Expropriation of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall, 1938

Introduction

The expropriation of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall, from which today’s Kolping Family Hall in Tirol emerged, formed part of the National Socialist persecution and elimination of Catholic associations following the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938. On 14 March 1938, approximately 100 SA men occupied the Kolping House. The association was dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated. The long-established Journeymen’s Association, founded in 1867, thereby lost not only its association house but also the basis of its religious, social and cultural activities.
A surviving document dated 24 May 1940 records the subsequent disposal of the confiscated property. The Nazi Party, which had been registered as its owner on the basis of a decree issued on 7 January 1939, sold the association house, including its courtyard, gardens and skittle alley, to the municipality of Solbad Hall for 30,000 Reichsmarks. At the same time, the local Nazi Party organization in Hall secured the continued use of the building. The case demonstrates how the National Socialist regime eliminated religious associations, appropriated their property and used it for its own political and economic purposes.

Historical Context

The Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall was founded on 9 June 1867. It belonged to the Catholic journeymen’s association movement established by the German priest and social reformer Adolph Kolping. Its purpose was to provide young craftsmen and journeymen with religious guidance, community, education and social support. The Kolping House, inaugurated in 1885, developed into an important centre of association life in Hall. Theatrical performances, in particular, had a long tradition within the association.
Catholic federations and associations were frequently at odds with National Socialist ideology. They upheld a Christian understanding of humanity, maintained independent communities and thus stood outside the Nazi regime’s totalitarian ambition to control every area of society. Following the National Socialist seizure of power, numerous Catholic organizations were therefore dissolved, banned or severely restricted in their activities. Their buildings, land, funds and other assets were confiscated and transferred to National Socialist organizations.
In Hall, the seizure took place immediately after the “Anschluss.” On 14 March 1938, approximately 100 SA men entered and occupied the Kolping House. The Catholic Journeymen’s Association was dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated. The building subsequently served as a local Nazi Party headquarters, while the former theatre hall was used as a storage facility for equipment and food during the Nazi period.
A purchase agreement dated 24 May 1940 reveals the legal and economic consequences of the expropriation. It states that the Nazi Party had become the owner of the property on the basis of a decree issued by the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich on 7 January 1939. The property comprised the building at Stadtgraben No. 11, described as an association house, together with its courtyard, several garden plots and a skittle alley.
The Nazi Party sold the property to the municipality of Solbad Hall for 30,000 Reichsmarks. It was represented by Hermann Neuner, Gau Treasurer of the Nazi Party’s Tirol-Vorarlberg district, while Mayor Heinz Bauer acted on behalf of the municipality. The municipality was required not only to finance the purchase but also to continue leasing the building to the local Nazi Party organization in Hall at a low rent and to renovate it at its own expense.
Formally, the document appears to record an ordinary purchase agreement. In reality, however, the transaction was possible only because the Catholic Journeymen’s Association had previously been forcibly dissolved and deprived of its property. The association was not a party to the agreement and could neither consent to the sale nor dispose of the purchase price. The bureaucratic language of the agreement therefore conceals the political coercion and preceding expropriation on which the transaction was based.
Following the end of National Socialist rule, the association resumed its activities. As early as 28 August 1945, its first formal board meeting could once again be held in the Kolping House. After extensive repairs, a theatrical performance took place there again for the first time on 14 October 1945. This new beginning marked the restoration of the religious and cultural life that had been violently interrupted in 1938.

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Expropriation of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall

Occupation of the Kolping House and Confiscation of the Association’s Property

The Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall, today known as the Kolping Family Hall in Tirol, was among the Catholic organizations dissolved and deprived of their property following the National Socialist seizure of power in Austria in March 1938.
According to the historical chronicle of the Kolping Family, approximately 100 SA men occupied the Kolping House on 14 March 1938. The Catholic Journeymen’s Association was dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated. During the Nazi period, the Kolping House served as a local Nazi Party headquarters. The former theatre hall was used as a storage facility for equipment and food. 
The association, which had existed since 1867, thereby lost not only its legal existence but also control over its building, land and entire organizational infrastructure.

