Platform Baukultur, the Austrian initiative for architectural policy and building culture fosters architectural policies in Austria. Since 2006, it has been presenting the Report on Austrian Building Culture – on the basis of a parliamentary resolution – every five years. The report contains several recommendations in the fields of public awareness, production, economy, sustainability and more. The third Austrian Building Culture Report (2017) concerns itself with scenarios and strategies for the future up to 2050 and creates – from three perspectives: global, integral and national – three scenarios on the issues of ‘Landscape as a resource’, ‘Cities and regions’, ‘Housing’ and ‘The public sector’.
A further issue that repeatedly gives rise to debates is the restitution of artworks plundered by the Nazis during the Nazi period to their former owners or their heirs. The Commission for Provenance Research systematically checks the government’s collections since 1998. The Law on the Restitution of Art Objects from the Austrian Federal Museums and Collections (Art Restitution Act, also 1998) made it possible to return cultural objects to the original owners or their legal heirs. In 2009, the Law was amended and extended to moveable cultural goods.
The Austrian National Library (as an example) also takes its responsibility for the systematic plunder of the belongings of mostly Jewish citizens, but also of other victims of the Nazi regime. The National Library has drawn up a comprehensive provenance report and since December 2003, 43 580 objects have been restored to their legal owners.
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