Restitution of works of art from the City's collections

Many works of art and cultural objects were either confiscated by the Nazi regime, were sold below their value because their owners were no longer admitted to their professions, or were left behind by owners who had to flee or were deported. Museums, libraries, archives and collections in Vienna wrongfully acquired artworks and cultural objects from the headquarters of the Vugesta (Gestapo Office for the Disposal of the Property of Jewish Emigrants), the Dorotheum auction house, and from the Gestapo "from items confiscated in expatriation proceedings".

Restitution

Restitution procedures based on post-war restitution laws were often impeded or delayed. Export permits were issued in "exchange" for objects of art. Many restitution applications were not filed because the parties entitled and their descendants had been murdered by the national socialist regime.

On 29 April 1999, the Vienna City Council decided that artworks and cultural objects that had been acquired during the Nazi era by the city’s museums, libraries, archives and collections through purchase or donation and that were considered to have been obtained by questionable means (theft, confiscation, expropriation) were to be returned to their original owners or their legal successors. The City of Vienna has also actively searched for potential heirs and legal successors on four continents. The cooperation with the National Fund of the Republic of Austria and the Jewish Community Vienna is now in its final phase.

Following the amendment of the Austrian Art Restitution Act, the Vienna City Council decided on 29 April 2011 to increase the scope of the regulations regarding the restitution of artworks and cultural objects from the City of Vienna’s collections. The time frame has been expanded from 1933 to 1946. (It originally covered the period from 1938 to 1945.) The regulations now also cover artworks and cultural objects that were seized in all areas occupied by the Nazi regime, also outside today’s Austrian territory.

Since 1999 experts of the City of Vienna have researched the provenance of approximately 103,500 questionable acquisitions by the city’s collections. About 5,500 objects from 60 collections have been returned to their rightful owners.

As soon as the provenance research ("history of ownership of works of art") has been completed all objects which cannot be returned because original owners and legal successors have died will be handed over to the National Fund. Proceeds will ultimately go to Holocaust victims.

Further information

Contact for this page:
City of Vienna | Chief Executive Office - Executive Group for Legal Affairs
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