Father Otto Matthys OFM (1877 – 1944): A Life of Service – Tested by Imprisonment and Exile

In the history of the Franciscan monastery in Hall, Father Otto Matthys dedicated his life entirely to the service of God and people. A native of Hall, he was not only a fervent preacher of the faith and a skilled nativity scene builder but also became a victim of National Socialist tyranny.

Photo Fr father Otto Matthys. Held in: Archive of the Tyrolean Franciscan Province in Hall in Tyrol.

Childhood and Origins

Otto Matthys was born on May 28, 1877, in Hall, Tyrol. His parents were the factory worker Jakob Matthys and Maria Matthys, née Tusch. The family had close connections to Absam, where his father worked and where his gravestone was once located on the northern church wall. These simple, devout roots shaped him throughout his life.

The Path to Religious Life and His Work

The young Otto joined the Franciscans and was invested at Pupping Monastery on September 14, 1894. His training led him to Salzburg, where he made his solemn profession on October 22, 1899, and was ordained a priest on July 15, 1900.
His religious life was characterized by great mobility and an astonishing range of duties. He worked as a pastor, editor, teacher, and multiple times as a guardian (monastery superior), including from 1920 to 1926 at the Franciscan monastery in Innsbruck and from 1937 to 1940 as a sick ward padre and confessor at the Franciscan monastery in Solbad Hall, his hometown.
Persecution, Imprisonment, and Expulsion
The peaceful work of the Hall Franciscans came to an abrupt end with the Nazi seizure of power. As part of the systematic suppression of religious life, the Franciscan monastery in Hall was forcibly closed on November 4, 1940.
Father Otto Matthys, who worked there as a sought-after confessor and pastor, was not spared. Immediately upon the closure of the monastery, he was arrested and imprisoned in the district jail in Solbad Hall from November 4 to November 8, 1940. These four days behind prison walls were the brutal response of an unjust regime to his unwavering faith and his work.
After his release from prison, he was homeless. Like many of his brothers, he was expelled and forcibly transferred to another monastery. His new, final place of work became Baumgartenberg Abbey in Upper Austria.

Final Work

Despite the traumatic experiences of arrest and exile, Father Otto remained active until the very end. In Baumgartenberg, he once again unfolded his artistic talents, which may have provided him with both solace and a means of expression. As his death notice noted, Father Otto was a "skilled nativity scene builder". This passion fit perfectly with the Franciscan spirit, as Saint Francis of Assisi himself is considered the founder of the Christmas nativity tradition. His artistic work was honored, among other places, in an obituary in the specialist magazine "Der Krippenfreund" (No. 100, March 1946).

Death and Legacy

His imprisonment and the humiliation he suffered may have damaged his health. Father Otto Matthys died just a few years later, on April 3, 1944, in the hospital of the Elisabethinen Sisters in Linz. He found his final resting place in the cemetery of Baumgartenberg.
Father Otto Matthys's life is a testament to two sides: it represents the devoted work of a pastor and artist, but also the suffering endured by faithful people under the Nazi dictatorship. His fate is a reminder of the courageous religious figures who were persecuted and imprisoned for their faith. His memory remains alive in his hometown of Hall and everywhere the resistance of faith against tyranny is remembered.
Requiescat in pace. (Rest in peace.)

Saint Francis of Assisi – The Founder of the Christmas Nativity Scene

The tradition of the Christmas nativity scene is credited to Saint Francis of Assisi. The first documented live reenactment was staged by him in 1223 in the Italian town of Greccio.
Seeking to make the story of Christ's birth tangible for believers, he created a living scene in a cave with real animals (an ox and a donkey), a manger, and hay. This innovative form of visual evangelization spread rapidly and became a central part of Christmas tradition worldwide.