Palais Albert Rothschild

Apparently, as a child Baron Albert had lived in Salomon Mayer von Rothschild's house in 1848, which would explain the palace's seclusion from the public.

The entrance hall to the palace was dominated by an enormous marble staircase, with the walls decorated with priceless gobelins, mirrors and paintings.

The ballroom and various salons had ceilings painted by Jean de Witt and Tiepolo, and they were richly decorated with stucco, gold leaf, and heavy hanging crystal chandeliers.

It was reached by a small wooden staircase beginning from the second floor, and it was fitted with numerous telescopes for viewing the stars (the Baron was interested in astronomy).

The treasures of Baron Louis von Rothschild, composed of paintings, statues, furniture, books, armour and coins, were all seized and removed from his house at Theresianumgasse, prior to the Gestapo commandeering the building as its Vienna headquarters.

One of its primary missions was to strip Austrian Jewish citizens of all money and possessions, holding them to ransom in exchange for the hope of receiving emigration permits.

Though still standing and functional, by war's end, Baron Louis von Rothschild found it in a state of total neglect, its interior largely plundered by the Nazis.

Many bureaucratic hurdles and much red tape made it almost impossible for any surviving Austrian Jew to get their property back or receive any proper compensation.