Prince loses bid to regain ancestral land

BERLIN, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A German court has refused to restore the remaining ancestral estates of a prince whose grandfather lost them when he was arrested by the Nazis.

The court ruled the settlement between Prince Friedrich zu Solms-Baruth's father and the government in 2003 should be final, Britain's Daily Mail reported. It also said it could not return all land and property seized by the Soviet army at the end of World War II.

The prince's grandfather, who had the same name, was arrested in 1944 as a sympathizer with Count Claus von Stauffenberg, who used a bomb in a failed attempt to assassinate Adolph Hitler. He was imprisoned, survived, and signed away his lands.

Solms-Baruth argued that even though his father reached an agreement on part of the family property in 2003 he continued to fight until his death in 2006 for the remainder -- 17,000 acres of land worth about $10 million.

"I am disappointed," the prince said. "The court did not recognize sufficiently my grandfather's fight against the Nazis. But my fight goes on."

He plans to appeal to the European Union.