Mannheim/Friedrichshafen (dpa/lsw) - In the dispute over the million-dollar Zeppelin Foundation, the descendants of the airship pioneer give in. Great-grandson Albrecht Graf von Brandenstein-Zeppelin announced on Friday that he would not take any further steps through administrative law.
In the dispute, Brandenstein-Zeppelin and his son Frederic wanted to use a lawsuit to get the foundation in Friedrichshafen out of the hands of the city. The airship builder Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin established the foundation in 1908. After the Second World War, it was dissolved and the management of the assets was transferred to the city of Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. From the point of view of the two Brandenstein zeppelins, this happened illegally.
The Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court recently dismissed an appeal by the plaintiffs against a first-instance court decision. It was not about the matter, but only about whether the Brandenstein Zeppelins are allowed to complain about this at all. The courts denied this.
"We deeply regret this decision, but have decided not to take administrative legal action any further," said Albrecht Graf von Brandenstein-Zeppelin after the judges announced their reasons for the verdict on Friday.
"The legislature is now all the more called upon to end the obvious misuse of foundations by the public sector in politically unstable times," explained Brandenstein-Zeppelin. Thousands of foundations that were dissolved during the National Socialist era and in the GDR are affected by the verdict.
