Decision no. 845/2012
Application
Applicant, Status
Public owner
Type of property
Real estate in
KG Leopoldstadt (01657), Wien, Wien | show on map
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Decision
Number
Date
Reasons
Outside the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Panel or the scope of application of the GSF Law
Other grounds for the decision
Type
Decision in anonymous form
Press release
Press Release Decision No. 845/2012
At the time of the National Socialist assumption of power in Austria in 1938, Julius B., a librettist in Vienna, had owned a 1/9 share of the requested properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt. Julius B. had also owned a villa in Bad Ischl at this time. Julius B. belonged to the Jewish Religious Community and was considered Jewish pursuant to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. In mid-September 1938, he fled with his family to Zurich.
In May 1941, Julius B.’s entire assets were confiscated by the Gestapo (“Secret State Police”) and the properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt were seized for the benefit of the German Reich. As regards the villa in Bad Ischl, the confiscation was noted in the land register; however, no change of ownership occurred. Julius B. died in April 1943 in Nice. His sole heir was his widow Rosemarie B., who emigrated to the USA after the war.
In June 1948, Rosemarie B. was recorded in the land register as sole owner of the villa in Bad Ischl. In February 1949, on the basis of the provisions of the Erstes Rückstellungsgesetz (“First Restitution Act”), the Financial Directorate ordered the restitution of the 1/9 share of the properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt to Rosemarie B. The ownership title to the property was subsequently recorded in her name. In the following years, Rosemarie B. sold both the property in Bad Ischl and the property shares in Leopoldstadt. On 17 January 2001, the cut off day pursuant to the Entschädigungsfondsgesetz (“General Settlement Fund Law”), parts of the requested properties were owned by the City of Vienna.
In its juridical appraisal, the Arbitration Panel held that the requested properties in Vienna, Leopoldstadt had been seized under National Socialist rule. However, the villa in Bad Ischl was not subjected to a seizure. As the seized property shares had been restituted in their entirety to the heir of the aggrieved owner, the application for in rem restitution had to be rejected.
For further inquiries contact: presse@nationalfonds.org