Coll. Maria Altmann
Yossi Gutmann, Portrait of Maria Altmann, Age 90Ink and pencil on paper with white out
Feb. 18, 2006, from a photograph, Der Standard
"Your portrayal captures the strength my mother showed these last seven years..." - letter from Margie Altmann, Maria's daughter,
to Yossi Gutmann (May 2006)
Sept. 13, 1998
Fr. Bundesministerin Elisabeth GehrerBudesministerium für Unterricht und kulturelle Angelegenheiten
Plunkergasse 3-5
A-1150 Wien
AUSTRIA
Sehr geehrte Frau Bundesministerin:
I am writing as an attorney on behalf of my client Mrs. Maria Altmann geb. Bloch-Bauer (b. Wien 18.2.1916). Mrs. Altmann is the last remaining member of the Bloch-Bauer family of Vienna. She is the niece and 1/4 heir of Ferdinand (d. Zürich 13.11.1946) and Adele Bloch-Bauer (d. Wien 24.1.1925). Mrs. Altmann’s father Gustav was the brother of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. Her mother Thedy (Theresa) was the sister of Adele Bloch-Bauer. (Two brothers, Ferdinand and Gustav Bloch, had married two sisters, Adele and Thedy Bauer, and all four changed their names to Bloch-Bauer.)
Mrs. Altmann fled Austria in 1938, age 22. In April 1938, her husband Fritz Altmann was arrested in Vienna and held hostage to force his brother Bernhard, who had fled to France on the evening of the Anschluß, to transfer the Vienna B. Altmann textile factory with an international clientele (and receivables from England, France, Holland, etc.) into German hands. After Bernhard signed over the factory, Fritz was released from Dachau, and in October 1938, Fritz and Maria fled Austria coming to America via England in 1940. Maria left behind most of her possessions and property, including precious jewelry that had been given to her by her aunt Adele which was confiscated by the Gestapo. One of the items, a diamond necklace, was purportedly sent to Hermann Göring.
When Mrs. Altmann’s uncle Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer died in 1946, Mrs. Altmann was just 30 years old and living in Hollywood, California. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer’s last will, executed 22.10.1945, gave one half of his estate to his niece Louise Baronin Gutmann (Maria’s older sister), one fourth to his nephew Robert Bentley (formerly Bloch-Bauer) (Maria’s brother), and one fourth to his niece Maria Altmann. A copy of the will is attached hereto.
The Bloch-Bauer family was represented with respect to the estate of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer by a Dr. Gustav Rinesch, a friend of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. Dr. Rinesch was a kind, but ineffective lawyer whose efforts were completely undermined by the nefarious dealings of those who had profited illegally from the theft during the Nazi era of artwork and property of Viennese Jews such as the Bloch-Bauers. Deprived of their property since 1938, the Bloch-Bauers were in great need of whatever money could be recovered and could not afford to delay. Concessions were made out of necessity and under duress in the hope that at least some property would be released. For example, the Bloch-Bauers were advised by Dr. Rinesch not to make certain claims so that other properties might be returned and released to them.
As a result, Mrs. Altmann received a sum of money (approximately $150,000) for her shares of the stock of the sugar concern owned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, and a few artworks were returned to the family, but a great number of items and property were never returned to Ferdinand’s heirs. At the time, so soon after the War had ended, Mrs. Altmann and her brother and sister presumed that the bulk of their uncle’s wealth was lost forever and could not be recovered from Austria.
Mrs. Altmann has read with great interest the recent articles detailing your efforts to pass legislation designed to return to her and the other heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer the valuable property that had been stolen from him. Curiously, no one has contacted her about these matters, although she has had some communication (initiated by her) with former Los Angeles Generalkonsul Peter Moser....
On behalf of Mrs. Altmann, I am writing you to request information concerning the proposed legislation to return the Bloch-Bauer estate to the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. I would appreciate very much if you could fax me a copy of the proposed legislation, and send updates on any developments as the legislation progresses.
In addition, I would appreciate receiving any inventories of property which was in the estate of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer, as well as any lists of items that are believed to be in dispute or which have already been determined to belong to the heirs of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer and the estimated value of those items. I would also appreciate knowing the names, address, telephone and fax numbers of the persons researching the Bloch-Bauer estate, as well as the members of any commission set up to evaluate claims concerning the return of stolen property....
If you are prepared to bring all the necessary parties (on the Austrian side) together to make a global settlement offer, we would be interested in discussing such a resolution with you at this time....
On behalf of Mrs. Altmann, and for myself as well (as the grandson of four Viennese Jews -- Arnold and Gertrud Schoenberg and Erich and Gertrud Zeisl), I wish to thank you and your colleagues for the courageous efforts you have undertaken recently to rectify the gross errors committed over 50 years ago. Although no amount of money could begin to compensate the victims of the Nazis, whose lives were shattered, if not lost altogether, your good will goes a very long way in making up for those past wrongs.
