Habsburger-Gesetz

Habsburg Law: Under the law of April 3, 1919 all sovereign rights and other privileges (titles) of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine were annulled. All members of the House who did not renounce their membership and their rights and privileges and who did not declare themselves loyal citizens of the Republic were banished from the territory (a large number of members actually filed declarations of renunciation after 1960). The court assets, other than the private assets of the Habsburg family, were confiscated. Some claims for the return of such assets have been filed but the lawsuits are still pending. Suspended 1935-1938, the Habsburg law formed part of the Austrian State Treaty of 1955. Since by 1996 the banishment concerned only two remaining members of the Habsburg dynasty, the Council of Ministers declared section 2 of the Habsburg law "obsolete law" and granted them permission to enter the country.

Literature: F. Ermacora, Handbuch der Grundfreiheiten und Menschenrechte, 1963.