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Dome reliquary: The Welf Treasure is exhibited in the Bode Museum
Photo: Stephanie Pilick / dpa
In the dispute over the Welfenschatz, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation achieved success in the US Supreme Court.
The Berlin foundation, supported by the federal and state governments, wanted to know whether US courts were even competent for the case.
The Supreme Court sees in its decision of Wednesday no evidence of the heirs to be able to assert claims in the USA against Germany in the case.
The nine constitutional judges ruled unanimously that it was an internal German matter.
The background to the dispute is the sale of 42 objects from the Welfenschatz by German-Jewish art dealers in 1935, including gold-shining reliquary containers, crosses and supporting altars.
The descendants of the art dealers argue that it was a forced sale.
Plaintiff's attorney Nicholas O'Donnell told AFP that his clients were "naturally disappointed" with the Supreme Court's decision. The focus of the legal dispute was a US law that provides immunity for other states from civil claims in the US.
There is an exception when “property has been stolen in violation of international law”.
The plaintiffs argued that the Holocaust was an "international crime" without question.
The Supreme Court now agreed with Germany's view.
From the point of view of Foundation President Hermann Parzinger, the US Supreme Court follows the foundation's arguments with a unanimous decision.
"The SPK has long been of the opinion that the case does not belong in a US court," tweeted Parzinger.
The Guelph treasure includes valuable altarpieces, decorative crosses and shrines from the Brunswick Cathedral.
The goldsmith's work from the 11th to 15th centuries came into the possession of the Welfenhaus in 1671.
The foundation has had 44 of the original 82 objects in its care since the post-war period.
In 2015, the state of Berlin declared the Welfenschatz a nationally valuable cultural asset.
This means that exports from Germany are only possible with the approval of the federal government.
Trouble for 42 gold relics
The proceedings concern 42 of the gold relics.
The descendants of the previous owners assume that the objects were only apparently legally stolen from their ancestors by the Nazis.
Restitution was first requested in 2008.
According to its own investigations into the sale of the Welf Treasure in 1935, the foundation is convinced that it was not a forced sale due to Nazi persecution.
The Advisory Commission for National Socialist Returns confirmed this position in 2014.
Under German law, proceedings due to the statute of limitations would not be possible.
The heirs sued the District Court in Washington, which recognized jurisdiction over proceedings against the foundation.
The appeal, however, was denied.
The Foundation wanted the Supreme Court to dismiss the action as inadmissible.
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ptz / dpa / AFP