LEXIKON

The Austrian Supreme Court recently dealt with the following case (Austrian Supreme Court ruling of April 2, 2025, 5 Ob 52/24v; www.ris.bka.gv.at/jus): Since 2017, the plaintiff has been the owner of a castle that was listed as a historic monument on February 9, 1939, along with the paintings it contained. At an undetermined date after June 28, 1941, six of these paintings were removed and sold. The defendant acquired two of these paintings in 2017 from an antique dealer. Prior to that, the antique dealer had purchased them from a gallery, which in turn had purchased them from a gallery owner in Vienna. The plaintiff demanded the return of the listed paintings. The defendant claimed that he had acquired ownership in good faith in accordance with Section 367 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB). The lower courts upheld the claim. In contrast, the Supreme Court affirmed the defendant’s acquisition of ownership. A different decision would have been contrary to case law, according to which ownership of even stolen or looted works of art can be acquired in good faith in a gallery.