Sternkorona I - Student Association in Hall in Tyrol

The student association Sternkorona grew from a dining society founded in 1888 by Priest Nikolaus Recheis at the Franz-Josef-Gymnasium in Hall, Tyrol. It owes its name to its first permanent meeting place, the "Stern" inn, which became the centre of its community life from 1889 onwards.

Photo Caption:
The "Stern" Inn in Hall, Tyrol. The former meeting place of the Sternkorona. Photo: Private archive Walder, Hall in Tyrol.

Courage and Resistance 1938–1945

The era of National Socialism presented one of the darkest trials for Austrian society. The regime demanded unconditional obedience and attempted to bring all areas of life into line – including education and associational life. In this climate of pressure and fear, courageous attitudes and acts of resistance were anything but commonplace. This chapter is dedicated to the people who nevertheless chose the path of resistance.

Banned and Persecuted: The Sternkorona 1938-1945

The political events of the period from 1938 to 1945 had profound consequences for the Sternkorona. Many members, particularly the younger ones, were deeply disillusioned by the annexation of Austria into the German Reich on March 12, 1938.
The Nazi regime banned student associations, including the Sternkorona, forcing it to disband and cease all organized activities. This dissolution came just as the association was preparing for its 50th foundation festival in June 1938, an event being organized by the active members under Senior Dr. Rudolf Schiessl (a.k.a. Volker) and the alumni under Philistine Senior Dr. Josef Gruber (a.k.a. Dr. cer. Rüdiger). The funds saved for the celebration, amounting to 1,781.88 pre-war Schillings (equivalent to approximately €6,666.93 today), were largely confiscated by the SA, with a remaining balance seized by the municipality of Solbad Hall.
Despite the official dissolution, the brothers continued to meet in secret until the end of 1938 at venues such as the Gasthaus Traube or the Gasthaus Hallerhaus. A contemporary stanza captures their sentiment during this time:
“The house has fallen – what need is there for distress?
The spirit lives on in all of us and our fortress is God!”
This verse reflects the feeling among the members after the annexation was complete. The Franziskaner Gymnasium in Hall was converted into a co-educational secondary school, and the Sternkorona ceased to exist. The seven years from 1938 to 1945 were the most difficult the fraternity had ever endured. Many members faced professional discrimination, lost their positions, or were conscripted into the German Wehrmacht. Some were placed under permanent surveillance by the Gestapo, while others were expelled from the region. This persecution was especially severe for the 16 priests within the brotherhood who opposed the Nazi regime, all of whom were persecuted by the National Socialists.

Martyr of Conscience: Pallottine Father Franz Reinisch (1903–1942)

The most prominent figure is likely Pallottine Father Franz Reinisch (1903–1942). Franz Reinisch refused to swear the oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler on grounds of conscience. He was arrested, tried before a military court, and sentenced to death for undermining military morale. On 21 August 1942, he was executed by guillotine in Brandenburg-Görden prison.
(See separate blog entry)

Photo: Franz Reinisch. Source: https://www.franz-reinisch.org (Last accessed: 8.8.2024).
Reference: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 102.

Josef Anton Geiger (1880-1945)

The priest Josef Anton Geiger, who had been politically active during the Austrofascist Federal State of Austria (1934–1938), continued to attract the hostility of the Nazi regime after the Anschluss. His previous critical stance toward the regime and his commitment to an independent Austria made him a target.
In 1940, he was persecuted for political reasons by the Nazi judicial system and sentenced to 18 months in a Zuchthaus (penitentiary) – a particularly severe form of imprisonment reserved for so-called "political protective custody prisoners." Additionally, he was subjected to the "Ostmark ban," which prohibited him from returning to his homeland of Austria after serving his prison sentence. This banishment severed him from his spiritual and social roots.
Josef Anton Geiger survived the imprisonment, but the arduous time in the penitentiary and the psychological torment of exile caused irreversible physical and psychological damage. He ultimately died in October 1945 in Würzburg from the long-term consequences of the persecution he had endured – an indirect victim of Nazi terror who survived liberation by only a few months.

Photo: Josef Anton Geiger. Source: https://oecv.at/Biolex/Detail/14101282 (Last accessed: 8.8.2024).
Reference: Geiger, Josef Anton. In: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol, Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 57.

Premonstratensian Anton Plattner (1906 – 1958)

As the pastor of Amras in Tyrol, Anton Plattner was subjected to numerous interrogations and house searches before being taken into police custody in Innsbruck in 1939 and again in 1941.
(see separate blog post)

Photo: Anton Plattner. Source: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol, Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 156.

Karl Schumacher (1897–1991)

Pastor Karl Schumacher (1897–1991) was arrested by the Gestapo in 1938 for several days due to a political conversation that was overheard. In 1939, he was detained again because he refused to ring the bells of the Servite Church in Innsbruck following the German invasion of Poland.
He was the brother of the resistance fighter from Hall, Dr. med. Viktor Schumacher.
(See blog post: Dr. med. Viktor Schumacher)

Photo: Karl Schumacher (Memorial Card). Source: Diocesan Archive Innsbruck. Reference: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 86.

