1. Plaintiff MARIA V. ALTMANN ("ALTMANN"), is an individual residing in Los Angeles, California. ALTMANN was born in Vienna, Austria on February 18, 1916.  In October 1938, after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, she fled because of religious and racial persecution by the Nazis. (For example, before leaving Vienna her jewelry and other valuable possessions were confiscated by the Gestapo and her husband, Fritz Altmann, was imprisoned in the infamous Dachau concentration camp for several months and subsequently placed under house arrest.)  ALTMANN came to the United States in 1940, settled in Los Angeles County in 1942 and has resided in Los Angeles County ever since.  ALTMANN became an American citizen in 1945.

2. ALTMANN is heir to 25% of the estate of her uncle Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.  ALTMANN brings this claim for herself and on behalf of the entire estate of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.

3. Defendant REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA is a foreign state, as defined in 28 U.S.C. §1603(a), located in Central Europe.

4. Defendant AUSTRIAN GALLERY is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. The AUSTRIAN GALLERY is also known in German as the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, and has been formerly known as the Moderne Galerie, the Österreichische Staatsgalerie, and the Galerie des XIX. Jahrhunderts. 

5. At all relevant times herein, and until January 1, 2000, the AUSTRIAN GALLERY was an agency and instrumentality, as defined in 28 U.S.C. §1603(b), of the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, owned and operated by the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA (or during the Nazi era, by Germany).  On January 1, 2000, the AUSTRIAN GALLERY was purportedly divested from the federal government and made a separate legal entity in Austria.  However, the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA continues to own all of the paintings in the museum operated by the AUSTRIAN GALERY, including the paintings that are the subject of this action.  The REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA continues to control, operate and fund the AUSTRIAN GALLERY. Because all of the facts alleged below concern events prior to January 1, 2000, the AUSTRIAN GALLERY and the REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA are referred to herein collectively as the “AUSTRIAN GALLERY.”