"Commemorating the Anti-Nazi Resistance and Victims of the Nazi Regime in Hall in Tirol"

Sternkorona III

10/8/2025

Dr. Gottfried Jenewein (1877 – 1941)

Gottfried Jenewein was born on August 25, 1877, in Imst, Tyrol. He was a member of the still-secret "Sternkorona" society (since 1895) in Hall in Tyrol. After graduating from the Kaiser Franz-Josef-Gymnasium (Franciscan Gymnasium) in Hall in Tyrol, he studied law in Innsbruck. He worked as a senior regional court judge in Innsbruck. As a presiding judge, he led numerous trials against illegal Nazis, for example, for bomb attacks. Because of this, he was imprisoned immediately after the Nazi seizure of power in 1938. For health reasons, he was released after three weeks but was subsequently forcibly retired, meaning without a pension. He died on September 25, 1941, of heart failure.
His son, Theo Jenewein (1919-1945), was also politically persecuted and arrested. During his studies, he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht. From 1941 to 1942, he was imprisoned in Landsberg for high treason. After his release, he was deployed to various war zones, including France, Norway, and Russia. Tragically, he lost his life in 1945 at the Warka bridgehead in Russia during the Vistula–Oder Offensive.

Photo Dr. Gottfried Jenewein, in: Helmut Wopfner (Hrsg.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p.27.

Dr. phil. Gottfried Pfeifauf (1913 – 1964)

Dr. Gottfried Pfeifauf was born on June 21, 1913, in Görz, Habsburg Monarchy (Slovene: Gorica, Friulian: Gurize, today an Italian city on the Isonzo River in the northeast of Italy, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia). He attended the Franciscan Gymnasium in Hall in Tyrol, where he joined the Sternkorona in 1932. After graduating, he studied to become a teacher, majoring in Latin and German Studies at the University of Innsbruck. He completed his studies with a Dr. phil. (PhD) in 1938.
After his teaching examination in 1939, he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht. While deployed at the Arctic Front (in Northern Norway and Finland), he was seriously wounded and, after a long stay in a military hospital, returned to Hall in Tyrol. In the 1944/45 school year, he began his teaching career at the secondary school for boys and girls in Hall. In March 1945, he joined the resistance group around Anton Haller.

Photo: Dr. phil. Gottfried Pfeifauf, in: Helmut Wopfner (ed.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p. 145.

Dr. Matthias Pahle (1922- 1953)

Matthias Pahle was born on October 12, 1905, in Brixlegg, Tyrol. He attended the Franciscan Gymnasium in Hall in Tyrol, where he became a member of the student fraternities Sternkorona and Nibelungia. After completing his high school diploma (Abitur), he began his law studies in Innsbruck. Even before finishing his degree, he joined the financial service in Innsbruck.
Dr. Matthias Pahle was taken into "protective custody" at the police prison in Innsbruck from March 13, 1938, until April 12, 1938. After his release, he lost his job. He joined the first resistance circle in Hall, which was formed by Dr. Walter Krajnc, Martin Berger, and Michael and Peter Zwetkoff. Later, after being conscripted into the Wehrmacht, Matthias Pahle participated in the military resistance in Landeck and Innsbruck. He fought against SS units in front of Innsbruck's city hall during the liberation of the city.
After the end of Nazi rule, he returned to the financial service. (see blog entry Dr. Matthias Pahle)

Photo: Dr. Matthias Pahle, in: Helmut Wopfner (ed.), Unsere Sternkorona Hall in Tirol. Mitgliederverzeichnis 1888 – 1998, Thaur 1998, p. 119.

Josef Dosch (1907- 1955)

Josef Dosch presumably joined the Sternkorona in Hall on January 27, 1907. He resided in Hall in Tyrol and worked as a postal official in the local post office. His worldview was shaped by Catholic monarchist ideals.
After the Nazi seizure of power, the Dosch family was persecuted by the Gestapo, leading to several house searches. Despite this, Josef Dosch joined the monarchist resistance circle led by Count Bernhard Stolberg zu Stolberg (see blog entry "Monarchist Resistance in Hall in Tirol").
His son, Anton Dosch, decided to enlist in the Wehrmacht due to the constant harassment by the Gestapo. After being wounded on the battlefield and returning to Hall in Tyrol, Anton Dosch joined the resistance group around Anton Haller. On the decisive day, May 3, 1945, he led the uprising in the eastern part of the town of Hall in Tyrol. (see blog entry Anton Dosch)

Martin Berger (1885 – 1953)

Martin Berger (1885-1953) was a postal accounting official from Hall in Tyrol who emerged as a determined opponent of Nazism even before 1938. As a member of the first Catholic resistance circle in Hall and later of the Innsbruck resistance group "Post," he played a key role in saving communication infrastructure from destruction and organizing military resistance. Berger helped relocate soldiers and deserters to mountain camps and was instrumental in the liberation of Tyrol. (see blog post Martin Berger)