After the collapse of the Signa Holding, the estate of the Austrian actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr went on to the Filmarchiv Austria.
The Austrian real estate group of the entrepreneur Rene Benko had acquired the 2022 collection to upgrade the planned luxury project ‘Kaufhaus Lamarr’ on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Strasse with international glamor. With the bankruptcy of the Signa Empire, however, this project failed.
The path of the estate was characterized by several owners: interrogations. In 2021 he went to the Jewish Museum Vienna, but a planned hedy lamarric museum could not be implemented. The Signa Holding then took over the collection before it had to be re -awarded in the course of the insolvency proceedings. The Stapf Neuhauser Rechtsanwälte GmbH law firm organized a structured sales process in which the Filmarchiv Austria was awarded the contract.
“Despite the complex framework of the bankruptcy proceedings, the transparent and structured sales process has met both the legal requirements and the cultural -historical value of the estate,” said Christof Stapf, insolvency administrator Signa Holding GmbH. “With the acquisition by the Filmarchiv Austria, it is ensured that the collection remains permanently open to the public, scientifically developed and preserved for future generations.”
The collection comprises more than 800 objects and was acquired at a significantly lower price than in the previous sales. This means that the estate does not remain part of a failed real estate project, but will be scientifically developed and made publicly accessible in the future. A first presentation is planned in the Metro cinema culture house in Vienna from 2026.