The German Order is seeking the return of Bouzov Castle in court

Olomouc - The District Court of Olomouc has opened a dispute over one of the most famous Moravian monuments, Bouzov Castle in the Olomouc region. The lawsuit against the National Heritage Institute, which refused to return the castle as part of church restitutions in May 2014, was filed by the Czech Province of the Order of the Brothers of the House of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem, known as the Order of the Teutonic Knights, now the German Order. They seek the return of the castle complex as well as its furnishings. The Order has unsuccessfully sought the return of the national cultural monument in previous years. They are now reportedly coming forward with new evidence. Today, the court adjourned the case for further evidence until the end of July, Judge Vít Jašek told CTK today.

Heritage officials refused to hand over the castle on the grounds that it was confiscated under the Beneš decrees, and thus the current law on property settlements between the state and churches does not apply to it. The castle was confiscated under the mentioned decrees, but not by the Order. The Order lost its property shortly after the Sudetenland was detached from Czechoslovakia, in October 1938. By the decision of Adolf Hitler, the German Order was dissolved as hostile to the Reich, and the properties were seized or transferred to new owners. Representatives of the Order are trying to refute claims in court that the Order's members collaborated, asserting that, on the contrary, they were persecuted. "It plays a very important role," the vicar Methoděj Hofman told reporters today.

Representatives of the Order also reject the argument that the current Order is not the legal successor of the original owner and was not the owner of the castle after World War II, thus cannot claim the return of the property. "The Order of the Teutonic Knights and the Order of the German House of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem are identical institutions that have never been dissolved," added the vicar, referring to canon law.

The Order is also demanding the return of its property through various other lawsuits. For example, at the court in Bruntál, it is requesting the return of the church in Karlova Studánka in the Bruntál region. According to the vicar, the Order has also filed a lawsuit with the Olomouc Regional Court regarding last year's decision of the Land Office, which did not return nearly 1300 hectares of agricultural land in the Olomouc region.

Bouzov Castle was founded in the early 14th century. The Order of the Teutonic Knights (since 1929 the German Order) acquired it at the end of the 17th century. The Order retained possession of the castle until October 1938, when it was confiscated by the Nazis and, along with other order properties, was handed over to German administration. The castle was acquired by SS chief Heinrich Himmler; during the occupation, Bouzov even served as the headquarters of an SS assault unit. After the war, Bouzov was confiscated and has been state property since 1945. The German Order has repeatedly sought the castle since 1998.