August Mandorfer

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August Mandorfer in the dock before the Steyr Regional Court in July 2013

August Mandorfer (born September 1, 1933 in Kremsmünster ) is an Austrian music teacher and a legally convicted criminal. Under the religious name of Father Alfons he was a Benedictine in Kremsmünster Abbey and its former Regens Chori , director of the music archive, director of the Konvikt and grammar school teacher at the Kremsmünster Abbey High School .

August Mandorfer was withdrawn from the Konvikt in 1996 for sexual assault, but the background was not made public until 2010. On April 27, 2012 Mandorfer was after a canonical procedure by Pope Benedict XVI. Relocated to lay status and sentenced on July 3, 2013 by the Steyr Regional Court to twelve years imprisonment for serious cases of abuse in Kremsmünster Abbey .

Career

Coming from a long-established Kremsmünster family, August Mandorfer attended the Stiftsgymnasium as an external student from 1945 to 1953. On August 17, 1953 he was clothed and one year later (August 18) began the novitiate in the monastery for three years and took the religious name Alfons; he made perpetual profession on August 18, 1957.

He already heard philosophy in Kremsmünster, and from 1955 to 1959 he studied theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo in Rome . He was ordained a priest in Salzburg on July 13 and August 3, 1958. From 1959 to 1962 he studied school music at the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg , and in 1962 he also received his doctorate as a theologian.

From this point on he worked continuously in Kremsmünster in a whole series of functions: From 1962 he taught at the Stiftsgymnasium as a professor for religion and music, initially until 1966 also for Latin. From 1962 to 1970 he worked as a prefect in the convent of the monastery, which he subsequently headed as the convict director until his retirement in 1996. Until 1965 he was President of the Marian Studies Congregation , at the same time he was lecturer for ethics at the Studium philosophicum between 1963 and 1966. In 1970 as well as from 1983 Mandorfer was a member of the Economic Council, from 1984 also of the Seniors' Council in Kremsmünster Abbey. In 1981 he was delegate of the convention for the general chapter of the Austrian Benedictine Congregation . In 1985 the Upper Austrian Provincial School Board awarded him the professional title of senior student councilor , with which Austrian high school professors are usually awarded for long-term pedagogical services.

For many years he was adjunct of the Regens Chori Pater Altman Kellner and his successor in this function from 1977 to 2002. In 1964 Mandorfer ensured the continuation of the music school in Kremsmünster. From 1981 to 2008 he was responsible for the music archive in the Regenterei. The renovation of the organ in the collegiate church , consecrated in 2005, is largely due to the commitment of Mandorfer.

Abuse of Konvikts pupils

The collegiate high school in the center of the picture. In the corner on the right edge of the picture are the windows of Father Alfons' room in the immediate vicinity of the dormitories in the Konvikt

In 1995 Mandorfer was accused of sexual assault for the first time, but during this time, when the affair of Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër was already being discussed in the media, only internal warnings by the then Abbot Oddo Bergmair were issued . It was only a year later that Mandorfer's directors withdrew from the boarding school, although he continued to teach at the grammar school until his retirement in 1998 and continued to lead the boys' choir until 2002. Accompanied by his confessor Benno Wintersteller , he repeatedly went on recreational trips with individual children on which there had already been acts of abuse in the past.

As was documented in the course of the later investigations, Mandorfer verifiably abused 24 of his former students sexually, physically and psychologically in the years 1967 to 1996, whereby the number of undocumented cases is certainly much higher given the long period of the crime. Concretely, rich in cases of sexual abuse by manipulation of the sexual organs to anal and oral rape, cases of physical abuse of so-called "Stereo slap" to sadistically motivated beatings with a horsewhip . Psychological assaults such as public humiliation, dangerous threats with a pump gun or the declaration of "bird-free" were also part of Mandorfer's repertoire.

A former student affected by attacks in 1995 filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Steyr for the first time in 2007, but even then there was no public discussion of the incidents. In the course of the judicial investigations at that time, Mandorfer appealed in his actions a. a. on the pediatrician Franz Wurst who was convicted in 2002 and, according to the interrogation protocol, also admitted that he himself was a pedophile. However, the preliminary investigation was discontinued in April 2008 by Guido Mairunteregg, who had just been appointed senior public prosecutor, due to the statute of limitations established at the time.

