Prof. Dr. Franz Egger (1879 – 1958)

"In his role as town chronicler, Prof. Egger documented both the Nazi occupation and the bombing raids—creating an invaluable record for future generations."

Photograph: Town hall of Hall in Tyrol (2024). In private archive K. Walder Hall in Tyrol.

Solbad Hall 1938–1945: A City Between Nazi Terror and the Bombing War

"Have you heard? Schuschnigg has resigned—the Nazis are taking over!"
On the morning of March 12, 1938, this news spread like wildfire through the streets of Hall. Many feared the worst—and they would be proven right.
In the years that followed, the city witnessed how the Nazi regime shut down monasteries, deported resistance fighters to Dachau concentration camp, and ultimately, Allied bombs reduced the train station district to rubble. Yet Hall resisted in its own way: The parish became a secret hub of solidarity, while the Franciscan friars, despite their expulsion, never abandoned their faith.
This original 1945 report by city historian Prof. Egger documents a period that changed Hall forever—now retold for today.

Photograph, March 13, 1938. Lower Town Square (Unterer Stadtplatz), Hall in Tyrol. Bavarian Troops March into the City. Held in: Private collection of Rudolf Federspiel, Absam.

• "This image captures the arrival of Bavarian infantry units in Hall’s Lower Town Square, one day after the Anschluss. The staged military parade aimed to demonstrate Nazi control over Austria, even in smaller towns like Hall."
  
• "Note the mixed reactions of spectators—some cheering, others standing in silence—reflecting the tense atmosphere of forced annexation."​
  

1938: The Anschluss and the First Repressions

"The goat scratches itself until it can no longer lie down."
With this old saying, Prof. Egger described the mood in Hall after the Anschluss. While some cheered for the Nazis, many already sensed it would not end well.
• Arrests: Within weeks, regime-critical citizens of Hall were detained—some disappeared for years in Dachau.
• Nazification of Schools: The school prayer was replaced by the Hitler salute, and Hitler Youth drills dominated lessons.
• Attack on the Church: The Catholic journeymen's association was seized, and charitable organizations like the St. Vincent de Paul Society were dissolved.
"The children cried when the teaching nuns had to leave—after 90 years of education in Hall."
(From oral testimonies, 1946)

1940–1943: The Expulsion of the Religious Orders

The Nazis sought to "de-Catholicize" Hall—but the city resisted in silence.

Photograph Franciscan Church repurposed as a clothing depot for the Nazi Gauleitung. Held in: Archives of the Tyrolean Franciscan Province, Hall in Tirol

"This image shows Hall’s Franciscan Church during its forced conversion into a textile storage facility for the Nazi regional administration (Gauleitung). The seizure of sacred spaces for logistical use—seen here in 1940—was part of broader efforts to dismantle Catholic influence in Tyrol."
Source: Provincial Archives of the Tyrolean Franciscans, Hall

The End of the Monasteries

• Franciscan friars were expelled from the high school, and their church was closed in 1940, repurposed as a storage facility for the Gauleiter.
• Father Gaudenz Conzi, a beloved pastor, was arrested—for giving alms to a beggar (allegedly a "deserter").
• In 1941, the St. Joseph’s Missionaries were targeted: their property was seized, and the sisters were expelled.

"My mother risked everything—when she saw the exiled Franciscans by the roadside, she secretly slipped a banknote to one of the priests. ‘For the journey,’ she whispered, while SA men stood just meters away."
— Johanna R. (2011), eyewitness account

Yet the Parish Stood United

Under Dean Heinrich Heidegger (from 1942), St. Nicholas' Church became a sanctuary of silent resistance:
·       Sermons became acts of defiance—whispers of hope that drew ever-larger crowds, even as Nazi intimidation grew.
·       The people of Hall practiced "double giving"—publicly donating to Nazi collections while secretly slipping coins into church alms boxes.
·       Confessionals turned into meeting places where news and warnings were exchanged under the cover of sacrament.

• Former Socialist Party members refused to leave the Catholic Church
• Despite Nazi pressure, they deliberately remained within the church community – their continued presence becoming both an act of defiance and a quiet statement of opposition to the regime.

"We didn't carry banners or shout slogans," recalled one parishioner. "Our rebellion was in the creak of pews filling when they wanted them empty, in the echo of 'Amen' when they demanded silence."
​
"The daughter of a Hall resistance member, recalls her father's defiance: 'When the Party ordered socialists to abandon religion, Dad dug in his heels. Our pew at St. Nicholas became revolutionary territory - where a shared look between comrades could convey what no illegal leaflet dared print.'"  — Maria T. (2023), eyewitness account

1944–1945: The Bombs That Shattered Solbad Hall

For years, the war had passed overhead - until the skies turned deadly.

Two Photographs from February 16, 1945. Showing the train station district and Kugelanger area after the Allied bombing raid. Held in: Private collection of Rudolf Federspiel, Absam.

"These rare images document the immediate aftermath of Hall's most devastating air attack. The first photograph shows the destroyed Bahnhofsviertel (train station district), while the second captures the complete leveling of Kugelanger - where 102 civilians perished. The Federspiel collection preserves crucial visual evidence of this dark day."

Three Strikes That Changed Everything

November 16, 1944
The first bomb fell silent near Thurnfeld Monastery - a dud that spared lives but shattered illusions of safety.
Christmas 1944
Eight bombs transformed the train district into a landscape of twisted metal, their explosions drowning out carols in the refugee shelters.
February 16, 1945 - The Day Hall Burned

• Kugelanger vanished in firestorm winds
• The Scheidenstein Pilgrimage Church crumbled, taking its miracle-working Madonna to dust
• By dusk: 102 names added to death rolls, 1,500 souls wandering their own ruined streets

"Professor Egger's final sentence still chills readers today: 'When citizens dream, dictators wake.' His 1945 manuscript ends with this stark reminder that Hall's survival came at the cost of vigilance.

​"Prof. Egger’s first-hand account—written amid the ruins of 1945—reveals how Hall’s citizens navigated impossible choices. His warning about democracy’s fragility ('When citizens sleep, dictators wake') remains chillingly relevant."