Mrs. Altmann and I look forward to hearing from you very soon, and, if all goes well, perhaps we will all meet in Vienna in the near future to conclude a global resolution of this important matter. Mrs. Altmann and I would both very much welcome that opportunity....
Very truly yours,
E. Randol Schoenberg, Esq.
FRIED, FRANK, HARRIS, SHRIVER & JACOBSO
Attorneys for Maria Altmann
Sept. 23, 1998
Sehr geehrte Frau Bundesministerin:.... I look forward to hearing from you very soon regarding the many questions in my previous letter.
Very truly yours,
E. Randol Schoenberg, Esq.
November 5, 1998
Sehr geehrte Frau Bundesministerin:.... At your earliest convenience, I would very much appreciate receiving confirmation from you that you have received this letter and my previous letters to you dated September 13 and September 23, 1998 and my September 29 letter to Prof. Ernst Bacher. To date I have received no response from either of you....
Very truly yours,
E. Randol Schoenberg
At a conference on Klimt at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, when asked if she had ever been angry with Austria, Maria Altmann responded:
"Yes. When I wrote a letter to the Minister of Education and Culture, Elisabeth Gehrer, in 1999, I offered to the Austrian National Gallery.that they could keep the two Adele Bloch-Bauer portraits as a gift in exchange for legally purchasing the other Klimts from me. She didn't even answer. Then I was angry."
Hubertus Czernin 1956 - 2006
Austrian, the first journalist to gain access to the archives at the Austria's National Gallery. In 1998 , he published his research in a series of articles in Vienna's Der Standard newspaper. His research led to Austria's enactment of restitution legistlation,
Over the years, [Maria] Altmann had been told that her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, had given the paintings to the Austrian gallery in 1925. Czernin, however, discovered the official document showing that the Austrian National Gallery obtained the "golden" Adele Bloch-Bauer portrait in October 1941. The document had a Nazi stamp and was signed "Heil Hitler". Czernin's research, which showed that claim to be false, paved the way for Altmann's legal efforts to gain custody of the works....
Maria Altmann: 'Without Hubertus, there would have been nothing.' "
2000
Bundesminister of Culture, Elisabeth Gehrer, after consulting with her "special commission," informed Schoenberg that Austria owned the Klimt paintings. If Altmann wanted to pursue the matter, they would have to go to Court. [Knowing that no one had ever successfully sued a foreign government.]
2001
Randol Schoenberg, on behalf of his client, Maria Altmann, took the case to the United States District Court of California, Los Angeles. The court ruled in their favor, giving them the right to sue Austria.
Austria appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the court ruled, three to zero, that they would not hear the appeal.
Schoenberg: "Austria then enlisted the help of the U.S. government, which hadn't paid much attention to our case up until then, to reverse the decision. But the court declined to rehear the case."
2004
The Supreme Court was the final stop in the United States. At this point foreign governments became involved, Japan, Mexico, and the United States (among others) filed briefs against Altmann's right to sue a foreign entity.
Randol Schoenberg, not yet 40-years old, stood before the United States Supreme Court justices. Three months later Austria lost its appeal in "The Republic of Austria vs. Altmann" case in a 6-3 decision.
2005
The case then went to mediation and the parties agreed to resolve the dispute before an Austrian arbitration panel.
The arbitration panel's decision would be final and would end all litigation over the paintings.
January 16, 2006
A Vienna-based arbitration panel ruled that five Klimt paintings looted by the Nazis must be returned by the State of Austria to their rightful owner.
Though the arbitrators' ruling was nonbinding, both parties had previously agreed to abide by it, and Austria's government was expected to give up the works of art that had been displayed for decades in the Belvedere Palace.
Klimt Painting “Adele Boch-Bauer” Sells for Record Price
Sold for $135 million, Gustav Klimt’s 1907 portrait “Adele Boch-Bauer” fetched the highest price ever to be paid for a painting.... the painting was purchased by cosmetics magnate [and former ambassador to Austria] Ronald Lauder for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.... The Neue Galerie is a small museum that shows exclusively German and Austrian art.
Der Standard, June 19, 2006"These paintings and other paintings that were looted from Jewish homes were the last prisoners of World War II."
Ronald Lauder quoted in The Chicago Tribune, June 14, 2006
August 12, 1938
London Jewish Chronicle, Vienna
"Last week, a hundred Jews were taken to a large park and compelled to perform various comic movements and shout anti-Jewish slogans. The Nazis paid the Jews one pfenning each for their services and ordered them to reappear the following Sunday to amuse the crowds again."
