[meteorite-list] Court Rules German Amateur Astronomer Can Keep Meteorite Found in Austria

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 14:56:51 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200707062156.OAA14354_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/06/europe/EU-ODD-Germany-Meteorite-Suit.php

Court rules German amateur astronomer can keep meteorite found in Austria
The Associated Press
July 6, 2007

AUGSBURG, Germany: A court ruled Friday that a German amateur astronomer
can keep a meteorite fragment that he found in Austria, dismissing an
ownership claim by an Austrian council.

Karl Wimmer, a physicist from Bavaria, found the 2.84-kilogram
(6.26-pound) fragment on a remote mountain area after a targeted search
for pieces of the meteorite, which plunged into the atmosphere in April
2002.

The council in Reutte, Austria, argued that the piece was its property
and sued for the return of the fragment ??? known as "Neuschwanstein 3"
after the castle in southern Germany near which another piece was found.

However, the Augsburg state court ruled that Wimmer is entitled to keep
his find.

Presiding judge Franz Woerz concluded that "there is no earthly right to
heavenly property."

He said the fragment was "extraterrestrial material (that) does not come
from another part of the Earth" and could not be viewed as an asset of
the Austrian council or as having grown on its property.

The court noted that Austrian law allows individuals to gather minerals
and argued that the fragment had no new scientific significance.

Wimmer has offered to sell the fragment to a natural history museum in
Vienna, Austria for ???300,000 (US$400,000).
Received on Fri 06 Jul 2007 05:56:51 PM PDT