On March 10, 2010 Mandorfer was again confronted by a former inmate of the Konvikt with the accusation of having repeatedly physically and sexually abused him. In a first statement, he strictly rejected these allegations and accused the former pupil of having "put them together nicely after 30 years". When further concrete allegations by former pupils of the Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster came to the public, those affected began to organize and exchange ideas in a spontaneously founded Internet forum. Only then did the monastery management feel compelled to suspend Mandorfer from all official functions in the monastery. Later Mandorfer qualified his initial denial in an open letter on the website of the monastery with the words "I never wanted to be a sadist". As a direct consequence of Mandorfer's public statements, he was expelled from the Altkremsmünsterer alumni association in May 2010 due to behavior that was harmful to the association.

Shortly before his laicisation, August Mandorfer left the Kremsmünster Abbey in mid-March 2012 in order to “not harm it because of public opinion in his case”. At the invitation of Abbot President Christian Haidinger, he had stayed several times since 2010 in the Lower Austrian Benedictine Abbey of Altenburg , and then lived in the “Bruderliebe” nursing home of the Kreuz Sisters in Wels until shortly after his final conviction . On March 14, 2015, the prison administration ordered his imprisonment, and shortly afterwards Mandorfer had to begin his prison sentence in the Stein prison.

Criminal law processing

The Steyr public prosecutor initiated investigations against a total of eleven priests and professors of the Kremsmünster Abbey High School on suspicion of abuse of authority, sexual abuse of minors and deliberate bodily harm. At least 39 cases of physical, psychological and sexual abuse were investigated against Mandorfer himself. Based on the statements of some of those affected and after reporting by the abbot, a so-called pump gun was found in Mandorfer's private premises in the monastery as part of a house search .

Such plates were in use under Mandorfer's direction until the 1990s.

After a report by the Linz psychiatrist Adelheid Kastner had attested three of the numerous victims “severe consequences” due to repeated abuse, the Steyr public prosecutor brought charges in 24 cases on April 9, 2013 after around three years of investigation. Mandorfer had initially raised an objection to the indictment through his lawyer Oliver Plöckinger, but it was confirmed as final by the Linz Higher Regional Court in early June 2013. On July 3, 2013, after three days of hearing, Mandorfer was found guilty of all charges by a jury at the Steyr Regional Court and sentenced to 12 years in prison. "The duration and indifference of the accused exceeds everything that has existed," the judge justified the high sentence. On October 28, 2014, the Supreme Court dismissed Mandorfer's appeal for annulment and thus upheld the guilty verdict. The Linz Higher Regional Court confirmed the final sentence of 12 years on January 29, 2015, but referred the victims' claims for damages to civil law. A medical report ordered by the judge found that Mandorfer is only conditionally liable due to his age and that he should therefore be admitted to a prison with a corresponding nursing department.

In the course of the criminal proceedings for abuse, victim attorneys submitted a statement of the facts to the Steyr public prosecutor's office because of National Socialist re-engagement under the Prohibition Act . Specifically, it is about statements that Mandorfer is said to have made to pupils such as "I'll get the pump gun and shoot you, you Jew!" Or "You are life unworthy of life that needs to be stamped out". The allegation is directed against unknown perpetrators that swastika plates were eaten in the abbey boarding school. On behalf of the Steyr public prosecutor's office, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism investigated this case against the accused and the Kremsmünster Abbey, but the relevant proceedings were ultimately discontinued.

Publications (selection)

  • Abbot Berthold Vogl von Kremsmünster, his work as professor and rector at Salzburg University . Diss. Theological University of Salzburg 1962.
  • Authority today . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 116 (1973), pp. 7–29
  • The new swimming pool . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 116 (1973), pp. 31–32
  • Education and instruction in Kremsmünster , In: Kremsmünster. 1200 Years of the Benedictine Monastery , Linz 1976, pp. 147–192.
  • Anniversary celebrations in Kremsmünster . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 119 (1976), pp. 7–44
  • Kremsmünster and its schools . In: Yearbook 1977 for the Catholics of the Diocese of Linz , pp. 61–66
  • Music education in Kremsmünster . In: Studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches 88 (1977), pp. 9–52
  • To maintain the oratorio in Kremsmünster . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 120 (1977), pp. 67–83
  • 1200 years of Kremsmünster. The anniversary of the monastery in retrospect . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 121 (1978), pp. 7–68, with 9 pp. Fig.
  • The clock collection of the Kremsmünster Abbey . In: Alte Uhren 2 (1979), pp. 274-89
  • Subprior P. Altman Kellner . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 124 (1981), pp. 7-14
  • Order and order in the Konvikt . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 124 (1981), pp. 17–28
  • Boarding school today - problems, tasks, opportunities . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 129 (1986), pp. 9-18
  • House rules Konvikt Kremsmünster . Kremsmünster undated
  • Anton Bruckner and Kremsmünster . In: Studies & Reports, Journal of the International Bruckner Society (IBG) 45, December 1995, pp. 18-20
  • The high school in the rearview mirror . In: Public Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster, Annual Report 142 (1999)
  • "... and it was music every day" The 1000th anniversary celebration of Kremsmünster Abbey in 1777 as an example of monastic music cultivation in the Baroque era . In: Erbe und Einsatz 82 (2006), pp. 383-399

