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Registry Number: ACA 145/34. Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British...

Catalogue reference: FO 1020/2766/1

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This record is about the Registry Number: ACA 145/34. Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British... dating from 1945 - 1946 in the series Foreign Office and Predecessors: Allied Commission for Austria (British Element):.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.

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Full description and record details

Reference
FO 1020/2766/1
Date
1945 - 1946
Description
Registry Number: ACA 145/34. <p>Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British Element] to HQ Military Government in the Steiermark region or Land, stating that 'the Graz archives at Lauffen weigh some tons and could best be transported back to Graz by rail', dated January 1946. Includes further correspondence relating to the logistics of movement of the Graz archives. <p>Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British Element] to the Chief Reparation, Deliveries and Restitution Divison HQ of the US Forces in Austria on the subject of gold coins from Styrian monasteries removed from the Alt-Aussee mine, dated October 1945. <p>Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British Element] to the MFA and A [Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives] Branch of the US Forces in Austria stating that 'it is understood that the parish church and rectory at Bad Aussee contain record books, photographs, etc, belonging to the Denkmalpflege in Vienna', dated September 1945. <p>Letter from the Office of Reparation, Deliveries and Restitution Headquarters US forces in Austria to the Headquarters of the Military Government Staff [Austria] stating that 'eight days before the arrival of American troops at Alt Aussee, von Hummel, of Hitler's Ministry at Munich, arrived at the mine and took away one of the cases which contained about 2000 gold coins', dated September 1945. <p>Further contains a list [in German] of bells from the region of Steiermark, undated. <p>Letter from the Headquarters of Military Government in the Kaernten Gau, or region, to the Military Government, 8th Army, referring to 'a very important deposit of works of art in the Steinberg Salt Mine at Alt Aussee, including Van Eyck [sic] Adoration of the Lamb from Ghent, the Vermeer: Self Portrait originally in the Czernin collection of Vienna and latterly the private property of Hitler and the Michelangelo: Madonna and Child from the Cathedral at Bruges. Much of the material appears to have been collected under the auspices of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg. Also in the deposit were objects said to come from Cassino, which may well include the missing pictures [among them the Breughel: Blind leading the Blind] from Naples Museum. Many of the pictures appear to have been stored without being crated; the sculpture and other works of art were, however, mainly packed in boxes'. The letter further states that 'it is understood that all the most important pictures [eg the Czernin Vermeer] are to be crated before they are sent off', dated June 1945. <p>Telegram from the HQ Gau Kaernten to the MG Staff [Austria] Eighth Army Main, states 'Art collection Tauzenberg [sic, Tanzenberg] contains books from Russian Imperial Collection Kiev', and suggests asking the Russians to send someone to inspect, dated May 1945. Includes an Appendix with the title 'List of Known Repositories to 3 June 1945'. The Appendix lists repositories and contents, including, at Alt Aussee salt mine, coin collections from secularised monasteries, books and material from the Einsatzstab Rosenberg; at Aistersheim [Schloss], the contents of the Staedtisches Museum, Linz and the Staedtisches Museum, Wels; at Aschach, archives of the National Socialist and other political parties; at Ebenzweier [Schloss], pictures and statues from churches in Linz; at Eferdomg [Schloss] catalogues, works of art and books from the Landes-Museum, Linz, and some contents of the Staedt Museum, Linz; at Hohenfurt Abbey, part of the Fuehrer-slg [collection], including coin collections from secularised monasteries, deposited at Hohenfurth, but later removed to Alt-Aussee; at Innerstein [Schloss] valuable books; at Bad Ischl salt mines, Laufen and Perneck, pictures from Vienna [Hofburg, Kunsthistorisches Museum], archives from Vienna [Reichs-A, Inneres u Justiz, Hof und Staats-A Some Aussenministerium], Landesarchiv, Graz, Gau-archiv, Ober Donau; at Bad Ischl [town], pictures [Altdorfers] from St Florian; at Kogl [name unclear due to damage to document] near St Georgen, material from the Einsatzstab Rosenberg [incl possessions of Baron Edouard, Baron Maurice and Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Paris]; at Kremsmuenster Abbey items referred to include property of Baron Alfons R de Rothschild of Vienna, not yet identified. His wood carvings are said to have been burnt,; there are pictures, wood and stucco figures, and painted wall decorations, whose ownership is not yet established, but could be part of the Rothschild Collection; at Leonfelden, valuable objects from the Landesmuseum in Linz, including boxes of coins; at Mondsee [Schloss] furniture and pictures of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria; at Spit [name unclear due to damage to document] am Pyhrn, contents of the Staedtisches Museum, Steyr and the Stadtarchiv from Linz in Schol Clam; at Sprinzenstein [Schloss], printed books from Stud Bibl, Linz. <p>Document signed R A Skelton Major R A, entitled 'Collections deposited at Stift Hohenfurth', dated June 1945. States that 'Hohenfurth and Kremsmuenster were the two main depots at which objects collected from the Fuehrersammlung Linz were assembled. At Hohenfurth were deposited the Mannheimer collection of Amsterdam; the coin collections of the secularised monasteries of Upper Austria; furniture from the confiscated Rothschild [Alfons and Louis] collections of Vienna'. Lists material still held at Stift Hohenfurth as 'about one tenth of Mannheimer Collection ca. 80 pieces of furniture, 23 cases; ca. 80 pieces of furniture of Rothschild collections; ca. 100 paintings and sculptures [modern German] of Fuehrerslg [sic, Fuehrer collection], mostly from Munich; 8 - 10 large crates containing baroque furniture. Consigned to H. Within last 6 months from various places: Darmstadt, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden'. <p>Further contains a 'List of Deposits of Works and Art from Vienna and other Sources', undated. Lists twelve locations with map references and remarks, referring to pictures of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, material from the Museum am Stubenring fuer Kunst und Gewerbe, material from Hofburg, the 'Important Private Library' of the Khevenhueller family, state archives of Vienna, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, material from the Hofbibliothek and pictures from the Liechtenstein Gallery. <p>Further includes an undated, unsigned document entitled 'Liste' including a list of the Prince of Liechtenstein's art collections in Vienna, including works by Peter P Rubens, Guido Reni, Jan Boeckhorst, Jan Fyt, Casanova, Cercle de Myten, H Steenwyck and Roy. <p>
Held by
The National Archives, Kew
Former department reference
ACA145/34
Legal status
Public Record(s)
Language
English
Closure status
Open Document, Open Description
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13443657/

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FO 1020

Foreign Office and Predecessors: Allied Commission for Austria (British Element):...

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Registry Number: ACA 145/34. Letter from the Allied Commission for Austria [British...

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