Premonstratensian Vinzenz Moser (1881–1945)

Vincent Moser, a canon of the Premonstratensian Order, served as the pastor in Tulfes near Hall in Tyrol. During a period when the Nazis were attempting to silence the Church, he took a courageous stand.
In 1940, Pastor Moser delivered a sermon openly condemning the un-Christian principles and crimes of the Nazi regime. His words did not go unnoticed; the regime responded immediately and with severity. He was arrested on the very same day and imprisoned for 10 weeks. This incarceration was a deliberate act of terror aimed at intimidating other clergy and stifling any public dissent.
The constant persecution and the reprisals he suffered took a profound toll. Vincent Moser died in 1945, shortly after liberation, as a consequence of the immense physical and psychological strain endured during the Nazi era.

Photo: Vinzenz Moser. Source: Private Archive of the Sternkorona, Dr. Paul Torggler, Innsbruck. Reference: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 38.

Pastor Franz Josef Waitz (1909–1989)

Franz Josef Waitz from Hall served as the pastor of Ochsengarten in the Ötztal, providing spiritual care to a remote community. It was in such rural areas that clergymen critical of the regime held significant influence and were, therefore, a specific focus of Nazi surveillance.
In 1941, Waitz was arrested and detained for ten days in the police prison in Innsbruck. This incarceration was a deliberate tactic by the regime to intimidate clergymen seen as troublesome and to deter any further dissenting activities. His case highlights the constant pressure faced by even the most remote alpine village priests and demonstrates the importance the Nazis placed on controlling all public discourse.

Photo: Franz Josef Waitz. Source: Private Archive of the Sternkorona, Dr. Paul Torggler, Innsbruck.
Reference: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.). (1998). Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur, p. 133.

Dr. jur. can. Walter Waitz (1902-1979)

The unwavering resistance fighter and Sternkorona brother Dr. Walter Waitz was dismissed from his position as a religious teacher by the Nazi authorities and imprisoned multiple times. His courageous sermons against the regime led to pulpit bans and expulsion from the Gau. His life exemplifies ecclesiastical resistance in Tyrol.
More in our blog post: "Dr. Walter Waitz - A Life of Resistance"

Photo: Private Archive of the Sternkorona, Dr. Paul Torggler, Innsbruck. Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888–1998. Thaur 1998, p. 101.

Franziskaner-Pater Honorius Hohlbrugger (1904-1993)

Franciscan Father Honorius Hohlbrugger (1904-1993), OFM, was an assistant priest in Hall in Tirol. From December 10 to December 30, 1939, and again from December 30, 1939, to January 12, 1940, he was held in police custody at the Innsbruck Regional Court.
On March 30, 1940, a verdict was issued by the Innsbruck Regional Court against Father Honorius Hohlbrugger OFM from Hall. The judgment was passed according to § 130a of the Reich Criminal Code (RStGB) for pulpit misuse and violation of the Malice Act (Heimtücke-Gesetz):
"On December 10, 1939, the accused held a sermon in the parish church in Hippach about Matthew, Chapter 11, 2-10. [...] In connection with the point that one should not have fear of men, the accused also spoke about child rearing and said verbatim: Today's youth is being raised to become children of Satan (or like children of Satan).[...] `If some try to tear religion from the children's hearts, and we regress further and further in religious life, it could happen that in ten years the churches will be closed, the crosses removed, and in their place, signs of Satan will be erected. In Christian life, everyone must stand together, including the community leaders.'"
On September 30, 1940, he was expelled from the Franciscan monastery in Hall when the monastery was dissolved by the Nazi authorities. (See separate blog post)

Photo of Hohlbrugger P. Honorius OFM. From: Provincial Archive of the Tyrolean Franciscan Province in Hall in Tyrol.

Ivo Zeiller-Uchatius (1912-1942)

Ivo Zeiller-Uchatius was born on September 10, 1912, in Heiligkreuz near Hall in Tyrol. He was a student at the Franciscan Gymnasium in Hall when he was accepted into the Sternkorona association.
Following the rise of the Nazi regime, he secretly organized singing and Bible study classes for young people in the parish church of Hall. The Gestapo arrested the catechist Ivo Zeiller-Uchatius, along with the youths from his group and Dr. Walter Krajnc, on March 23, 1939.
In the aftermath of this arrest, the Gestapo intensified its crackdown on the parish youth, imposing a new rule that young people could only enter the parish church if accompanied by an adult.
Ivo Zeiller-Uchatius was later assigned as a provisional parish priest in Götzens, where he fell ill and passed away on December 5, 1942. (See blog post: Young Catholics in the Resistance)

Photo: Ivo Zeiller Uchatius. Source: Wopfner, Helmut (Ed.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998. Thaur 1998, P. 134.