25th March 1938
Sölden

Sölden

Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria.

The main village of Sölden is at an elevation of 1,368 metres (4,488 ft) above sea level, and the upper village of Hochsölden at 2,090 m (6,857 ft) has 5 four-star hotels. The highest peak is the Wildspitze, at 3,768 m (12,362 ft), the second highest mountain in Austria, after the Großglockner.

Source: Wikipedia

Franz Waldhart

On 12th March 1938, the German Wehrmacht invaded Austria and forced its annexation to the Third Reich. Hitler scheduled a pseudo-referendum on the 'reunification of Austria with the German Reich' for 10th April.

A young SA man from Sölden was sent with 'ballot papers' to the Siegerland hut in the farthest reaches of the Windach valley in the municipality of Sölden and had a fatal accident. His funeral was blown up by the Nazis into a propaganda state ceremony.

Like many other Alpine Club huts, the refuge of the DAV Siegerland section, built in 1930, was also open in late winter. The hut's owner was Josef Schöpf from Sölden, the legendary 'Knofele', grandfather of the current mayor. Franz Waldhart climbed up to the hut the day before to enable the staff and the German guests to take part in this so-called referendum and then bring their votes to Sölden.

It didn't get that far, but he never made it.

The Sölden school chronicle, the section on the Nazi era probably only written later on the basis of meticulous 'contemporary' notes by the school sisters, reports the funeral somewhat maliciously:

On April 12, around 700 SA men from outside came here for the funeral of SA man Franz Waldhart, who had died in an accident at the Siegerlandhütte on the occasion of the vote on April 10. The funeral was scheduled for 9 a.m. But it was 12 noon before the participants arrived at the cemetery with their Timtam von Kaisers. The coffin was lowered into the grave, wrapped in a swastika flag, and a few pompous speeches were given. And only after the Hitlerian attire was over was the pastor allowed to perform his duties as a priest. Only the local people took part in the church service.

On 13th April 1938, the Innsbrucker Nachrichten reported in a pompous manner about the funeral of the 'loyal comrade who had given his life in the service of the Führer ... and had now joined the ranks of Horst Wessel'.

Communities that – like Sölden – were able to demonstrate a vote result that was manipulated to 100 percent yes votes received a so-called 'Hitler oak' as a thank you from the party, which was installed with great pomp almost everywhere on the Führer’s birthday. From the 'school chronicle' mentioned above:

On April 20, the Hitler oak was ceremoniously installed on the southern church square. The local group leader at the time, Hans Falkner, carried it with the same reverence as altar boys carry the cross in front of a procession. Accompanied by the Längenfeld band, an expert forester, SA men, etc., the procession moved from the Posthotel across the street, along the church path up to the church square. During the installation, the mayor, Jakob Falkner vom Hof, gave a speech whose content was found ridiculous by the local residents. The oak was supposed to symbolize the 1,000-year German Reich. But despite the most careful care, it was not willing to take root at Kirchplatzl and withered.

Source: dietiwag-org

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