Christian Blattl the Elder

Christian Blattl the Elder (born November 13, 1776 in St. Johann in Tirol , † 1856 in Fieberbrunn ) was an Austrian rifle captain and Tyrolean freedom fighter .

Christian Blattl the Elder

Life

Christian Blattl the Elder was born on November 13, 1776 on the Wilhelmstätt farm in St. Johann in Tirol. He was the third son of Georg Blattl and Maria née Aigner.

The father handed the farm over to the eldest son Johann, but Christian Blattl bought his parents' property from his brother. For a few years he was a farmer in Wilhelmstätt himself, but could not hold the farm and had to sell it. With the proceeds he bought the somewhat smaller Rain property in Fieberbrunn. Christian Blattl already appears as the owner of Rain in 1802 in the marriage register of the parish Fieberbrunn when he married Anna Bucher, the farmer's daughter from undercutters. In the following years he was able to increase his property again through thrift and diligence. In historical reports it is mentioned that Christian Blattl repeatedly contributed parts of his private fortune to support the Tyrolean struggle for freedom . In 1809, his brother-in-law gave him the parental home of his wife, head and tail tailors in Fieberbrunn, as well as the Büchl-Steffl-Guetl in Fieberbrunn, so that he became a wealthy landowner again.

Christian Blattl the Elder was a hard-working farmer and was always keen to expand his property, apparently not shying away from any risk. In Fieberbrunn he appears to be the owner of the following farms in the course of his life: Obing in Walchen, Tischlern, Ofenberg, Groderer in Faistenau, Rain, Ober- und Unterschneidern and Büchl-Steffl. By 1831 he was so well off economically that he was able to buy back his parents' house in Wilhelmstätt in St. Johann. He passed this on to his only son Christian Blattl the Younger (1805–1865) around 1841 . The other farms were taken over by the daughters.

Christian Blattl the Elder and his wife Anna had seven children:

• Katharina (1803–1894) owner of Obing - married to Stefan Berger
• Christian the Younger (1805–1865) Farmer zu Wilhelmstätt - folk song poet
• Elisabeth (1806–1811), died in childhood
• Maria (1808–1894), married to Christian Schweinöster zu Schweinösten
• Anna (1811–1889), married to Rupert Kapeller zu Niederfilzen
• Magdalena (1814–1892), owner of Ofenberg
• Elisabeth (1816–1888), owner of carpenters - married to Georg Graswander

Of the seven children of Christian Blattl the elder, only Christian the younger and his sister Anna, married Kapeller, had offspring.

Freedom fighter

Christian Blattl the Elder went down in history as an important Tyrolean freedom fighter and is the namesake of the Fieberbrunn rifle company. As early as 1796/97 Blattl took part in the coalition wars against revolutionary France as a rifle corporal and received a silver medal of bravery for his courageous commitment. He received a second award for his special commitment in a battle in Windhausen am Inn. In 1805 Christian Blattl took part in the successful defense of the Strub pass as a sergeant in the company of Rupert Wintersteller from Kirchdorf.

In the spring of 1809 the first Pillerseer rifle company under Captain Simon Fiechter (Gasteigkrämer in Fieberbrunn) stood at the Strub Pass. Blattl served as ensign at Fiechter, but was soon elected captain of the second Pillerseer company, and Major Rupert Wintersteller entrusted Christian Blattl with the defense of the Luftenstein pass south of St. Martin near Lofer. He had the pass better and more appropriately entrenched and thus managed to repel all attacks on the Luftenstein pass.

Christian Blattl was employed as a courier by Major Rupert Wintersteller and traveled to Andreas Hofer on behalf of the four Pillersee communities . He advised to stick together in harmony and to be ready to sacrifice everything for God, religion and fatherland. In July 1809, Blattl and his Pillerseer company did guard duty at the Schmiedberg outpost near Kössen. At the beginning of September he made a daring foray into Lend im Pinzgau. There he confiscated lead, which was intended for the Bavarians, at the Hüttenamt and brought it to Innsbruck. Andreas Hofer accepted the welcome ammunition reinforcement with joy, praised the brave Blattl and gave him a white horse.

After all, Christian Blattl was standing near Niederndorf am Inn in the autumn of 1809 and during this time, on orders from Winterstellers, he fetched gunpowder from the powder maker in Fieberbrunn. After the final collapse of the country, Blattl was imprisoned as one of twelve hostages in the Kufstein Fortress. From there he escaped under adventurous circumstances and spent months wandering around the wintry alpine pastures until he was finally granted amnesty and was able to return to his Rain farm in Fieberbrunn.

Memorial plaque to Christian Blattl the Elder in St. Johann in Tirol

In recognition of his services to the fatherland, Christian Blattl received the concession in 1834 to open a tavern in his “Eiserne Hand” house on the Rotache. He died there on March 3, 1856 at the age of 79.

In St. Johann in Tirol there is a memorial stone on the parsonage wall next to the Dechant Wieshofer monument, which commemorates the freedom fighter Christian Blattl, and in his honor a street was named "Christian Blattl-Weg".

literature

• Monica Joast-Müller: History of the houses and farms in St. Johann . In: Franz-Heinz Hye : The market town of St. Johann in Tirol, nature and people in the past and present . St. Johann in Tirol 1990, vol. 1, p. 223 ff.
• Ludwig Pürstl, Franz Kaler: Tyrolean defender of the Kitzbühel district in 1809 . Kitzbuehel 1859
• Adjut Troger OFM: Christian Blattl 1776–1856. Sniper captain from Pillersee in 1809 . Innsbruck 1906
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Blattl, Christian . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 1st part. University book printer L. C. Zamarski (formerly JP Sollinger), Vienna 1856, p. 432 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• museum1.at (PDF)