via facsimile: 011-43-1-531-20-3609/3699

Sektionschef Dr. Rudolf Wran
Bundesministerium für Unterricht
und kulturelle Angelegenheiten
Minoritenplatz 5
A-1014 Vienna, Austria

Re:  Bloch-Bauer Estate

Dear Dr. Wran:

 Thank you for your March 23, 1999 fax. 

 I look forward to receiving Dr. Bacher's report in the very near future.  In the March 19 edition of "Der Standard" it was reported that the Bundesdenkmalamt had recently delivered its chronology to the Beirat.  I hope to receive a copy soon.

 Please also feel free to send the Beirat members copies of my February 10, March 5 and March 12 letters to Dr. Bacher, which should help explain the factual and legal situation concerning the Klimt paintings and the inheritance issues.  If you would like, I can also send you the legal opinion we received from Dr. Andreas Lintl, which confirms that the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer were not legally required to acknowledge the request made in Adele Bloch-Bauer's will or to donate the Klimt paintings to the Austrian Gallery. Of course, Minister Gehrer has already concluded that this donation was made by Dr. Rinesch in connection with the request for export permits of other paintings, and therefore falls squarely under the new Rückgabegesetz.

 So that there will not need to be any further delays, I would appreciate receiving from you a draft of the proposed "Erklärung über Schad- und Klagloshaltung" and a form for the required "Bevollmächtigung" for turnover of the artworks which should be signed by all of the heirs. I presume that the form of these documents was already used for the Rothschild case and is therefore currently available.

 As I have not been informed of the procedures of the Beirat, I am curious why you do not expect a final decision to be reached on the Bloch-Bauer case at the May 10 meeting.  I had hoped that the long delay between the March 18 and May 10 meetings was intended to allow us to work together to resolve any outstanding factual or legal questions so that the Beirat could make its decision at its next meeting. If there is anything I can do to assist you, Dr. Bacher or the Beirat, please tell me.  Specifically, if there is any further documentation or legal analysis that is required before a decision can be made, please notify me and I will do my best to assist you.

 We are in the process of obtaining certified copies of all of the important inheritance documents, copies of which Dr. Bacher has already received.  I will forward the certified copies to you as soon as we receive them. I trust that you did not intend to give the impression, as reported in "Die Presse" on March 19, that there is any dispute between the heirs.  As you know, I represent four of the heirs and I am in direct contact with the fifth heir, Dr. Nelly Auersperg. As far as I know there is no dispute among the heirs; in fact, quite the contrary.

 Finally, I plan to be in Vienna from May 1 to 11. I have not yet scheduled any other appointments, so please have your Sekretariat tell me the date and time you are available for a meeting.  I look forward to meeting you in May. In the meantime if there is anything else you need, please do not hesitate to contact me.

   Very truly yours,

   E. Randol Schoenberg

cc:    Maria Altmann
 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ernst Bacher

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