Sternkorona II

Marberger Blasius (Ernst) OPraem. (1888–1954)

Ernst Marberger was born on January 2, 1888, in St. Marein, Lower Austria. He attended the Franz Josef Gymnasium (later the Franciscan Gymnasium) in Hall in Tirol. After completing his final exams, he joined the Premonstratensian monastery of Wilten, where he took the religious name Blasius. In 1910, he was ordained as a priest. His pastoral duties led him to serve in the Tyrolean parishes of Ellbögen, Gries, Mutters, and Natters.
In Mutters, on June 25, 1939, Blasius Marberger OPraem. led a solemn procession from the rectory to the parish church on the occasion of Confirmation — an act that had not been authorized by the National Socialist authorities. As a result, the Gestapo issued him the following warning:
“On June 25, 1939, on the occasion of the Confirmation ceremony held in Mutters, you led a solemn entry from the rectory in the manner of a procession without official permission, thereby violating the regulations governing the holding of processions. Pursuant to Article VII of Federal Law No. 273/1925 in conjunction with § 21 of the Administrative Penal Act, you are in this instance being issued only a strict warning. Should you again commit such an offense, the most severe penalties would have to be imposed.”
In 1940, he was imprisoned from July 27 to July 31, 1940, in the Innsbruck Regional Court — “propter nihil incarceriert” (“imprisoned for nothing”).
On December 29, 1941, Marberger was fined for violating § 39 of the Civil Status Act after he had conducted a funeral service without reporting it to the National Socialist authorities. (see blog post Ernst Marberger)

Source: Wopfner, Helmut: Marberger, Blasius. In: Wopfner, Helmut (ed.): Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888–1998. Thaur 1998,.

Dekan Bernhard Praxmarer: A Profile of Resistance
(1912–2001) ​

Dean Bernhard Praxmarer was a Catholic priest repeatedly persecuted during the Nazi era in Austria. For his resistance to the regime – including protest sermons and youth ministry – he was punished with teaching bans, imprisonment, and regional expulsion. After the war, his steadfastness was recognized through his appointment as Dean of Hall. His fate exemplifies the Nazi regime's suppression of critical clergy and the post-war church's reconstruction with previously persecuted figures. (see blog post Dean Bernhard Praxmarer)

Foto: Praxmarer, Bernhard. in: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, S.255.

Dr. Franz Schachl FR (1901–1985): An Arrest during the Nazi Era

Dr. Franz Schachl, a retired secondary school professor residing in Solbad Hall, was arrested by the Nazi regime in November 1940. His detention began in Hall from November 4 to November 11, after which he was transferred to the police prison in Innsbruck, where he was held until November 21.
Following his imprisonment, he was issued a "Gauverweis" (expulsion from the Nazi administrative region), banishing him from the Gau of Tirol-Vorarlberg. This measure forcibly separated him from his homeland and social environment. (see blog post Dr. Franz Schachl)
Historical Context:
The arrest and expulsion of Dr. Schachl was not an isolated incident but part of the systematic repression by the Nazi regime. Individuals deemed politically unreliable—whether due to religious, ideological, or other reasons that cast them as potential opponents—were frequently subjected to "protective custody," Gestapo interrogations, and ultimately a Gauverweis. This expulsion was a severe form of persecution, as it effectively made victims homeless within their own country and could destroy their social and professional existence. The fate of Dr. Schachl thus exemplifies the standard methods used by the Nazi state to suppress perceived and actual dissenters. (see blog post Dr. Franz Schachl)

Photo Dr. Franz Schachl. Held in: Archive of the Tyrolean Franciscan Province in Hall in Tyrol.

Josef Feichtner (1889 – 1965) : A Clergyman in Conflict with the Nazi Regime

​Josef Feichtner was born on 23 June 1889 in Breitenbach am Inn. He attended the Franciscan Gymnasium (secondary school) in Hall in Tirol and went on to study philosophy and theology in Innsbruck, ultimately being ordained as a priest in Salzburg, Austria. After the war, his career would culminate in his appointment as a Prelate and Cathedral Canon of Salzburg.
However, while serving as the parish priest in Stumm in the Zillertal (Tyrol), he attracted the attention of the Nazi regime. The Gestapo arrested him and held him in the police prison in Innsbruck from 18 December 1940 to 6 January 1941. As a direct consequence of this political persecution, Feichtner was issued a teaching ban, prohibiting him from giving religious and First Communion instruction.
The systematic harassment of Feichtner is highlighted in a letter from Gauleiter Franz Hofer to Prince-Archbishop Andreas Rohracher on 16 February 1944. In it, Hofer justified the Gestapo's repeated interventions by stating that Feichtner had "proven to be an inconvenience from a political standpoint." This phrasing was a typical pretext used by the regime to discipline clergy critical of its policies and to break their influence within the community.
 

Photo: Josef Feichtner. In: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998,p. 70.

Heinrich Fritz (1905 – 1968): Resistance Through Sermons 

Heinrich Fritz served as a provisional parish priest in Bichelbach, Tyrol. He was persecuted by the Gestapo for his courageous sermons openly criticizing National Socialism. This led to his first imprisonment in 1942. Even after his release, he continued his spiritual resistance, which resulted in a second arrest and imprisonment in Reutte in 1943.
Historical Context: The imprisonment of clergy like Heinrich Fritz for sermons critical of the regime was systematic in Nazi Germany. The regime viewed any public opposition, particularly from the pulpit, as an attack on its authority. The fact that Fritz continued preaching despite his initial imprisonment demonstrates both his personal courage and the determination of churches to maintain their resistance against Nazi ideology.

Photo: Heinrich Fritz. In: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p. 115.

