New developments regarding the Art Restitution Law

In late 2009, the scope of application of the­ Art Restitution Law was extended with an amendment.[1] The provisions of the amended Art Restitution Law now cover, for example, other movable cultural objects in addition to­ art objects. Furthermore, not only is provenance to be investigated and restitution to be decided on regarding the holdings of the Federal Museums and Collections, but also regarding other holdings directly owned by the Federation. The amendment also stipulates the territorial and temporal extension of the acquisitions that are to be examined, as now o­bjects which were seized between 1933 and 1938 on the entire territory of the German Reich are also to be restituted.

On the basis of the previous Art Restitution Law around 10,000 art objects have so far been restituted.

[1] Federal Law Gazette I No. 117/2009. Federal Law with which the Federal Law on the Restitution of Art Objects from the Austrian Federal Museums and Collections is amended.