The order has no claim to Bouzov and other property, said the deputy minister

JUDr. František Mikeš (ODS)

Prague - According to the First Deputy Minister of Culture František Mikeš, the German Order is not entitled to the return of Bouzov Castle and other requested properties. It was confiscated under Beneš decrees, Mikeš said today to Czech Television. The Order argues that a court canceled the confiscation of the property before February 25, 1948.
    The German Order, which considers itself the successor organization to the Order of the Teutonic Knights, this week requested the return of approximately 13,500 hectares of land as part of church restitution, also seeking the return of Sovinec Castle, the Karlova Studánka spa, and several other buildings in Moravia.
    The Order had its property confiscated under Beneš decrees; those whose property was confiscated under Beneš decrees have no claim to the return of property, Mikeš stated on Czech Television.
    According to the television, difficulties also await other orders. The Knights of Malta will reportedly have trouble reclaiming 120 hectares of land in the vicinity of Březiněves in Prague. The state has doubts about whether this order lost its land only during the communist regime. The mayor of Březiněves presented a document to the land office, according to which the Maltese Knights lost their property on February 24, the day before the communist coup. "If it is proven that the (decision) is indeed from February 24 and was final, then we cannot return the property," said Petr Šťovíček, director of the State Land Office, to Czech Television.
    However, the Knights of Malta reportedly have another document that allegedly proves that the state delivered the decision on land seizure only in March 1948. "This means that the Order is rightfully claiming its historical property, which was confiscated only after February 25, 1948," stated the legal representative of the Order, Martina Zikmundová.
    According to Czech Television, both the Knights of Malta and the German Order are prepared to go to court with the state over the property valued in billions.