AI-generated historical reconstruction of the occupation of the Kolping House on Bruckergasse in Hall in Tirol by approximately 100 SA men in 1938. The detached corner building and the people depicted are symbolic and do not constitute a historically exact reconstruction.

Transfer of the Property to the Nazi Party

A surviving purchase agreement dated 24 May 1940 provides a more detailed insight into the subsequent disposal of the confiscated property. It states that the Nazi Party had become the owner of the property on the basis of a decree issued by the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich on 7 January 1939.
The property was registered under land registry folio no. 509 II in the cadastral municipality of Hall and comprised:

• the residential building and association premises at Stadtgraben No. 11, including the courtyard;
• a garden plot;
• a garden with a skittle alley;
• a further garden plot.

The agreement expressly describes the building as an “association house” (Vereinshaus). In conjunction with the chronicle of the Kolping Family, it can be identified as the former premises of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall.

Sale to the Municipality of Solbad Hall/Hall in Tirol

On 24 May 1940, the Nazi Party sold the property to the municipality of Solbad Hall. The Party was represented by Hermann Neuner, Gau Treasurer of the Nazi Party’s Tirol-Vorarlberg district. The municipality was represented by the National Socialist mayor, Heinz Bauer.
The agreed purchase price was 30,000 Reichsmarks. The date of transfer was set retrospectively as 1 April 1940. The municipality was required to pay the purchase price into an account held by the Nazi Party’s Tirol-Vorarlberg Gau administration at the Sparkasse Innsbruck. It also had to bear the costs, fees and taxes associated with the agreement and the registration of the transfer in the land register.
A subsequent land registry order authorized the registration of the municipality of Solbad Hall as the new owner.

Sale and Continued Use by the Nazi Party

The conditions governing the continued use of the property are particularly revealing. Although the Nazi Party sold the property to the municipality, the building was to remain available to the local Nazi Party organization in Hall.
The municipality of Solbad Hall undertook to lease the building at Stadtgraben No. 11 to the local Party organization at a particularly low rent. The rent could be no higher than the amount required to cover the interest on the loan taken out by the municipality to finance the purchase.
In addition, the municipality had to renovate the building at its own expense. The agreement claimed that the building was in a poor structural condition. The municipality was required to restore it so that it could be leased to the local Nazi Party organization in an “impeccable condition.”
The Nazi Party thus received the purchase price for a property that had come under its control following the dissolution and expropriation of a Catholic association. At the same time, it was able to continue using the building as its local headquarters on favourable terms. Most of the financial burden of purchasing and renovating the property was transferred to the municipality.

An Example of National Socialist Expropriation Policy

The history of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall demonstrates that National Socialist expropriation frequently took place in several stages. First, the association was forcibly dissolved and its property confiscated. Ownership was then transferred to the Nazi Party through an administrative decision. Finally, the Party was able to sell the property while securing its continued use.
On the surface, the 1940 purchase agreement appears to record an ordinary legal transaction. In reality, however, the sale was possible only because the Catholic Journeymen’s Association had previously been eliminated and deprived of its property. The association could neither exercise control over its property nor prevent the sale or influence its terms.
The formal language of the agreement therefore conceals the coercive political circumstances underlying the transfer of ownership.

Resumption of Association Life after the End of Nazi Rule

Following the collapse of the National Socialist regime, the Journeymen’s Association began rebuilding its activities. On 28 August 1945, the first formal board meeting could once again be held in the Kolping House. After extensive repairs, a theatrical performance took place there for the first time since the war on 14 October 1945.
This rapid resumption of the association’s activities symbolizes the recovery of the religious, social and cultural independence that had been violently taken from the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in 1938.

Summary

On 14 March 1938, approximately 100 SA men occupied the Kolping House in Hall. The Catholic Journeymen’s Association was dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated. By 1939, the Nazi Party had been registered as the owner of the association’s property. In May 1940, it sold the association house and its adjoining land to the municipality of Solbad Hall for 30,000 Reichsmarks. At the same time, the municipality was required to continue leasing the building to the local Nazi Party organization on favourable terms and to renovate it at its own expense. The agreement thus documents the legal and economic disposal of property that had previously been forcibly taken from a Catholic association.

