Legislative provisions relating to the dissolution of entailed family estates
An entailed estate was a legal institution guaranteeing that a family’s assets would not be split up or sold, but would remain “in the hands” of the same family.
Source: © Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Foto: Wolfgang Fuhrmannek
The assets of the entailed estate passed into the ownership of specific family members in a fixed order of succession, but remained in the “primary ownership” of the family. Assets tied to the entailed estate included not only land, but frequently also cultural objects, in particular collections such as archives and libraries.
Entailed family estates began to decrease in significance from the 19th century onwards, and Article 155 of the Weimar Constitution of 1919 stated that they should be dissolved. This meant that the former Länder were obliged to adopt implementing acts incorporating provisions on a number of different topics, including deadlines for dissolution and the way in which cultural objects should be handled in the event of voluntary or forced dissolution, the future location of these objects and the arrangements for securing them, with the aim of preventing the expatriation and fragmentation of cultural property formed of groups of objects. The provisions of Land legislation on the dissolution of entailed estates differed significantly, especially in respect of the deadlines for dissolution.
The Reich Law on the Dissolution of Entailed Family Estates and Other Tied Assets (only available in German) adopted by the National Socialists on 6 July 1938 was intended to standardize and accelerate this process of dissolution, and ordered the dissolution of all entailed family estates that still existed and their conversion into free private assets.
Measures aimed at protecting cultural property
At the same time, however, the 1938 Law authorized the Entailed Estate Senates of the Higher Regional Courts to adopt decisions in individual cases protecting objects and groups of objects of special artistic, scientific, historical or local historical significance and regulating the removal of these objects from their current location. Certain major archives, libraries and collections that still exist within public and private institutions owe their existence to these court-ordered measures, which were aimed at protecting and securing cultural objects and which had lasting binding effect.
The relevant legislative provisions remained in force even after the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, but the Act amending the Law on Entailed Estates and Foundations (only available in German) authorized the Länder to amend, supplement or repeal the provisions of the Reich Law on the Dissolution of Entailed Family Estates and Other Tied Assets. Ever since, different rules have applied in the Länder in relation to the authorization of measures involving protected cultural property.
Notwithstanding the above, the process of dissolving entailed family estates is now deemed to have been completed. The Act abolishing the Reich Law on the Dissolution of Entailed Family Estates and Other Tied Assets (only available in German) was therefore adopted on 23 November 2007, although Section 2 of this Act states that the relevant provisions will remain in force until the adoption of corresponding provisions under Land law, and the rights and obligations imposed by the earlier Law will remain unaffected. This means that any orders adopted by the Entailed Estate Senates or their legal successors in respect of objects that formerly belonged to entailed estates continue to be valid.