Walderode restitution claim partially successful

A court in Semily has issued a partial ruling in the Walderode restitution case, ordering the return of one plot of land to Johanna Kammerlander, widow of Karel des Fours Walderode. The property, located in Turnov–Daliměřice, measures 1,554 square meters.

The court rejected the request to return about 60 other plots because they were owned by private individuals; Kammerlander must therefore seek financial compensation from the Land Fund. The ruling is not binding. Future proceedings will address claims for more than 1,000 additional plots.

The Walderode restitution case was reopened after the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic last year upheld a complaint by Johanna Kammerlander, widow of Karel des Fours Walderode, citing a violation of her right to judicial protection. Karl Des Fours Walderode filed for restitution of land and property in 1992 on the grounds that he had regained Czechoslovak citizenship, but died in 2000. At former hearings, the certificate stating that he had regained Czechoslovak citizenship in 1947 was not recognized.