A Manhattan hospital is requesting assistance to discharge an 80-year-old woman who was admitted six months ago and is related to one of Europe’s wealthiest families.
The elderly woman was discovered in her rent-controlled studio apartment in Central Park South on April 4 and transported to Mount Sinai West hospital.
The hospital has racked up over $600,000 in debt due to the lack of health insurance and funds, as well as the patient’s hermetic, obsessively-controlled existence on $2,000 a month.
A court-appointed guardian attempts to unravel Birgit Thyssen-finances Bornemisza’s and any inheritance before transferring her to rehabilitation to teach her to swallow and walk again. Birgit Thyssen-Bornemisza remains in a shared hospital ward, surviving via a feeding tube, while a guardian attempts to unravel her finances and any inheritance.
In August, Judge Lisa Ann Sokoloff appointed a temporary guardian with control over the baroness’ person and finances.
The guardian was tasked with applying for a social security number and Medicaid so that the elderly woman could be discharged from the hospital, but despite her weakness, the elderly woman objected vehemently.
When the Swiss foundation that had been sending her monthly checks informed her that she was required to have a social security number to comply with anti-money laundering requirements, she refused, and the payments ceased.
According to The New York Times, at the hearing, Judge Sokoloff stated, “We have no idea about her financial situation.”
She might have hidden funds or she might not.
Birgit Muller was four years old when her mother Ingeborg wed Baron Henrik Gábor István gost Freiherr Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva, also known as Stephan Thyssen-Bornemisza. Birgit was born in Hanover, Germany.
He was the eldest son of the German manufacturer and scion of a centuries-old dynasty, Heinrich Thyssen.
Hans Heinrich, the brother of Stephan, managed the family business. At the time of his death in 2002, he had amassed probably the biggest private art collection in the world, which became the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, as well as a $2.7 billion empire.
Birgit, her mother, and stepfather led a restless existence, spending time in Monte Carlo and Havana until settling at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1961.
Stephan Thyssen-Bornemisza was estranged from his siblings Hans Heinrich, Margit, and Gabriella, with whom he’settled’ in 1952 for $20 million, which The New York Times estimated to be the equivalent of almost $224 million today.
The trio wasted the most of the funds and were dependent on a monthly stipend of several thousand dollars supplied by a family foundation.
In 1981, Birgit’s stepfather passed away without a will, death notice, or obituary, and none of his three siblings attended his funeral.
In 2002, Birgit’s mother passed away as a result of a stroke; she had no health insurance, having declined offers to obtain coverage, and the hospitalization depleted her savings.
Birgit, who was approximately 60 years old at the time, could barely afford her cremation, according to her attorney Stanley Cohen.
He stated to The New York Times, “They wanted nothing to do with government.”
They were content with their anonymity. They had no faith in anyone.
Birgit’s step-aunt Carmen, the fifth wife of Stephan’s brother Hans Heinrich, attempted to assist, but when her assistant passed away, communication ceased.
Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, who is 79 years old and worth an estimated $1.3 billion according to Forbes, told The New York Times that Birgit repeatedly rejected her offers of assistance.
She told the newspaper, “She was a very lovable person, a sweetheart.”
She was truly devastated by her mother’s passing. I invited her to visit Switzerland. However, she could not even make decisions without her mother.
I said, ‘I’m available whenever you need me.’
Birgit’s housekeeper said that, in September, she told her she had $10,000 in cash stashed in the apartment, and access to a storage unit where some art was kept.
But it is unclear whether the story is true.
In August, Judge Sokoloff described it as a “really sad case” that was exacerbated by Birgit’s “lifelong obsession — and it was an obsession — with keeping her life private.”
She highlighted that the desire to avoid any type of scrutiny and the obsession with living outside the international banking system had resulted in “her perhaps losing her lone source of income.”