1919: Claims on Austrian Arts and Cultural Goods in the First Republic

The complete preservation of the art treasures of the monarchy and the House of Habsburg-Lorraine that had accumulated in Vienna was threatened after the end of the First World War and the dissolution of the multiethnic state due to the potential claims of the victorious powers or the successor states. Because of an initial uncertainty concerning ownership status, the Republic of German-Austria managed this inheritance until the signing of the Treaty of Saint Germain on September 10, 1919. Although the United States, Great Britain and France made no claims to Austria (such as reparations), Italy’s claims were extensive. In principle, cultural goods that had been brought to Vienna by Austria from the occupied areas of Italy or from the areas of Austria that had been occupied by Italy during the course of the war were to be negotiated. Italy, however, took this opportunity to reclaim earlier exports to Vienna from territories that had now become the Italian state, which had been mutually agreed upon at the time.

The legal clarification of these claims, as well as of those made by Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia, conducted by a committee of three jurists was codified in Articles 195 and 196 of the Treaty of Saint Germain. In the case of the Court Library/National Library, there were, for example, 45 handwritten manuscripts from the former prince-bishopric library in Trentino, which had arrived in Vienna in 1806 due to centralising trends. These were removed from the National Library by Italy under the threat of armed force at the end of the First World War, when Italy had not only occupied Trentino but also laid claim to the region.