Austrian National Library

Mag.a Margot Werner

In accordance with the Art Restitution Law (Federal Law Gazette I 181/1998) the Austrian National Library presented its provenance report on illegal acquisitions during the era of National Socialism in early December 2003. The report was preceded by careful and detailed research into all questionable holdings. Around 150,000 printed items and several thousand objects from collections were examined for indications of previous owners. Following research in the relevant files of the Austrian National Library, the Austrian State Archive, the Vienna City Library, the Vienna City Archive, the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments and of other archives it was possible to document the seizure and distribution of the library’s holdings and to determine the fate of at least some of the wronged former owners. The report, which has been submitted to the Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture for processing, contains information about 38,210 collection items and 14,193 printed works that have been identified as questionable in the meaning of the Art Restitution Law.
As of September 2006, 32,252 objects had been returned to their rightful owners.

translated by Nick Somers, edited by National Fund