A major art drama - the precisely researched and emotionally engaging story behind Klimt's "Golden Adele"
In the middle of World War I, Maria Altmann is born into a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna. Her early deceased aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, walks in and out of the painter Gustav Klimt, who in 1907 completes her portrait, the famous portrait of the Golden Adele. With the invasion of the Nazis, the entire property is robbed and the Bloch-Bauers remains literally nothing of the once large art collection. When the heirs strive for a return after 1945, they find themselves confronted with lies and intrigue that they recognize to their full extent only 50 years later. Now Maria Altmann decides to sue the state of Austria from the USA at almost 84 years and a transatlantic legal battle that resembles a crime begins. Together with the young lawyer Randol Schoenberg, she will go to the highest court of the USA and win in the end.
Expanded and updated edition: with an additional interview with the lawyer of Maria Altmann, Randol Schoenberg, conducted in March 2024, as well as a foreword by Julia Albrecht, head of the office of the Consulting Commission NS Raubgut.