Supreme Court rejects Walderode property claim

The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a ruling by the regional court in Semily to return the bulk of Karel des Fours Walderode’s estate to his family. Walderode’s property was confiscated after the Second World War under the Beneš decrees. His widow, Johanna Kammerlander, has since 1992 been fighting to regain control of assets in north Bohemia valued at 3 billion crowns.   The Supreme Court overturned the verdict on the grounds that Walderode had failed to regain Czechoslovak citizenship after the war. A certificate stating that he did so in 1947 was not recognized. The case will now go back to the Semily court.