Aryanized Architecture – Expropriation, Restitution, and Remembrance - Berghaus Eidlitz – a private alpine villa built in the 1930s

Blog 57 ​"Eidlitz Mountain Villa"

In Gnadenwald, there still stands a house whose story is known to only a few: the Berghaus Eidlitz, later referred to as the Villa Sixta. Since its construction, it has been continuously inhabited, bearing witness to the lives of many residents—each with their own remarkable history shaped by the times they lived in.
The original owner, Walther Eidlitz (1892–1976), was a Jewish writer from Vienna. He inherited the property at Gnadenwald No. 7 from his parents and commissioned the renowned architect Liane Zimbler to design his mountain retreat. The result was a residence of striking architectural character—one that not only stands out for its aesthetic value but also tells a complex and compelling story. It speaks of creativity, personal transformation, and the turbulent events of the 20th century.

Blog 57 Berghaus Eidlitz- Villa Sixta in Gnadenwald/Tytol

The Expropriation of the Stubengesellschaft Hall in Tirol by the Nazi Regime

The long-established Stubengesellschaft in Hall in Tirol, a cultural and social association with centuries of history, was expropriated during the Nazi era. As part of the regime’s systematic efforts to bring independent civic institutions into line and confiscate their assets, the society’s property was seized, effectively depriving it of its livelihood. This intervention is emblematic of the broader suppression of autonomous structures and civil society by the National Socialist regime.

Blog 66 Dissolution of the Haller Stubengesellschaft during National Socialism

"The Hall Open-Air Swimming Pool – Continuities of a Nazi-Era Structure in Public Space"

The Hall open-air swimming pool, constructed between 1938 and 1945, remains a heavily used piece of municipal infrastructure to this day. However, its origins are deeply intertwined with the National Socialist era. (See Blog 79: Haller Freischwimmbad 1938–1941 for details.)
Unlike other structures from this period, the pool was neither demolished after 1945 nor explicitly marked as a historically burdened site. It thus serves as a prime example of the unexamined Nazi past of everyday architecture—a phenomenon observable in many Austrian and German cities.

Blog 79 A swimming pool for Hall (1938-1941)

The Franciscan Monastery in Hall and Its Violent Dissolution

For centuries, the Franciscan Monastery in Hall, Tyrol, stood as a spiritual and cultural beacon—until the Nazis forcibly dissolved it in 1940. Within hours, the monks were expelled, the monastery looted, and its sacred spaces desecrated.
This blog series chronicles these dramatic events through archival records and eyewitness accounts, revealing:

• How the Franciscans first lost their prestigious school
• The brutal expulsion on September 30, 1940
• The systematic destruction of monastic life

Discover why this was not just the seizure of a church, but an assault on Tyrol’s very identity.

Blog 80 The Franciscan Monastery