Franciscan Monastery Hall in Tyrol 1938 – Expropriation of the Leopoldinum under the Nazi Regime6/24/2025 read more:(EN) Forced Closure The Franciscan Monastery in Hall(EN) Bold Franciscan Friar (EN) Martyr _Franz _Reinisch(EN) Marianist Father Jakob Gapp www.mycityquest.com/cities/hall-in-tirol-at-10122/poi/franziskanerkloster-hall-in-tirol-27088 The Franciscan Monastery in Hall in Tyrol Forced Closure and Seizure (1938-1940) Photograph The Franciscan Monastery (2023). In: private archive K. Walder Hall in Tyrol. The Franciscan Province for Tyrol The Tyrolean Franciscan Province of Blessed Engelbert Kolland was a province of the Franciscan Order (OFM) for Tyrol. It was founded in 1580 and, from 2001 onward, bore the patronage of Blessed Engelbert Kolland (1827–1860), a martyr of Damascus. Since 2007, it has been part of the Franciscan Province of Austria of Saint Leopold, which is active in Austria and South Tyrol and has Saint Leopold of Austria as its patron. The Franciscan Monastery in Hall in Tirol / Solbad Hall (1938–1940) Until 1938, the Franciscan Monastery in Hall in Tirol was an outstanding center of humanistic education that successfully protected its students against ideological influences from the political right. Numerous former graduates of the Franciscan grammar school in Hall actively opposed Nazi ideology as early as the National Socialist seizure of power in 1938. read more:(EN) Dr._ Walter _Krajnc (EN) Alois Flatscher Blog (ENI) Dr. Josef Mair The Franciscan Monastery in Hall in Tyrol under the Nazi Regime The Expropriation of the Leopoldinum in 1938  Photograph: Leopoldinum Student Residence Hall, Tyrol (2023). In: private archive K. Walder Hall in Tyrol. After Adolf Hitler’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, a period of persecution and expropriation also began for the Franciscan monastery in Hall in Tyrol. The grammar school in Solbad Hall, which had been run by the Franciscans for nearly 150 years, was only allowed to continue operating until July 2, 1938. As early as June 28, 1938, the mayor of Hall at the time, Engineer Bauer, demanded by telephone that certain sections of the Leopoldinum be vacated for the Reich Labour Service. A few weeks later, on July 20, 1938, the grammar school was officially expropriated by the National Socialist authorities. On October 3, 1938, the Franciscans were forced to hand over the keys of the Leopoldinum to Edmund Christoph, the deputy of the Gauleiter. This marked the violent end of an important chapter of Franciscan educational work in Tyrol. The Farewell to the Blessed Sacrament On the morning of October 4, 1938, the seminary’s rector, Father Josef Calasanz Rosenhammer (1900–2003), carried the Blessed Sacrament (the consecrated Eucharist) out of the Leopoldinumchapel in a solemn procession. His prophetic words echoed through the emptied halls: "The Lord must depart now—but He will return in triumph!" Father Rosenhammer, who later became Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chiquitos in Bolivia, narrowly escaped a planned arrest by the Gestapo by emigrating to the Bolivian mission on August 2, 1939. Escape from the Gestapo and Mission in Bolivia For Father Rosenhammer, the situation became life-threatening. He was only able to escape an imminent arrest by the Gestapo by emigrating to the Bolivian mission on August 2, 1939. Later, he served as Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chiquitos in Bolivia, where he profoundly shaped church life for decades. read more:es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Caquiaviri de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franziskaner_Mission Violent Dissolution of the Franciscan Monastery in Hall in Tyrol in 1940 Expropriation of the Franciscan Mission Museum On April 1, 1940, the Franciscan Mission Museum in Hall in Tyrol was forcibly expropriated. Only a few months later, the complete dissolution of the Franciscan monastery in Hall in Tyrol followed — a dramatic event that caught the religious community entirely unprepared. The Gestapo Seizes the Monastery On September 30, 1940, at around 10 a.m., a police vehicle arrived in front of the monastery. Several Gestapo officers from Innsbruck stepped out, accompanied by municipal workers who belonged to the SS. Altogether, approximately twelve to fifteen men took part in the operation. Shortly afterward, the mayor of Hall at the time, Engineer Heinz Bauer, also arrived. The first Franciscan confronted by the group was Brother Andreas Puff (1912–1999). Nazi commissioner Busch verbally declared: “The monastery is being confiscated due to anti-state activities.” No written order was presented to the Franciscans. Expulsion of the Franciscans Within Hours The religious community was ordered to leave the monastery within only two hours. They were permitted to take only personal belongings, which had to be packed separately under Gestapo supervision. While the approximately fifty residents of the monastery hurriedly gathered their few possessions, they received courageous assistance from the monastery syndic Andreas Moser, a farmer from Unterer Brock in Solbad Hall. For many citizens of Hall, any support for the Franciscans involved considerable personal risk. At around 5 p.m., the last Franciscan left the monastery. Numerous members of the order were insulted and ordered to remove their religious