Lost property office
A lost and found office is an institution that is responsible for found items from unknown owners. Lost property offices exist regularly at municipalities or traffic facilities such as B. train stations , airports and are often set up as local lost property offices at large and long-term events by the operator.
Lost property
According to German found law ( § 967 BGB - obligation to deposit), finders are entitled (obliged by order of the local authority) to hand in finds to the appropriate offices of the city administration (usually the municipal regulatory office) or the police. There this is recorded as a find report. The lost property, the location and time of the find as well as the personal details of the finder are recorded. The finder should have the return of the lost item confirmed by a written receipt and the contents of z. B. have wallets (especially the amount of cash contained) precisely logged. Otherwise it is hardly possible later to prove the delivery of the item and its exact content at the time of handover to the lost property office.
Storage and auctioning
According to the law, the lost property office is obliged to keep lost property for a minimum of four weeks to a maximum of six months (exception: perishable goods or goods that are expensive to keep). If the loser does not report within six months, the finder is entitled to the item found ( Section 973 (1) BGB). If this right is not exercised by the finder or if the lost property is found in public buildings or means of transport, the city or municipality itself becomes the owner of the property ( Section 979 (1) BGB). These lost and found items are then publicly auctioned off at longer intervals after prior notice by the lost property office. The proceeds from the auction flow into the community budget for free disposal.
See also
Lost property , finder's fee , Hadrian division