Sources

Purchase agreement between the Nazi Party and the municipality of Solbad Hall, dated 24 May 1940, file reference 660/40. The subject of the agreement was the previously confiscated association house of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall at Stadtgraben No. 11, together with the adjoining properties. The estate was sold to the municipality for 30,000 Reichsmarks and subsequently continued to be used by the local Nazi Party organization in Hall. Digital reproduction of a contemporary document.

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Purchase agreement of 24 May 1940 concerning the former association house of the dissolved Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall. The Nazi Party sold the property at Stadtgraben No. 11, including its courtyard, gardens and skittle alley, to the municipality of Solbad Hall for 30,000 Reichsmarks, while securing the building’s continued use by its local Party organization.

Historical Source Commentary

The purchase agreement of 24 May 1940 documents the economic disposal of the previously confiscated property of the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall. According to the agreement, the Nazi Party had been registered as the owner of the property on the basis of a decree issued by the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich on 7 January 1939. On 14 March 1938, approximately 100 SA men had occupied the Kolping House; the association was subsequently dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated.
The document shows that the Nazi Party sold the association house at Stadtgraben No. 11, including its courtyard, gardens and skittle alley, to the municipality of Solbad Hall for 30,000 Reichsmarks. At the same time, the municipality was required to continue leasing the building to the local Nazi Party organization in Hall on favourable terms and to renovate it at its own expense.
As a contemporary legal source, the agreement provides detailed information about the sale and the conditions governing the continued use of the property. However, it makes no mention of the preceding forcible occupation, dissolution of the association or confiscation of its assets. The formal legal language of the agreement thus conceals the political coercion underlying the transfer of ownership. Only when examined alongside the association’s chronicle and additional historical records does it become clear that this was not an ordinary property transaction, but the subsequent disposal of association property expropriated under National Socialist rule.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When was the Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall expropriated?

On 14 March 1938, approximately 100 SA men occupied the Kolping House. The Catholic Journeymen’s Association was dissolved, and all of its property was confiscated.

Why did the National Socialists dissolve the Journeymen’s Association?

The association belonged to the independent Catholic network of federations and associations, which stood in opposition to National Socialism’s totalitarian ambitions. The Nazi regime sought to eliminate independent religious, social and cultural organizations and bring society under its complete control.

Is the Catholic Journeymen’s Association the present-day Kolping Family Hall?

Yes. The Catholic Journeymen’s Association in Hall belonged to the historical Kolping movement and continues today as the Kolping Family Hall in Tirol.

What was included in the confiscated association property?

The purchase agreement lists the association house at Stadtgraben No. 11, including its courtyard, several garden plots and a garden with a skittle alley. The association’s chronicle states that all of its property was confiscated.

How did the Nazi Party acquire the property?

According to the purchase agreement, the Nazi Party became the owner of the property on the basis of a decree issued by the Reich Commissioner for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich on 7 January 1939. The document itself does not describe the preceding occupation of the building or dissolution of the association.

To whom was the Kolping House sold?

Under an agreement dated 24 May 1940, the Nazi Party sold the property to the municipality of Solbad Hall. The municipality was subsequently registered as the new owner in the land register.

What was the purchase price?

The agreed purchase price was 30,000 Reichsmarks. It was to be paid into an account held by the Nazi Party’s Tirol-Vorarlberg Gau administration at the Sparkasse Innsbruck.

Did the Catholic Journeymen’s Association receive the purchase price?

The agreement did not provide for any payment to the dissolved association. The Nazi Party was both the seller and the recipient of the purchase price. The association itself was not involved in the transaction.

Did the Nazi Party have to leave the building after the sale?

No. The municipality of Solbad Hall undertook to continue leasing the building to the local Nazi Party organization in Hall at a particularly low rent.

Who had to pay for the renovation of the building?

The municipality of Solbad Hall undertook to renovate the building, which the agreement described as being in a poor structural condition, at its own expense so that it could be leased to the local Nazi Party organization in an impeccable condition.

How was the Kolping House used during the Nazi period?

The entire building served as a local Nazi Party headquarters. The former theatre hall was used as a storage facility for equipment and food.

Why is the purchase agreement an important historical source?