Mandorfer as a conductor

  • "Kremsmünster Abbey - 400 Years of Music Creation" - CD with compositions by the Fathers a. Stiftsmusiker, Benedikt Lechler, Georg Pasterwiz , up to P. Altman Kellner a. a. Performers: Choir of the collegiate church, soloists and the associated orchestra. Conductor: P. Alfons Mandorfer.

Honor

In a letter dated September 7, 2012, Mandorfer resigned his honorary citizenship of the Kremsmünster market town in good time before the Green parliamentary group was able to submit an application for revocation in the municipal council meeting on September 27, 2012.

literature

  • Profession book of the Kremsmünster Monastery . Kremsmünster 1968, pp. 566-567 and 622
  • Theodorich Pichler: Supplements to P. Altman Kellner's profession book of the Kremsmünster monastery. Occupation 1945-1985 . Kremsmünster n.d., p. 80
  • Roland Girtler : The old monastery school. A world of rigor and small rebels , Böhlau, Vienna, 2000, ISBN 978-3205992318
  • Heiner Keupp et al .: Silence - Uncovering - Processing, Sexualized, Psychological and Physical Violence in the Benedictine Abbey Kremsmünster , Springer, Wiesbaden, 2017, ISBN 978-3-658-14654-2 , ( online ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Emil Bobi, Profil , June 2, 2012.
  2. ↑ P. Tassilo Boxleitner: "200 years ago: Founding of the Konvikt in 1804", 147th annual report of the Stiftsgymnasium, Kremsmünster 2004, pp. 87-93.
  3. ↑ The Standard on the Incidents 1995
  4. ↑ 14Os134 / 13g , OGH decision of October 28, 2014
  5. ↑ The Standard for Questioning 2008
  6. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 10, 2010
  7. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 11, 2010
  8. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 12, 2010
  9. ↑ Kremsmünster Blog
  10. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 11, 2010
  11. ↑ Die Presse , March 15, 2010. Full text of the letter: "To my former students and to my friends! In the last few days a number of allegations and allegations have been made against me. I would like to say the following about them: A sadist wanted I'll never be! If I gave the appropriate impression, I'm sorry! Unfortunately, I was often thoughtless, often moody and all too often uncontrolled. I would like to apologize for that! I loved my students without exception. Maybe I was mine Feelings often too little, sometimes not at all - on other occasions then again too clearly and in an inadmissible way. If I have traumatized someone through my behavior and hurt them emotionally, I deeply regret it and I apologize from the bottom of my heart! I can do more Unfortunately not in retrospect. I can neither undo my mistakes, nor make them up again. But I am prepared to atone for them as far as I can nke for all friendship! P. Alfons Mandorfer. Kremsmünster on March 13, 2010. "
  12. ^ Upper Austrian News , May 11, 2010
  13. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 16, 2012
  14. ^ Niederösterreichische Nachrichten , March 28, 2012
  15. ↑ Kremsmünster Abbey: Convicted ex-father is in Krems prison , Oberösterreichische Nachrichten , on March 26, 2015
  16. ^ Upper Austrian News , March 16, 2010
  17. ^ ORF Upper Austria , June 30, 2013
  18. ^ Upper Austrian News , September 3, 2010
  19. ^ Upper Austrian News , December 6, 2012
  20. ^ Upper Austrian News , April 9, 2013
  21. ^ Final indictment
  22. ↑ Der Standard , July 3, 2013.
  23. ↑ Der Standard , November 6, 2014.
  24. ↑ Twelve years imprisonment for ex-father confirmed , ORF.at on January 29, 2015
  25. ^ Abbey Kremsmünster: Convicted ex-father conditionally liable , Der Standard , on March 12, 2015
  26. ↑ orf.at , July 3, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Mandorfer, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mandorfer, Alfons (religious name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian music teacher and convicted criminal
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Kremsmünster