Noble Visitor Describes Recovery of Family Property Seized During WWII

On Friday, November 21, Forms II to VI and several guests enjoyed a visit with and presentation by William Lobkowicz, a descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic families in the Czech Republic. He also happens to be the uncle of two Browning students. Mr. Lobkowicz has spent the past 25 years working to recover his family's properties (land, castles, art, furniture, artillery and original music manuscripts, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which was dedicated to an ancestor) first confiscated by the Nazis in World War  II and then nationalized by the Communists after the war. He talked about his success in regaining and restoring the lost properties for the benefit of his country's cultural heritage. Through Mr. Lobkowicz's efforts, the Czech Republic has for the first time since the late 1930s great tangible and accessible artifacts from its own long, rich cultural history.