The Habsburgs’ assets were divided into three categories: the so-called Hofärar referred to state property and state funds that were used by the imperial family to cover the costs of the court and imperial representation. This was directly administered by the court. The gebundene Familienvermögen, i.e. the family’s tied assets, were intended to enhance “the splendour and prestige of the imperial house” in order to “increase its power and influence”. And there were of course the private assets of the members of the House of Habsburg.

The Hofärar and the family’s tied assets were expropriated under the so-called Habsburg Law in April 1919.

On the orders of Emperor Karl, 38 pieces of jewellery were removed from the display cases of the Imperial Treasury early in the morning of 1 November 1918 and taken to Switzerland on 4 November. The question now is whether these pieces of jewellery were actually private property. There is at least some evidence to suggest that this was not the case. The Empress’s private jewellery was deposited in Schönbrunn Palace in 1918, not in the treasury. The family itself apparently had doubts about the private property status – or at least considered a different legal opinion possible: While the Empress’s private jewellery was openly sold during their exile, e.g. through Cartier in Paris, jewellery from the treasury was dismantled and the stones removed for sale.

Richard Bassett, whose expert opinion on this question was sought by the family after the remaining pieces of jewellery resurfaced, argues that the Habsburg Law did not apply to the jewellery because it was already outside the country in April 1919. However, this argument is contradicted by the fact that Emperor Karl himself had initiated a law in February 1918 prohibiting the export of jewellery from Austria.