application regarding a one third share of a real estate owned by the City of Vienna in Vienna, Neuwaldegg was positively decided. As a smaller part of the real estate (93m²) now forms part of the street, the Arbitration viewed an in rem restitution as impractical. In such cases, the General Settlement Fund Law provides for comparable assets to be awarded.

In 1938, the claimed real estate belonged to the siblings Paul W., Hermine W. and Helene S. The W. siblings were considered Jews under the Nuremberg Laws. Paul W. was banned from continuing to teach and from making public appearances as a concert pianist. In 1938, in order to evade further persecution and to be able to continue carrying out his profession, he emigrated via Switzerland to the USA. His two sisters remained in Austria during the entire National Socialist period.

In 1939, due to an agreement with the German Reichsbank, which urged for the delivery of the foreign currency of the family fortune deposited in Switzerland, the W. siblings were adjudged the status of so-called “half.Jews”. In the course of the implementation of this agreement, Paul W. had to sell his properties, among them a one-third portion of the real estate in question, to his sisters. The purchase price was partially used for the payment of the Reich flight tax for Paul W., which amounted to 1.6 million Reichsmark.

After 1945, Paul W. did not initiate restitution proceedings. Also, no other compensation for the sold real estate could be ascertained by the Arbitration Panel. Since prior proceedings regarding the property shares of Paul W. could not be established, the Arbitration Panel approved the claim of Paul W.’s heirs and recommended a restitution of the said one third share of the estate.

The parcels of land belonging to the real estate today only partially correspond to their status in 1938. A portion of the then real estate is now privately owned and for this reason, its restitution was rejected by the Arbitration Panel.

The majority of the real estate recommended for restitution, with an area of around 8.6 hectares (86,000m²), consists of agriculturally used land and forest. A smaller portion of the real estate (93m²) now forms part of the street. For the latter, the Arbitration Panel viewed a restitution in rem as impractical and upon consultation with the City of Vienna, decided to award comparable assets. In order to establish the current market value of the real estate portion, a valuation report by an independent expert was obtained by the Arbitration Panel. On the basis of this valuation, the Arbitration Panel recommended the present Vienna City Councillor for finance administration to award the applicants 7,400 Euros.

For use by media; not legally binding upon the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution.
For further inquiries contact: