An official for the city of Vienna says the Austrian capital has handed over nearly 6,000 valuable objects looted by the Nazis to their rightful owners or their heirs since it started taking inventory of them 14 years ago.

Andreas Mailath-Pokorny said 5,880 art works, books and other objects have been returned since 1999. Mailath-Pokorny says more than 70,000 items in Viennese museums and libraries were checked for their provenance.

The municipal councilor for culture spoke Wednesday. Austria has moved over the past three decades from depicting itself as a victim of the Nazis to acknowledging that its citizens played a large role in atrocities under Adolf Hitler after he annexed the country in 1938 and working to make amends.

(AP)