Christian Hiller (1880 – 1951) ​

Christian Hiller was a professor of religion in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, who was dismissed from his post in 1938. His defiance continued into his role as pastor of Bezau, where, in 1940, he was briefly arrested for conducting a mass without authorization in the local war memorial chapel.

Photo: Christian Hiller. In: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p.40.

Adrian Höck (1903 – 1973) – A Pastor in Resistance

Adrian Höck, a pastor in Hötting near Innsbruck, was a staunch opponent of the Nazi regime. He was briefly imprisoned as early as July 1938 for holding a mass for the deposed Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg. That same year, he founded a legitimist-Catholic resistance group in Innsbruck, primarily composed of young people. The group, whose code word was "Seidosch" (for Seipel-Dollfuß-Schuschnigg), met at an inn in Völs, where they also established a weapons cache. The organization was uncovered by the Gestapo in 1939, by which time Höck was already in Brazil. Many members were arrested and sentenced to several years in prison.
Find out more about this topic in our blog post:
Monarchists-Legitimists in Resistance in Hall in Tirol and Adrian Höck: The Pastor Who Stood Up to the Nazis.

Photo Adrian Höck. In: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p.114.

Josef Kaltschmid (1894–1948): A Pastor in Resistance

Josef Kaltschmid, a pastor in Brandenberg/Tyrol, was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 for "causing unrest and behavior hostile to the state" and detained in the Innsbruck police prison. The justification was that he had "repeatedly drawn negative political attention." The consequence was a ban from schools and teaching, even forbidding him from preparing children for their First Communion. His fate is a prime example of the quiet yet persistent resistance of clergy against the Nazi regime. (see blog post Josef Kaltschmid)

Photo Josef Kaltschmid, in: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p.46.

Dietrich OPraem Dominikus (Josef Ferdinand) (1871 – 1951)

Pater Dominikus Dietrich (born Josef Ferdinand Dietrich) was a Premonstratensian canon and the pastor of Wilten, Tyrol. A staunch critic of the Nazi regime, he courageously defended his faith and the Wilten Abbey.
After the annexation of Austria, he was repeatedly arrested by the Gestapo for his resistance activities, which included publishing a critical newsletter, leading religious processions, and even writing a letter directly to Hitler to protest the confiscation of the monastery. Despite imprisonment and a heavy fine, he survived the war and remained in Wilten until his death in 1951. He is remembered as a symbol of spiritual resistance.

Photo Dietrich OPraem. Dominiks. Online unter, {https://oecv.at/Biolex/Detail/12100697}, (Stand 29.9.2025)

Eduard Lexer (1905-1951)

Eduard Lexer, born on March 18, 1905, in St. Lorenzen in Carinthia, was a man whose fate painfully testifies to the brutality of the Nazi regime. His path early on crossed with the Sternkorona community in Hall, Tyrol, which he joined on June 24, 1926.
While serving as the pastor of Winklern in Carinthia, he became a target of the unjust state in 1940. Accused of listening to "enemy" radio broadcasts and smuggling currency, he was arrested by the Gestapo without a proper trial. On March 23, 1940, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp—the beginning of a five-year ordeal through the hell of the Nazi camp system. From Dachau, he was transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp and finally to a labor camp for political prisoners in Niederöfflingen on the Moselle River, where he was forced to perform hard labor in road construction.
For five years, Eduard Lexer endured the cruelty of the concentration camps. No other member of the Sternkorona community suffered a longer imprisonment. He did not, however, survive the physical and psychological torment of this period. On February 13, 1951, at just 45 years old, he died from the late effects of his imprisonment—a hepatitis infection contracted in the camp.
His biography is more than a personal tragedy. It is a powerful reminder never to forget the atrocities of the Second World War and the immense suffering of its victims.

Photo Eduard Lexer, in: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p.128.

Alois Flatscher (1894–1944)

Alois Flatscher (1894–1944) was a member (Bundesbruder) of the student fraternity "Sternkorona," a tax advisor, and an employee of the Fatherland Front. He held a profound Austrian conviction, which he continued to express to acquaintances even after the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into the German Reich). He was denounced and arrested by the Gestapo in Hall, Tyrol, in 1941. Written notes containing his thoughts on ending Nazi rule were confiscated from him.
Flatscher was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp from 1941 until January 1944. In January 1944, he was transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin, Poland. In July 1944, as the Russian army approached the camp, the prisoners, including Alois Flatscher, were forced on a death march on foot to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (today Oświęcim, Poland).
Those who could no longer walk were shot. When the prisoners arrived at Auschwitz, 94 inmates were reported missing. Alois Flatscher was no longer among the living. His date of death is stated as July 31, 1944. (See dedicated blog entry on Alois Flatscher).

Photograph Alois Flatscher. Held in: Association archive of the Sternkorona Innsbruck by Dr. Paul Torggler.

Ernst Wirth-Purtscheller (1887-1938)

Ernst Wirth-Purtscheller was born in Gars am Kamp, Lower Austria, on December 7, 1887. He attended the Franciscan Gymnasium (high school) in Hall, Tyrol, where he was accepted into the [student fraternity] "Sternkorona." He subsequently transferred to a gymnasium in Horn, Lower Austria, and became active in the "Waldmark" fraternity. After graduating, he began studying law in Vienna and joined the "Austria" fraternity. When he continued his studies in Innsbruck, he was accepted into the "Leopoldina" fraternity. He left the university without a degree and joined the financial administration in Lower Austria.
He subsequently became politically active for the Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front), serving as the district leader of Tulln, Lower Austria, and as a member of the state parliament of Lower Austria between 1936 and 1938.
Following the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany), he was taken into "protective custody," lost all his political positions, and was dismissed from his job without pay. Numerous Gestapo interrogations wore him down psychologically, leading him to take his own life on December 21, 1938.