Grundbuch#

Land Register (in Austrian Law: Grundbuch), public register, kept by the courts, in which landed property and the interests therein are recorded. Main legal source of the land register law ("Grundbuchgesetz") is the law of 1955 ("Allgemeines Grundbuch-Gesetz"), other regulations are included in the relevant laws of 1930 ("Grundbuch-Anlegungsgesetz") and 1980 ("Grundbuch-Umstellungsgesetz"), and in the general civil code ("Allgemeines Buergergesetzbuch"). The general land register is kept by the district courts (186 court offices and 2,400 authorised information offices).

The land register consists of the main register ("Hauptbuch") and the collection of documents; the land registry file ("Grundbuchsmappe"), the record of landowners and landed properties contain auxiliary information. In the main register, every landed property has its own entry (organised by entry numbers, "Einlagezahl", "EZ"), which consist of 3 folios: folio A ("A-Blatt", property particulars), folio B ("B-Blatt", property owner(s)), folio C ("C-Blatt (encumbrances on the property). The collection of documents contains all the documents which served as basis for the registration of a landed property.

Acquisition, transfer, restriction and cancellation of the registered rights are only possible by means of an entry in the land register ("Intabulatationsprinzip", principle of "registration"). When gaining land ownership, registration is the prerequisite for the acquisition of rights in a land. Everybody has the right to inspect the land register ("Oeffentlichkeitsprinzip", principle of public access). The land register enjoys irrebuttable presumption of accuracy, i.e. everyone can rely on the accuracy and completeness of the register entries ("materielles Publizitaetsprinzip", principle of material disclosure).

As well as the general land register, there are also the special registers: maps and tables of former landed properties of the nobility, mining, railway and water registers.

Literature#