Franz Hickl

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Franz Hickl, police major

Franz Ferdinand Hickl (born April 22, 1893 in Rostitz near Mährisch-Trübau , † July 25, 1934 in Innsbruck ) was police chief and commander of the Innsbruck municipal security guard and a victim of National Socialism.

Life

Entrance to the Innsbruck Police Headquarters, the site of the murder of Franz Hickl and later Gestapo headquarters

Franz Hickl, responsible for Vienna, was married to Maria, née Benesch; the marriage presumably remained childless. During the First World War, Hickl was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army and was discharged from the army with the rank of captain. After the First World War he joined the Viennese police, where he was the school commandant and later the commandant of an attack squad. In June 1933 he was ordered to Innsbruck and entrusted with the command of the municipal protection team; the uniformed police of Innsbruck was under his control.

death

assassination

Today's plaque in Herrengasse for Robert Moser and all other victims of the Nazi era in Innsbruck
Franz Hickl's grave at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Franz Hickl was murdered four times in Innsbruck by 19-year-old SS member Friedrich Wurnig at the entrance to the Innsbruck Federal Police Commissioner, Herrengasse 1, on July 25, 1934 at 2:30 p.m. The perpetrator fled on his bike in the direction of Herzog-Otto-Straße. The gate post of the Federal Police Commissioner as well as several passers-by took up the pursuit. A passerby tried to stop the fugitive with an umbrella; Wurnig was able to avoid the blow, but fell and fled on on foot. He threw away the murder weapon. Wurnig fled to an apartment on the north side of the governor's building, where he was overwhelmed by his pursuers. His helper, Christian Neyer, who at first stood leaning against the railing of the bank of the Inn, also tried to run away, but was stopped by passers-by and handed over to the police.

Hickl's body was transferred to his hometown and buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery in the burial complex for victims of the 1934 civil war - executive . Around 10,000 to 20,000 people attended the funeral.

process

On August 1, 1934, Friedrich Wurnig was sentenced to death by hanging by a senate of the military court for the murder of Franz Hickl and - in accordance with the then in Austria regarding the execution of the death penalty - after a few hours in the "small courtyard" of the Innsbrucker Executed in the prison at the Würgegalgen (see also the list of the people executed under Austrian law from 1933 to 1938 ).

Wurnig's accomplice Christian Neyer had promised to "unpack" and in fact uncovered the people behind the attack; he was sentenced to 20 years in hard prison.

Dr. Franzelein (Chief Police Officer and Head of the Innsbruck City Police Office) was not charged until August 15, 1934; but he claimed in court that his name had been misused and that he had nothing to do with the events. Since he was well informed about the police investigations from other members of the judiciary who were Nazi-minded, his active involvement could not be proven.

backgrounds

Hickl's murder was no accident. With his appointment, he had disempowered Nazi sympathizer Adolf Franzelin, who should have played a central role in a possible coup attempt. In addition, he had earned a reputation as a consistent persecutor of the illegal National Socialists and threats by the National Socialists against Hickl had already been published in April 1934. In addition, the SS terror group (“T group”) was very active in the Tyrol through bomb attacks and murder. The deputy Gauleiter of Tyrol, Fritz Lantschner, had given Wurnig the order to murder Franz Hickl on July 24, 1934. Friedrich Wurnig was SS-Scharführer and leader of the so-called terror group (T-group) of the Tyrolean SS. His helper Christian Neyer was also an SS-man and deputy leader of the T-group. He was supposed to stay near the scene of the crime and - if the attack by Wurnig did not succeed - fire the fatal shots at Hickl with other SS members.

The murder of Franz Hickl, who was particularly hated by the National Socialists (“the furiousest persecutor of all National Socialists”) was intended to be the signal for the National Socialist uprising in Tyrol. The Austrian Legion was also ready to invade Austria from Bavaria; a similar attempt was made on July 28, 1934 and with little success at Kufstein. The Tyrolean SA was on standby that day, which was known to the police, and Klaus Mahnert , the SA brigade inspector for Tyrol (and from 1959 to 1966 FPÖ member of the Austrian National Council), waited for more from the SA brigade command Operations orders for the uprising sent out in Germany. When the radio announcement of the Dollfuss assassination was broadcast, the Tyrolean SA leadership could not decide to strike, incoming orders were not obeyed. The second command, received by radio in the evening, was: “Get going! Are you lacking courage? ”The Innsbruck SA leader Mahnert wired back to this:“ The order cannot be carried out. Readiness canceled. ”The murder had exactly the opposite effect, causing great outrage among the population. Fritz Lantschner, who had commissioned the murder, went into hiding on the same day and left Austria on August 1 with false papers for Liechtenstein, but after the Anschluss he made a career as district manager for agricultural policy and government director and went underground in South America after 1945 .

Dr. Franzelin had assured the assassins that they would be released immediately after any arrest; this turned out to be a mistake. Wurnig's accomplice Christian Neyer, however, had promised to “unpack” and in fact uncovered the people behind the attack; he was sentenced to 20 years in hard prison. On August 27, 1938, Neyer was pardoned and released from Stein prison in Lower Austria; he then went to Germany. His attempts to make a career in the NSDAP (such as getting the "Blood Order" for old fighters) failed, but his accomplices rose in the NSDAP and were also able to enrich themselves with the property of displaced Austrians.

Dr. After joining the SS, Franzelin made a career for himself and was Police Director of Innsbruck until his death in 1940.

Honor

  • Franz Hickel was posthumously appointed police major.
  • On September 30, 1934, a memorial plaque for Franz Hickl was attached to the portal of the official building at Herrengasse 1, which was removed in March 1938.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biography of Franz Hickl. DÖW , accessed on August 12, 2018 .
  2. ^ Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government, Tyrolean Provincial Archives. Letter dated May 31, 2010.
  3. ^ Gerhard Jagschitz (1976). The coup. The National Socialists in Austria in 1934. Graz: Styria, p. 141.
  4. ↑ http://www.geschichtsforum.de/f76/die-rattenlinie-fluchthilfe-fr-nazis-nach-s-d Amerika-1945-1955-a-4132 /
  5. ↑ Harald Walser (1988). The July putsch in Tyrol in 1934. In T. Albrich, K. Eisterer & R. Steininger (eds.), Tyrol and the connection. Requirements, developments, framework conditions 1918–1938 (pp. 331–356). Innsbruck: Haymon-Verlag.
  6. ↑ http://www.mahnert-online.de/klaus-tod.html
  7. ↑ Kurt Bauer (2001). Social-historical aspects of the Nazi July coup in 1934. Vienna: Dissertation, p. 59 ff.
  8. ↑ http://www.geschichtsforum.de/f76/die-rattenlinie-fluchthilfe-fr-nazis-nach-s-d Amerika-1945-1955-a-4132 /
  9. ↑ Walser, 1988, p. 351.
personal data
SURNAME Hickl, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hickl, Franz Ferdinand (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian police major
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Rostitz near Mährisch-Trübau
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 1934
Place of death innsbruck