Alternative names: Special Commission Linz, Special Order Linz, Linz Museum, Führermuseum, Projet du musée de Linz, Sammlung Linz

The Sonderauftrag Linz was an organization set up by Hitler and directly subordinate to him, with the task of gathering works of art for his envisioned Führermuseum by means of confiscation and purchase. On 18 June 1938, following Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, Hitler issued his Führervorbehalt (Führer prerogative), providing a legal basis for further acquisitions through his agent Hermann Voss (1884-1969). The annexation of Austria provided Hitler with good pretext to “acquired” some central pieces for his future museum. During the war, thousands of art works intended for the Linz museum were stored in various depots, for example in Munich, Kremsmünster, and finally in the salt mines of Altaussee from where they were later discovered by the Allies.

The Munich Central Collecting Point was a collection center for art that the American Forces’ Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Service (MFA&A Service) set up in Munich after the end of World War II (May 1945). They collected the artworks found in various depots in Germany and Austria that had been confiscated by the Nazi or sold on the art market to the German Reich between 1933 and 1945. From the repositories, the works were brought to the MCCP for inventorying and subsequent restitution to their countries of origin and to private individuals in Germany. There were several repositories throughout Germany for various kinds of items. In Munich, mostly paintings were stored.

The so-called Anschluss (German for “joining” or “annexation”) refers to the process by which Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany between 11 and 13 March 1938. Austria and Germany share a long and interconnected history, and proposals for political unification had been discussed repeatedly, particularly following the WWI and the subsequent reorganization of Europe. Hitler expressed his support for an Austro-German union early in his political career and actively supported Austrian Nazis in their efforts to promote this objective and to undermine the Austrian government.

Following the assassination of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss (1892 – 1934) in 1934 and changes in German-Italian relations, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg (1897-1977) found himself increasingly isolated internationally and under growing pressure from Hitler. In an attempt to preserve Austrian independence, Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on 9 March 1938, to be held on 13 March. However, in the intervening days, he was forced to resign, and on the night of 11 March 1938 German troops crossed the Austrian border and entered the country.

On 13 March 1938, the law on the “Wiedervereinigung Österreichs mit dem Deutschen Reich” (Reunification of Austria with the German Reich) was enacted. The Austrian National Socialist Arthur Seyß-Inquart (1892-1946) was installed as head of government; and the Nazification of public and private life began immediately, resulting in the violent persecution of Austrian Jews and political opponents. The Anschluss constituted Hitler's first major territorial expansion and was not challenged militarily by other European powers. German troops encountered little organized resistance, and many Austrians enthusiastically welcomed both the annexation and National Socialist rule.

The Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Monuments Office) is the Austrian government authority responsible for the protection, preservation, and regulation of Austria's cultural heritage. It oversees listed buildings, works of art, archaeological sites, and monuments, and also plays an important role in the issuance of export permits for cultural objects.

In 1934, the Bundesdenkmalamt was restructured as the Zentralstelle für Denkmalschutz im Bundesministerium für Unterricht. Further institutional changes followed, leading to the establishment of the Institut für Denkmalpflege in 1940. During the Nazi period, the Zentralstelle was used to prevent individuals fleeing the country from taking their property abroad. The export of objects deemed significant to Austria’s cultural heritage, particularly works by prominent Austrian artists such as Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793-1865) and Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871), was frequently prohibited. In many cases, objects for which export permits were denied subsequently entered Austrian museums and public collections through confiscation, forced surrender, or other coercive measures.

As a result, the Zentralstelle, which was later reorganized and renamed as the present-day Bundesdenkmalamt, became an important instrument in the dispossession of Jewish collectors and a key participant in the broader system of Nazi-era art looting and forced transfers of cultural property in Austria. Its archival holdings remain an important source for provenance research today.

The Verwaltungsstelle für jüdisches Umzugsgut der Gestapo (VUGESTA) was one of the central institutions involved in the confiscation of Jewish property in Nazi Austria after the Anschluss. Since 7 September 1940, the VUGESTA was officially responsible for the seizure and liquidation of household goods, furnishings, artworks, and other possessions of Jewish individuals who had fled persecution or had been deported. It was associated with the Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung  (Gestapo Office for the Disposal of the Property of Jewish Emigrants) and established to aryanize Jewish property. Whilst initially it focused primarily on the so-called Lift, household effects prepared for transport primarily by Jewish emigrees, it later also focused on the disposal of residential furnishings of deported people, similarly as the M-Aktion in Paris or Amsterdam. The organization had several storage units in Vienna, for example at Krummbaumgasse 8 or Ferdinandstraße 25, which were organized by appraisal officers such as Bernhard Witke (1896-1970). Work for the VUGESTA was typically carried out by Jewish forced laborers. Property worth over 1,000 Reichsmark was transferred to the Dorotheum Auction House for sale after the Führer’s prerogative and the Austrian Museum’s selected works for their collection. Thus, the VUGESTA was a primary factor of transforming privately owned Jewish property into assets for the Nazi state. During its 5 year operation it generated approximately 15 million Reichsmark. It is estimated that the belongings of approximately 5,000 to 6,000 Jewish families were processed through the VUGESTA and the origins of most of the sold property remains unclear.

Between 1946 and 1949, seven Rückstellungsgesetze (Restitution Acts) were enacted in Austria, primarily concerning immovable property. While the First Restitution Act of 1946 represented an important initial step in the post-war restitution of movable assets, restrictive application deadlines and narrow eligibility criteria significantly limited the number of successful claims. In addition, many claimants were effectively pressured into donating part of their property to the Austrian state in exchange for export permits, allowing them to remove the remainder of their restituted possessions from the country.

The first Kunst- und Kulturgutbereinigungsgesetz (Art and Cultural Property Settlement Act) was enacted on 27 June 1969 following growing controversy surrounding the Mauerbach holdings, enabling approximately 270 restitutions. Further public debate and criticism, including Andrew Decker's article in The Art Newspaper in 1984, prompted the passage of the second Kunst- und Kulturgutbereinigungsgesetz on 13 December 1985.

In February 1998, following the Mauerbach auction and the seizure of artworks from the Leopold Collection in New York, Austria established the Kommission für Provenienzforschung (Commission for Provenance Research). On 4 December 1998, the Bundesgesetz über die Rückgabe von Kunstgegenständen aus den Österreichischen Bundesmuseen und Sammlungen (Art Restitution Act) was passed, facilitating the restitution of cultural objects held in Austrian federal museums and collections. Austrian Bundesländer (Federal states) have since followed suit and enacted comparable restitution legislation governing cultural property in their own collections, for example Vienna in 1999. Since 2009, the law has been expanded to encompass additional categories of movable cultural property.