Equalisation of Burdens

Our focus is on reclaiming payments made under the Equalisation of Burdens Act in cases where restitution or compensation has subsequently taken place. This mostly applies to owners of property located in the new German Länder who are either now able to freely dispose of their restituted property or who have received compensation that exceeds the amount received under the equalisation of burdens law.

History of the equalisation of burdens

The Equalisation of Burdens Act (Lastenausgleichsgesetz) is the key law governing the equalisation of burdens. Over the course of the years, a comprehensive programme for economic integration and compensation developed as numerous other supplementary legal arrangements entered into force. Millions of people were forced to leave, or were expelled from, their homes in connection with the events of the Second World War and its aftermath. For these people, and for others whose homes were bombed or who suffered other damage to their property, the Equalisation of Burdens Act provided effective assistance to help them secure a minimum standard of living and reintegrate economically into society. In this way, comprehensive, solidarity-based measures were taken to mitigate the effects of a war that was started by Germany and that plunged the country itself into poverty and misery.