The watercolour had been in the possession of the ALBERTINA since 1942 and was recommended for restitution to Luise Simon's heirs by the Art Restitution Advisory Board in 2019. The five legal successors, who were located by the Provenance Research Commission and scattered around the world, sold it at an estimated price of EUR 1,500 to Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, a Wien Holding company. The painting will now be given a place of honour in the Theater an der Wien, where it will be on display for visitors to view.

It is a design for the artistic decoration of the curtain at the Theater an der Wien, originally created around 1800 by Friedrich Schilcher and Ludwig Grünfeld in 1864. At the bottom right, a group of artists can be seen, among whom Johann Nestroy is said to be recognisable. The sheet was also shown in the exhibition Mozart – Experiment Enlightenment in Vienna at the end of the 18th century. 

The handover took place together with one of the heirs, Godfrey Stadlen, VBW Managing Director Franz Patay, ALBERTINA Director General Ralph Gleis, MusikTheater an der Wien Artistic Director Stefan Herheim and Pia Schölnberger, Head of the Commission for Provenance Research at the Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport, on Wednesday, 1 October 2025, at the Theater an der Wien.

Heir Godfrey Stadlen representing the five heirs 

“This painting, depicting a scene from Mozart’s Magic Flute, was commissioned by Friedrich Schilcher as a design for the curtain of the Theater an der Wien. My great-grandfather Josef Simon was once co-owner of the theatre. He sold his share, but the artwork remained in the possession of his widow Luise Simon, my great-grandmother. 

A few years ago, my late brother Nicholas and I received news that the watercolour, which had been confiscated by the Nazi regime as part of its systematic expropriation of Jewish property, was now part of the Austrian restitution programme and that we had been identified as heirs of Luise Simon. Thanks to the determined research of Mathias Lichtenwagner and his colleagues in the Commission for Provenance Research, three other heirs were identified in Argentina and Mexico – cousins my brother and I had never known about. Thanks to the Austrian restitution programme, I am now in contact with my long-lost relatives Elinor, Susana and José, and we have been able to share our family histories. We, the heirs of Luise, have decided that we would like to reunite the painting with the theatre for which it was created, and we are very happy that it is now on display in this place."

Franz Patay, VBW Managing Director 

"We were delighted to accept the heirs' offer to purchase this painting and exhibit it at the Theater an der Wien. The watercolour not only depicts part of the history of the Theater an der Wien, but also represents the tragic story of a family that has now been reunited thanks to the important work of the Commission for Provenance Research."

Stefan Herheim, Artistic Director of MusikTheater an der Wien 

"I am very grateful to the heirs of Luise Simon, Adele Strauss' sister, for wanting to give the watercolour a new home here at the Theater an der Wien – the place where so many connections between these families come together again." 

Ralph Gleis, Director General of the ALBERTINA 

“Since the Art Restitution Act came into force in December 1998, the Art Restitution Advisory Board has decided in 46 cases to return almost 4,000 objects from the ALBERTINA. For decades, the ALBERTINA has seen itself as a reliable partner in the restitution of looted art and in active provenance research. We do not wish to keep works that have entered our collection unlawfully. Justice cannot be measured in money and knows no time limit. Therefore, the ALBERTINA will continue to do everything in its power to return works to their rightful heirs wherever necessary. The Luise Simon restitution case shows once again that active provenance research and restitution are of enormous importance. For the heirs – but equally for us as a society.”

Pia Schölnberger, Head of the Commission for Provenance Research at the Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport

"The restitution of the watercolour to the family of Luise Simon, who had to flee Austria in 1939, is more than just a transfer of assets. The story of how this painting was taken away is representative of the often forgotten life stories marked by persecution and robbery, flight, exile and murder, which are being brought back into the consciousness of the Republic of Austria through the work of the Commission for Provenance Research and the Art Restitution Advisory Board." 

Kurt Gollowitzer, Managing Director of Wien Holding 

"The restitution of this watercolour is an important sign of our efforts to come to terms with our history. I am very pleased that the work is now returning to the place for which it was created. This not only honours the artistic significance of the Theater an der Wien, but also does justice to the descendants of Luise Simon."

Restitution case Luise Simon
(from the Advisory Board’s recommendation for restitution)

 Luise Simon was persecuted by the Nazi regime as a Jew and fled to Switzerland in 1939. Her art collection remained in Vienna and was confiscated by the Gestapo on 6 November 1940. The watercolour in question was handed over to the Dorotheum for auction and was finally purchased by the Albertina in 1942 for 200 RM, either in a post-auction sale by the Dorotheum or directly from Vugesta.

 Luise Simon died on 15 July 1946. On 13 December 1946, lawyer Emerich Hunna, acting on behalf of her heirs, namely her daughter Margarete Altmann and her granddaughter Hedwig Keunemann, requested the Federal Monuments Office to search for the "Simon Graphic Collection". A list sent to the BDA also mentioned the watercolour by Schilcher, which was identified in the Albertina in 1948.

The then director of the Albertina, Otto Benesch, responded to the heirs' claim for restitution with an offer to exchange the sheet for two Viennese vedute, and emphasised his proposal in a letter to the heirs dated 5 January 1949 with the following note: If not, your claim for restitution would have to be asserted through official channels, after which, following a rather lengthy process, the sheet could be made available to you in return for a payment of 200 schillings to the estate fund [sic] of the German Reich.