A prince demands state treasures

The fate of the Hohenzollern riches has become a political hot potato in Germany, said Klaus Wiegrefe. Georg Friedrich, the “litigation-obsessed” prince of Prussia and great-great-grandson of the last kaiser, has launched multiple court cases insisting that federal and state governments give back his family’s ancestral loot. The 44-year-old aristocrat is demanding the return of thousands of artifacts now displayed in museums—including paintings, sculptures, and furniture—as well as restitution for properties expropriated by the Soviets in what became East Germany. All told, the claim runs to hundreds of millions of dollars. For years, authorities quietly negotiated with the prince, but when

he went public last year with a demand that he be handed an imperial crown and scepter and the deed to Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam, “there was great public outrage.” Now no political party wants to be seen making a deal with the Hohenzollerns. The prince’s restoration campaign could be further undone by the “unworthiness clause” that disqualifies Nazi helpers and their descendants from receiving compensation for property seized by the Soviets.

The prince’s great-grandfather was an early and outspoken supporter of Hitler, so the courts could judge the family unworthy of restitution. Friedrich’s quest for his family’s historic treasures might ultimately be undone by that same family’s dark history.