Rejection of a Schloss restitution claim by the German government

It was decided to dismiss the restitution claim brought on behalf of the Schloss heirs by the Government of the French Republic represented by the Embassy of France in Bonn. According to the German government, the applicant filed a request to obtain the return of paintings from the Schloss collection, under the provisions of Art. 1 and 2 of Part 5 of the Convention for the Settlement of Questions Arising from War and Occupation (Transitional Agreement) dated May 5, 1955 - German OJ - Part 2 p.432 and following. The applicant indicated that, during the Occupation, German services removed by force the paintings which belonged to the Schloss heirs.  The information provided by the applicant justified an investigation by the Bundesamt in accordance with the provisions of Art. 1 of the above-mentioned part of the Convention. The paintings had been acquired by the “Sonderauftrag Linz” for 50 million RM and transported to Germany in 1943. They were stored in the basement of the Führerbau in Munich, Arcisstrasse 10-12, from which they disappeared at the end of April 1945. They were not found. The applicant was made aware of this state of affairs by letter (FR 47 (K) 1327 and 1512/57) from the Bundesamt to the French Embassy, dated May 27, 1957 and made known to the Bundesamt by letter no. 1602 dated 12.9.1957 from the Embassy of France, that took note of this state of affairs. Since the objects could neither be found nor identified here, it was concluded that the search for them has been fruitless, and subsequent research would not succeed, hence the decision to terminate the proceedings with a dismissal. There were no objections to stop the restitution procedure, subject however that the procedure be reopened in the event of an occurrence under the conditions provided for in Art. 2.