A Final Honor: Memorial Plaque for Dr. Adolf Hörhager Inaugurated in Ried-Kaltenbach

Online unter, https://seelsorgeraum.uderns.at/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weihe-Gedenktafel-23.jpg (Stand: 5.11.2025)

Ried-Kaltenbach, April 2024 – On Sunday, April 14, 2024, a long-overdue act of remembrance took place at the cemetery of the parish of Ried-Kaltenbach: the inauguration of a memorial plaque for Dr. jur. Adolf Hörhager, a son of Kaltenbach who fell victim to National Socialist tyranny. The plaque was donated by the "Rheno Danubia" student union from Innsbruck and ceremoniously inaugurated by Pastor Erwin Gerst following an evening Mass.
The initiative for the memorial came from the Catholic academic association "Rheno Danubia," which had been researching its deceased members. These efforts revealed the particularly tragic fate that Dr. Adolf Hörhager, one of its founding members, suffered during the Nazi dictatorship . The original family grave at the Ried-Kaltenbach cemetery had been dissolved years ago, leaving no urn or gravestone to remember the deceased . The new plaque, affixed to the side wall of the old cemetery chapel, now creates a publicly accessible place of remembrance .

A Life of Public Service and Political Commitment

Dr. Adolf Hörhager was born on February 11, 1884, in Kaltenbach and later worked as a lawyer in Innsbruck . He was consistently publicly and politically active, including serving as a member of the provisionally established Tyrolean state parliament in 1918.
His deep connection to his Zillertal homeland was also evident in his economic engagements. In the 1920s, for example, he served as president of the Zillertal Railway and vice-president of the Zillertal Power Plants.

Photo Dr. Adolf Hörhager. Held in: ​Fügen-Zillertal Local Heritage and Museum Association"

A "Confessing Nature": Resistance and Martyrdom

When Dr. Hörhager became politically active again from 1936 onward, he quickly became a target for the National Socialists. Due to his public stance against Adolf Hitler, he was arrested in Innsbruck on the night of March 11-12, 1938 . In May 1938, he was transferred from Innsbruck to the Dachau concentration camp near Munich. In the fall of 1939, he was moved again, this time to the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz .
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As his fellow prisoner and friend Dr. Ernst Verdross from Hall in Tirol recounted, Hörhager was a "confessing nature." While other prisoners, hoping to survive, promised to "do their duty" for the new state when questioned, Hörhager openly declared, "I am against the National Socialist state." This unwavering integrity cost him his life. Already an older man, he did not have the strength to endure the hardships of the camps. Dr. Adolf Hörhager died on February 1, 1940, in the Mauthausen concentration camp from the consequences of forced labor and undernourishment .

A Fitting Tribute from His Academic Home

The memorial plaque was donated by the "Katholische akademische Verbindung Rheno Danubia zu Innsbruck" (K.a.V. Rheno-Danubia), of which Dr. Hörhager was a founding member in 1927 . The ceremony was attended by about 25 members and senior members of this non-fencing student association who had specially traveled for the occasion .
A special thank you was extended to Dr. Stephan Astegger, a member of Rheno-Danubia, who meticulously researched the life of Dr. Hörhager and his family and presented the biography during the evening service . Plans for the future include adding a QR code to the plaque, allowing visitors to read the curriculum vitae of Dr. Adolf Hörhager on their smartphones in a contemporary manner .
This memorial plaque finally restores a dignified place of remembrance in his home parish for a man who remained true to his convictions to the point of death. It honors Dr. Adolf Hörhager not only as a victim of the Nazi regime but also as a courageous individual from the Zillertal region whose story must not be forgotten.

Photographs Held in: ​Fügen-Zillertal Local Heritage and Museum Association"