13.  ALTMANN was born into the affluent Jewish Bloch-Bauer family in Vienna, Austria in 1916. Every Sunday she and her four older siblings would have brunch over at the beautiful home owned by her uncle Ferdinand and aunt Adele. Ferdinand was her father’s brother; Adele was her mother’s sister. Together, the two couples had combined their names to form the Bloch-Bauer family.  Ferdinand’s home, a large building on one of the finest streets in Vienna, was gorgeously decorated with fine artworks, tapestries, porcelain and furniture.

14.  Ferdinand was a patron of Gustav Klimt and owned seven of his most important paintings, which are the paintings at issue in this case: Adele Bloch-Bauer I; Adele Bloch-Bauer II; Beechwood; Schloss Kammer am Attersee III; Apple Tree I; Houses in Unterach am Attersee; and Amalie Zuckerkandl.  Reproductions of these paintings are attached hereto as Exhibit A.

15.  Ferdinand was a citizen of Czechoslovakia with his principle residence (until 1938) in Vienna, Austria. The Klimt paintings were housed in his large home located at Elisabethstrasse 18 in Vienna.

16.  When Adele died suddenly of meningitis in 1925, Ferdinand created a memorial room for her with the two full-length portraits of her and all four landscapes by Klimt. A seventh Klimt painting, the portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, was in Ferdinand’s bedroom.

17.  When Adele died, she left behind a short will that asked, but did not require, that her husband consider donating the two portraits and four landscapes to the AUSTRIAN GALLERY after his death.

18.  Ferdinand’s brother, Gustav Bloch-Bauer (ALTMANN’s father), an attorney, was named the executor of Adele’s estate.  In the ensuing probate proceedings in Vienna, Austria, the Klimt paintings were declared by Gustav to be Ferdinand's property, not Adele's. Gustav also stated that Ferdinand was not bound by his wife’s wishes with respect to the Klimt paintings.  The Klimt paintings were not treated as part of Adele’s estate during the administration of the probate proceedings. The AUSTRIAN GALLERY was given notice of the proceedings.

19.    Although the paintings belonged to Ferdinand, and not his wife, Gustav stated in 1926 that Ferdinand intended to fulfill his wife’s wishes although he was not legally required to do so. However, Ferdinand did not execute any written document purporting to confirm this alleged intention to donate the paintings. Therefore, at no time was Ferdinand obligated to donate the paintings to the AUSTRIAN GALLERY.

20.  In 1936, Ferdinand delivered one Klimt painting, Schloss Kammer am Attersee III, to the AUSTRIAN GALLERY at the request of the director of the AUSTRIAN GALLERY, Dr. Martin Haberditzl. The other six Klimt paintings remained in Ferdinand’s possession until the Nazi invasion in 1938.