July 22, 1938
London Jewish Chronicle, Vienna
"A new wave of Jew-baiting has swept over Vienna. In one district, Jewish shops were smeared with paint and tar, and such inscriptions as 'Pig of a Jew,' 'Go to Jerusalem,' were painted on the windows. A café was renamed 'Café Dachau' by the political decorators, and several shop-windows were smashed."
September 2, 1938
London Jewish Chronicle
"The Basel National-Zeitung reports the following dialogue between a uniformed German official and an elderly Jew on the Austrian-Lichtenstein frontier. The conversation was overheard and reported by a party of Swiss hikers.
'I beg you to let me stay in Austria,' the old man pleaded. 'I was born here and my son died in the War. I can't go into exile in my old age without any means, can I? Don't you understand? Aren't you also a human being?'
The answer was: 'Silence! I am a German!' "
"OUR" ADELE
Gustav Klimt, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907
confiscated 1938, given to the Austrian National Gallery, Belvedere, October, 1941 returned to the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, January, 2006
April 2, 1941
Letter from Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer to Oskar Kokoschka, from Zurich
In Vienna and Bohemia they took away everything from me. Not even a souvenir was left for me. Perhaps I will get the 2 portraits of my poor wife (Adele). I should find out about that this week! Otherwise I am totally impoverished and probably will have to live very modestly for a few years, if you can call this vegetation living.
United States District court for The Central district of California, Los Angeles, 2001 Court Case No. 00-08913 FMC AIJx: MARIA V. ALTMANN, Plaintiff, v. REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, a foreign state, and the AUSTRIAN GALLERY, an agency of the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIAFebruary 1948
Dr. Karl Garzarolli [director] of the AUSTRIAN GALLERY responded to [the heirs' wish to initiate restitution] asserting that six Klimt paintings were bequeathed to the museum by the will of Adele Bloch-Bauer, who died in 1925, and that Ferdinand had asked permission from the museum to keep the paintings during his lifetime. Dr. Garzarolli demanded that the heirs deliver the other paintings referenced in Adele's will to the museum.... [He] took an aggressive stance against the heirs and prepared to sue them to obtain the other Klimt paintings that were not yet in the AUSTRIAN GALLERY's possession.
March 8, 1948
Letter from Dr. Karl Garzarolli [director] of the AUSTRIAN GALLERY to his Nazi-era predecessor, Bruno Grimschitz:
"In the documents in the possession of the Austrian Gallery, ... there are no statements from a district court, nor are there any notarized statements or even a personal statement from Mr. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. I am therefore in a particularly difficult situation... I cannot understand why, even during the Nazi period, an existing incontestable bequest in favor of a national institution was not taken into account....
It worries me enormously that so far all the circumstances surrounding the restitution issues are very unclear. It will be in your interest to stick closely to me through all this confusion. That will probably be the best way for us to emerge from this rather dangerous situation."
United States District court for The Central district of California, Los Angeles, 2001 Court Case No. 00-08913 FMC AIJx: MARIA V. ALTMANN, Plaintiff, v. REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, a foreign state, and the AUSTRIAN GALLERY, an agency of the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIAApril 1945
At the end of the War, Dr. Karl Renner, a noted legal scholar, chancellor and post-war president of Austria, wrote:
"Restitution of property stolen from Jews, this [should be] not to the individual victims, but to a collective restitution fund. The establishment of such and the following foreseeable arrangements is necessary in order to prevent a massive, sudden flood of returning exiles. A circumstance, that, for many reasons, must be paid very close attention to.... this collective procedure naturally provides that claims can only be satisfied ... after the completion of investigation, prosecution and return of valuables (that is after years!).... Basically the entire nation should not be made liable for damages to Jews."
United States District court for The Central district of California, Los Angeles, 2001 Court Case No. 00-08913 FMC AIJx: MARIA V. ALTMANN, Plaintiff, v. REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, a foreign state, and the AUSTRIAN GALLERY, an agency of the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIAJanuary 17, 2006
"Panel Rules for L.A. Woman in Dispute Over Nazi-Looted Art"
July 29, 2006
Overheard in Café Schottenring, Vienna
"Vienna has been robbed of its Klimts on a technicality, by the dirty tricks of certain American lawyers."
February 19, 2006
Overheard on bus tram #46, Vienna
"No sooner does this family [Bloch-Bauer] get back its 'beloved' Klimts, then they turn around the next day and sell them."
February 28, 2006
Der Standard
"In theory it would be possible for the Klimt heiress to hang the paintings in her home. But to insure the paintings in that location, her private home would have to be brought up to the international standards of security that are common in the best museums. The insurance premium for the transport [alone] [comes to] about $60,000 to $100,000."
September 13, 1998
E. Randol Schoenberg Esq. to the Austrian Education and Cultural Minister, Elisabeth Gehrer
At age 82, Mrs. Altmann is the last of her generation. She is a widow with four children and six grandchildren. To support herself, she still works in the clothing business she has managed since she came to America in 1940.