There he prepared drawings for the collection of pattern designs in the Austrian Museum.

After the war, the family agreed to donate the works to Austrian museums in exchange for export licenses for some 30 other paintings.

Research in state archives this year showed that several Austrian museums had called hundreds of objects of doubtful origin their own for more than 50 years.

A survey of her vinyl works closed last month at the Austrian Museum for applied Arts in Vienna.

"Dead City" was released, but prosecutors have been battling the owner of the paintings, a private Austrian museum, over "Wally" ever since.

The collections of botanical, zoological (26,000 preparations), and cultural material brought back enriched the Austrian museums (especially the natural-history museum).

Its voluntary return announced on Thursday is the latest concession by Austrian museums that had long denied the Jewish origin of much of their artwork.

Nearby, the restored Wertheimer House, with its intimate synagogue, provides an impressive setting for the Austrian Jewish Museum.

Mr. Schröder responded that no other Austrian museum devoted itself to photography, adding that he was merely following the example of his Hapsburg predecessors.