Felix Holzermayr

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Felix Holzermayr (born June 11, 1918 in Salzburg ; † September 27, 2001 in Salzburg) was a German-Austrian officer in World War II who made a name for himself as a savior of ancient cultural assets and as the author of an uncritical book about his war experiences. As an alpinist he was a tour guide and co-author of the Skitouren-Atlas Ostalpen .

Life

Felix Holzermayr was a businessman by profession and had a humanistic education. During the Second World War he was drafted into the 5th Mountain Division of the German Wehrmacht , which was set up in the Salzburg area, because of his mountaineering skills . The Mountain Division had its first mission in 1941 in Greece during the occupation of Athens , in 1942 it was relocated to the Leningrad area. After the division was transferred to Italy , Holzermayr served as a company commander with the rank of lieutenant .

In the summer of 1944, the command of Holzermayr's division was to blow up the Ponte Grosso road bridge on the Via Flaminia near Cagli . Arbitrarily he sent back the pioneers who had already approached to be blown up , but did not report them as was actually necessary. The pioneers, who had expected massive problems due to the large limestone blocks, were not unhappy about this. However, Holzermayr's unauthorized behavior became known and led to a sequel. Mainly because his commander stood in front of him, in the end it was a rebuke. As could be proven, the demolition of the bridge, which could easily be bypassed, would have had no lasting effect against the advance of the Allied combat units. Destruction also contradicted the Kesselring order , which forbade avoidable destruction of valuable historical and cultural-historical monuments.

The Ponte Grosso , a building possibly dating back to Augustan times with two seven-meter-wide arches, still connects the towns of Foligno and Rimini , which is possibly only thanks to the courageous intervention of Holzermayr. In 1996 Holzermayr's autobiography From the First to the Last Day 1938–45 appeared , in which he presented this and other war experiences. Ernst Hanisch judged the uncritical book that it was the obscene book of a dirty old man .

After the war he was the owner of a confectionery and luxury food wholesaler in his hometown. Among other things, he was involved in the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAK), for which he worked as a mountain guide in his free time. He was also the tour manager of the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV) section Salzburg since 1971 and is considered one of the pioneers of mountain ski tours. He wrote numerous reports for the daily newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten in the section “Die alpine Welt” that appears every Saturday. Holzermayr was involved as an author in several publications of the ÖAK and in the five-volume edition of Gerhard Hunger's Skitouren-Atlas Ostalpen .

Fonts

  • Gerhard Hunger, Felix Holzermayr, Hans Wagner, Otmar Walitsch: Skitouren -Atlas Ostalpen Volume I. Between the Rhine and Brennerstraße. 1st edition, Nelles, Munich 1984.
  • Gerhard Hunger, Felix Holzermayr, Hans Wagner, Otmar Walitsch: Skitouren -Atlas Ostalpen Volume II. Between Brenner Street and Gastein Valley. Nelles, Munich 1987.
  • Gerhard Hunger, Felix Holzermayr, Hans Wagner, Otmar Walitsch: Skitouren -Atlas Ostalpen Volume III. Between the Gastein Valley and the Vienna Woods. Nelles, Munich 1984.
  • Gerhard Hunger, Felix Holzermayr, Hans Wagner, Otmar Walitsch: Skitouren -Atlas Ostalpen Volume IV. Western South Tyrol between the Adda, Eisack and Etsch valleys. Nelles, Munich 1984.
  • Gerhard Hunger, Felix Holzermayr, Hans Wagner, Otmar Walitsch: Skitouren -Atlas Ostalpen Volume V. Eastern South Tyrol and neighboring Yugoslav and Austrian regions. Nelles, Munich 1986.
  • Felix Holzermayr: From the first to the last day 1938/1945. Druffel & Vowinckel, Berg am Starnberger See 1996 ISBN 978-3806111071 .
  • Felix Holzermayr: Dance of Death on the Arctic Ocean Front. The May attack in 1942 . Pallasch, magazine for military history, 23, autumn 2006, pp. 170–183.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Felix Holzermayr later wrote about it in: Totentanz an der Eismeerfront. The May attack in 1942 . Pallasch, magazine for military history, 23, autumn 2006, pp. 170–183.
  2. ↑ Ernst Hanisch: Gau of the good nerves. The National Socialist rule in Salzburg 1938 - 1945. Pustet, Salzburg-Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7025-0325-0 , p. 203.
  3. ^ Gaisberg for early risers Salzburger Nachrichten of February 6, 2004.
personal data
SURNAME Holzermayr, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg , Austria
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 2001
Place of death Salzburg , Austria