Franz Hofer
Encyclopedia
Franz Hofer was, in the time of the Third Reich, the Nazi
Gauleiter
of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg
.
Born to a Bad Hofgastein hotelkeeper, Hofer went to the Volksschule
-Realschule
in Innsbruck
and in 1922 began a career as a freelance sales
man. In September 1931, he joined the NSDAP. He very quickly rose in the Party, becoming District Leader in April 1932, and in July of the same year acting Gauleiter of the Tyrol. Only four months later, on 27 November 1932 – Hofer's thirtieth birthday – he was promoted to Gauleiter of the Tyrol.
For his activities in the Nazi Party, which was banned in Austria
, Hofer was arrested in June 1933 and sentenced by a Tyrolean court to two years in prison
. On 30 August 1933, however, four armed SA
men broke into Hofer's prison cell by force and freed him. He fled the prison amid gunfire, which wounded him. He made it to Italy
, however, and only a few weeks later gave a speech at the Nuremberg
Party Congress from his stretcher.
In early 1937 – Hofer had by now recovered from his gunshot wounds – he became leader of the "Leaders' and Members' Political Gathering Place for Austrians in Germany
", with a job in Berlin
.
After Anschluss
, he was once again appointed the Gauleiter of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In the same year, he was given the function of ministerial adviser and the rank of NSKK
Obergruppenführer
. On 1 September 1940 he was furthermore made the governor (Reichsstatthalter) of the Reichsgau
of Tyrol-Vorarlberg.
After Italy forsook the Axis Powers
, Hofer was chosen on 10 September 1943 to be the Supreme Commissar in the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills (consisting of the neighbouring Italian provinces of Belluno
, South Tyrol
and Trentino joined to his own Reichsgau of Tyrol-Vorarlberg).
In November 1944, Hofer suggested in a memorandum to Adolf Hitler
that an "Alpenfestung" ("Alp Fortress") ought to be built up in the heart of the Alps as Nazi Germany
's last bastion. Apparently Hitler's secretary Martin Bormann
only brought this document to the Führer
's attention early the next year, leading to Hofer's being called to Hitler's Berlin bunker
only on 12 April 1945 to present his proposal. Hitler – 18 days before his own suicide
and still convinced that his Endsieg
was possible – approved Hofer's plan and appointed him Reich Defence Commissar of the Alpenfestung.
On May 3, 1945 Hofer surrendered to American troops. This surrender was achieved by OSS agent Frederick Mayer.
It was not long, however, before Hofer's freedom was curtailed. On 6 May 1945, he was arrested by the United States Army
in Hall in Tirol
and held in an internment camp. In 1948, he managed to flee to Germany, where he continued his former trade as a salesman in Mülheim
, in the end under his true name.
In Austria, Hofer was sentenced in absentia
in June 1949 to death. In July 1953, a Munich
appeal court upheld a sentence of 3 years and 5 months in labour prison. When interviewed by the press during this time, Hofer made it known that his National Socialist convictions were unbroken.
In 1964, a lawsuit
brought by Hofer's children for the return of ownership of the Lachhof bei Hall where their father had lived while he was the Gauleiter, was dismissed by an Austrian court.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
.
Born to a Bad Hofgastein hotelkeeper, Hofer went to the Volksschule
Volksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
-Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
and in 1922 began a career as a freelance sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
man. In September 1931, he joined the NSDAP. He very quickly rose in the Party, becoming District Leader in April 1932, and in July of the same year acting Gauleiter of the Tyrol. Only four months later, on 27 November 1932 – Hofer's thirtieth birthday – he was promoted to Gauleiter of the Tyrol.
For his activities in the Nazi Party, which was banned in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Hofer was arrested in June 1933 and sentenced by a Tyrolean court to two years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. On 30 August 1933, however, four armed SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
men broke into Hofer's prison cell by force and freed him. He fled the prison amid gunfire, which wounded him. He made it to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, however, and only a few weeks later gave a speech at the Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
Party Congress from his stretcher.
In early 1937 – Hofer had by now recovered from his gunshot wounds – he became leader of the "Leaders' and Members' Political Gathering Place for Austrians in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
", with a job in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
After Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, he was once again appointed the Gauleiter of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In the same year, he was given the function of ministerial adviser and the rank of NSKK
National Socialist Motor Corps
The National Socialist Motor Corps , also known as the National Socialist Drivers Corps, was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party that existed from 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organization to the older National Socialist Automobile Corps, which had existed since the beginning...
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
. On 1 September 1940 he was furthermore made the governor (Reichsstatthalter) of the Reichsgau
Reichsgau
A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...
of Tyrol-Vorarlberg.
After Italy forsook the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
, Hofer was chosen on 10 September 1943 to be the Supreme Commissar in the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills (consisting of the neighbouring Italian provinces of Belluno
Province of Belluno
TheThe Province of Belluno is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno.It has an area of 3,678 km², and a total population of 214,026 .-Geography:...
, South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
and Trentino joined to his own Reichsgau of Tyrol-Vorarlberg).
In November 1944, Hofer suggested in a memorandum to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
that an "Alpenfestung" ("Alp Fortress") ought to be built up in the heart of the Alps as Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's last bastion. Apparently Hitler's secretary Martin Bormann
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
only brought this document to the Führer
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
's attention early the next year, leading to Hofer's being called to Hitler's Berlin bunker
Führerbunker
The Führerbunker was located beneath Hitler's New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex which was constructed in two major phases, one part in 1936 and the other in 1943...
only on 12 April 1945 to present his proposal. Hitler – 18 days before his own suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and still convinced that his Endsieg
Endsieg
Endsieg is German for "final victory". It is used in the meaning that a victory is taken for granted even though all odds are against it.- Origin and historical usage :The word became commonly used in World War I...
was possible – approved Hofer's plan and appointed him Reich Defence Commissar of the Alpenfestung.
On May 3, 1945 Hofer surrendered to American troops. This surrender was achieved by OSS agent Frederick Mayer.
It was not long, however, before Hofer's freedom was curtailed. On 6 May 1945, he was arrested by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in Hall in Tirol
Hall in Tirol
Hall in Tirol is a town in the Innsbruck-Land district of Tyrol, Austria. Located at an altitude of 574 m, about 5 km east of the state's capital Innsbruck in the Inn valley, it has a population of about 12,700 .-History:...
and held in an internment camp. In 1948, he managed to flee to Germany, where he continued his former trade as a salesman in Mülheim
Mülheim
Mülheim an der Ruhr, also called "City on the River", is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen...
, in the end under his true name.
In Austria, Hofer was sentenced in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
in June 1949 to death. In July 1953, a Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
appeal court upheld a sentence of 3 years and 5 months in labour prison. When interviewed by the press during this time, Hofer made it known that his National Socialist convictions were unbroken.
In 1964, a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
brought by Hofer's children for the return of ownership of the Lachhof bei Hall where their father had lived while he was the Gauleiter, was dismissed by an Austrian court.