The agreement shows how confiscated association property was legally and economically disposed of. At the same time, its dispassionate administrative language reveals how the preceding political coercion was concealed. Only when read alongside the association’s chronicle does the entire process—from the forcible occupation of the building to its subsequent sale—become apparent.

When did the association resume its activities?

A formal board meeting was held in the Kolping House again on 28 August 1945. Following extensive repairs, the first post-war theatrical performance took place there on 14 October 1945.

Brief Description of the Source

Source: Power of attorney issued by Franz Xaver Schwarz, Reich Treasurer of the Nazi Party, authorizing Hermann Neuner, Treasurer of the Party’s Tyrol district, to sell the former Kolping House to the municipality of Solbad Hall, Munich, 5 May 1939; processed by the Hall District Court on 28 August 1940.

Power of attorney issued by Franz Xaver Schwarz, Treasurer of the Nazi Party, on 5 May 1939. It authorized Hermann Neuner, Treasurer of the Nazi Party’s Tyrol district, to sell the former Kolping House in Hall in Tirol, together with its associated properties, to the municipality of Solbad Hall. The document was processed by the Hall District Court on 28 August 1940.

Transcription of the Source

[Stamp and handwritten notes in the upper margin:]
15 Reichsmarks in document tax assessed in accordance with Section 27 of the Document Tax Act and collected as part of the court costs.
Registry of the Hall District Court,
Hall in Tirol, 28 August 1940
Wimmer, Judicial Inspector
[Stamp:]
Hall District Court (Tyrol)
Power of Attorney
As the Führer’s plenipotentiary in all property-related matters of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Law to Safeguard the Unity of Party and State of 1 December 1933 – Reich Law Gazette I, p. 1016; Implementing Decree of the Führer of 29 March 1935, Reich Law Gazette I, p. 502), I hereby authorize the Treasurer of the Nazi Party’s Tyrol district,
Mr Hermann Neuner, Innsbruck,
to sell, on behalf of the Nazi Party, the property in Hall in Tirol recorded as Land Register Entry No. 509, Cadastral Municipality of Hall, which is owned by the Nazi Party—namely Building Plot No. 534, residential building No. 11 together with its courtyard, Land Plot No. 243/3, garden, Land Plot No. 243/4, garden with bowling alley, and Land Plot No. 243/8, garden—to the municipality of Solbad Hall, represented by Mayor Heinz Bauer, and to determine the terms of the purchase agreement at his own discretion.
At the same time, I authorize Mr Neuner, on behalf of the Nazi Party, to execute the declaration of conveyance of the property and to submit all necessary applications to the Land Registry Office.
Munich, 5 May 1939
For the National Socialist
German Workers’ Party
The Reich Treasurer:
[Signature of Franz Xaver Schwarz)

Historical Commentary

The power of attorney dated 5 May 1939 is an important document concerning the history of the Nazi expropriation of the Kolping House in Hall. It shows that, by this time, the property was already formally being treated as belonging to the Nazi Party. Franz Xaver Schwarz, the Reich Treasurer of the Nazi Party, authorized Hermann Neuner, Treasurer of the Party’s Tyrol district, to sell the property to the municipality of Solbad Hall.
Particularly revealing is the broad scope of Neuner’s authority: he was permitted to determine the terms of the purchase agreement “at his own discretion” and to arrange all necessary Land Registry transactions. The sale was thus prepared within the Nazi Party’s administrative structures, while the previously dissolved Catholic Journeymen’s Association no longer had any power to dispose of its property or influence the terms of the sale.
The document identifies the affected parts of the property precisely: residential building No. 11 with its courtyard and several garden plots, including a garden with a bowling alley. It therefore demonstrates that not only the Kolping House itself, but the entire associated property, had come under the control of the Nazi Party.
The stamp of the Hall District Court dated 28 August 1940 records the document’s subsequent judicial or Land Registry processing. The power of attorney should therefore not be understood as the original expropriation order. Rather, it documents a later stage in the deprivation of property: the legal resale of assets that the Nazi Party had seized following the forcible occupation of the Kolping House and the dissolution of the association. The transaction illustrates how the persecution and suppression of Catholic organizations were accompanied by the bureaucratically organized transfer of their property.