habits. Many Franciscans later found refuge with Catholic families in Solbad Hall and the surrounding area. Looting of the Monastery and Destruction of Church Culture Even while the Franciscans were securing their personal belongings, the Gestapo began the systematic looting of the monastery. The important monastery library, containing around 25,000 volumes, was transferred to the Premonstratensian Abbey of Wilten, which had likewise been dissolved. Numerous valuable furnishings from the monastery and church were lost or destroyed. Liturgical objects such as chalices and patens were confiscated and stored in the mayor’s safe. Furniture, church pews, and even the Baroque Holy Sepulchre were burned as fuel. Precious liturgical vestments were turned into theatrical costumes. The National Socialists also had extensive plans for the monastery church: after the war, it was to be converted into a gymnasium with a theater stage. The sacristy and oratory were intended to serve as washrooms for youth groups.   Photographs The Church of the Franciscan Monastery and "The Franciscans' Sacristy" in Hall in Tyrol. In: Archives of the Tyrolean Franciscan Province, Hall in Tyrol. Desecration of the Monastery by Nazi Officials On the night following the expulsion, National Socialist officials held a so-called “victory celebration” inside the monastery. During the event, chalices and communion bowls were desecrated and misused as ashtrays. The violent dissolution of the Franciscan monastery was subsequently justified through a propaganda rally held in the gymnasium of Hall in Tyrol. "The Last Franciscan Leaves: Humiliation and Defiance in Hall in Tyrol (Solbad Hall - 1940)"Final Expulsion and Nazi Desecration By 5 p.m. on September 30, 1940, the last heartbroken Franciscan was forced out of the monastery in Solbad Hall. Many were mocked and ordered to remove their habits as they departed. Dozens of friars found refuge with courageous Catholic families in Hall and the surrounding villages—a dangerous act of solidarity under Nazi rule. That night, the Gestapo and SS men held a vile "victory celebration" inside the desecrated cloister:
Prof. Dr. Franz Egger on the Expulsion of the Franciscans from Hall in Tyrol The historian and contemporary witness Prof. Dr. Franz Egger vividly described the dramatic events surrounding the dissolution of the Franciscan Order in Hall in Tyrol during the era of National Socialism. At first, the Franciscans were removed from the long-established grammar school, which was simultaneously downgraded to a mere secondary school. In October 1940, the violent closure of the monastery church followed. The church building was subsequently used as a storage facility for the Gau Theatre, while the monastery itself was occupied by the National Socialists and the religious community expelled. Even before this, the Nazi authorities had arrested the highly respected Father Guardian Gaudenz Conci together with the monastery porter brother. The reason was an alms donation he had given to a beggar who was allegedly considered a “deserter.” Both men were imprisoned for four months. During the dissolution of the monastery, several Franciscan priests were also arrested, including Father Epiphan Redhammer, director of the grammar school, Professor Dr. Rupert Dullnig, Florian Schachl, and Fathers Gabriel Haider, Otto Matthys, and Walter Rücker. After their imprisonment, they were expelled from the region. The St. Joseph’s Missionaries were likewise not spared from repression. At Easter 1941, they too were expelled and their property confiscated. Franz Egger’s recollections provide impressive documentation of the systematic persecution of church communities in Tyrol during the Nazi era and demonstrate how deeply the regime’s interventions shook the religious and social life of Hall in Tyrol. (Source: Municipal Archives of Hall in Tyrol (Stadtarchiv), Dr. Ernst Verdross Collection.) read more:Blog (EN) FR Father Epiphan Redhammer (EN) FR Dr. Rupert Dullnig Blog (EN) FR Father Dr. Florian Schachl Blog (EN) FR Father Gabriel Haider Blog (EN) FR Father Otto Matthys Blog (EN) FR Walter Rücker Blog (EN) Father Honorius Hohlbrugger From Monastery School to National Socialist Educational Institution With the expulsion of the Franciscans from Hall in Tyrol, a new era shaped by National Socialist ideology began for the former Leopoldinum. The traditional monastery school, which for decades had shaped the religious and humanistic educational life of Solbad Hall, was deliberately transformed into a National Socialist educational institution after the dissolution of the monastery. Newspaper articles from those years glorified the new political orientation as the supposedly “correct path” for young people and portrayed the removal of the Franciscan fathers as a necessary step toward the National Socialist reorganization of the educational system. Religious education was to be replaced by ideological indoctrination in accordance with the regime. The following article vividly demonstrates the propagandistic methods used by the National Socialists to justify the expulsion of the Franciscans and to advance the ideological coordination of youth in Tyrol. read more:(EN) Johanna _Wagner (EN) Michael und Peter Zwetkoff (EN) Young Catholics against the Nazis (EN) Friedrich Corazza
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