Decision no. 754/2011

Application

 

Applicant, Status

Tanja S., Rejection

Public owner

Republik Österreich

Type of property

immovable

Real estate in

KG Wetzelsdorf (63128), Graz, Steiermark | show on map

Decision

 

Number

754/2011

Date

28 Jun 2011

Reason

Other grounds for the decision

Type

substantive

Decision in anonymous form

Entscheidung 754 2011 (PDF, 62.08 KiB)

Press release

Press Release Decision No. 754/2011

Graz, Wetzelsdorf
On 28 June 2011, the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution rejected an application for restitution of a property owned by the Republic of Austria in the Graz cadastral district of Wetzelsdorf. The property had been seized by the German Reich in 1938 and had already been the subject of restitution proceedings after the Second World War, which had been concluded with a decision by the Restitution Commission. In this decision, the Commission recognized the claim in principle, while at the same time ruling that in rem restitution was not feasible. It therefore determined an amount of compensation to be paid instead. It was therefore not possible for the Arbitration Panel to pronounce a renewed restitution.

In May 1938, Walther S., the grandfather of the applicant, sold 14,656 m² of arable land in Wetzelsdorf, which was incorporated into Graz after the Anschluss, to the German Reich for 23,000 Reichsmark. Along with several others, this property parcel was used for the construction of barracks
for the Waffen-SS.

In 1947, Walther S. claimed restitution of the property. One year later, the Restitution Commission for Styria decided that the claim was rightful in principle but that the restitution of the seized property was unfeasible as it had been developed and incorporated into barracks (which had since been
requisitioned by the British occupying troops). For this reason, the Restitution Commission awarded him compensation of 45,602.28 Schilling. This amount was calculated from the market value of the property, plus damages, less the purchase price which Walther S. had received in 1938.

On the cut off day, 17 January 2001, the property formed part of barracks owned by the Republic of Austria. In cases in which an Austrian court has already granted the claim for restitution (even if only in principle), the Arbitration Panel is precluded from recommending the renewed restitution of the same property. The application was therefore rejected.

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