Pius Walder

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Depiction of Pius Walder on his gravestone

Pius Walder (born April 4, 1952 in Villgratental ; † September 8, 1982 in Kalkstein in Villgratental) was an Austrian woodcutter and poacher . His violent death sparked divisions and conflict in his home community and inspired books, television shows and sociological reflections.

Living conditions and death

Pius Walder was the youngest of the twelve children of Josef Walder from Innervillgraten and Anna Senfter from Auservillgraten .

Walder's home community consists of widely scattered farms ( scattered settlements ) and the Kirchweiler Kalkstein at 1640 m above sea level. The place is located in the inner part of the Villgratenbach through which the Villgratenbach flows and branches off from the Pustertal . The western and southern municipal boundaries are also the border with South Tyrol . Due to its remote location, the valley has only been accessible all year round since 1956 and is one of the few settlement areas in Austria that has not yet been developed by mass tourism.

Pius Walder was single and without children and, like his brothers, a woodcutter . He was shot dead on September 8, 1982 by the hunter Johann Schett while poaching in Kalkstein in the Villgratental. Schett was then sentenced to three years' imprisonment for fatal bodily harm; after a year and a half he was released early.

Circumstances of death

Family grave of the woods in limestone, Pius' gravestone can be found in the middle

The supervisory hunter Johann Bergmann had allegedly heard gunshots on September 8, suspected a poacher and contacted his colleagues Schett and Schaller who were supposed to keep an eye out. When Schett saw a poacher, he turned and got Schaller. While they were together, the poacher, who turned out to be Pius Walder, fled and was fatally shot in the back of the head about 100 meters away from Schett.

However, as it later turned out, no shots had been fired from Pius Walder's weapon. His brother Hermann Walder therefore believed that Bergmann saw Pius Walder from a distance and recognized him despite his soot-blackened face. The inscription on Pius Walder's grave - “I was shot at in Kalkstein in cold blood by two hunters from the neighborhood and fatally hit in the back of the head from the 8th shot” - and the wording on the party slip each assumed a deliberate act of violence. The shots allegedly heard by Bergmann were assigned to the hunters who had put Pius Walder into the crossfire. In the case of the writer Winfried Werner Linde, it is assumed that the hunters deliberately shot Walder.

consequences

When the pastor Alban Ortner removed the party slip at the entrance to the church at Walder's funeral , he was slapped by his brother Hermann Walder. As a result, there were further demonstrations and violent clashes. More than 1000 people attended the funeral of Pius Walders, after which the bereaved were noticeably sidelined. The blows against the pastor were probably one of the reasons that Hermann Walder grew into the role of a stubborn rebel and moved further and further away from the village community.

When, a month later, shortly after the funeral of another family member of the Walders, Hermann and Emil Walder happened upon Johann Bergmann, a fight broke out in which the hunter was injured so badly that he had to be treated in hospital. The Walder brothers were convicted of assault and had to pay heavy fines.

In the weeks after the crime, the mood in the valley changed. Walders brothers took action against the Schett family, accused the responsible judge Spielmann of unjust justice and held up their brother's memory. Similar to the Bavarian poacher Georg Jennerwein , the grave and the other scenes became tourist attractions. Even at the funeral of the shooter in 2012, 30 years after the incident, there was an incident with Hermann Walder. He disrupted the funeral massively with loud shouts. Hermann Walder's unrelenting approach to the memory of his brother has been portrayed several times on Austrian television.

According to Michael Gehler, there was an attack on Emil Walder's house in 1985. There were tumults at appearances by those involved in the talk show Club 2 . The women of the hostile families sometimes had violent clashes. When the brothers distributed brochures with the autopsy photo at the Felbertauern tunnel, they were officially sued for “behavior that was harmful to foreign traffic”.

The brothers were sometimes given incredible strengths and a special wildness and connection with the wilderness . Like Pius, they had a comparatively low social status as lumberjacks, but with the advent of the motorization of forest work they had very good economic earning potential.

The brothers found sympathizers less among their neighbors than in the urban intellectual environment.

reception

The Austrian writer Winfried Werner Linde immortalized the poacher and the aftermath of his death in the multiple published book The Walder Saga .

The Austrian writer Felix Mitterer wrote the script for the crime scene sequence Elvis is alive! Based on the story of Pius Walder . . It was alluded to Pius Walder's characteristic sideburn hairstyle and half-strong appearance. The template was filmed in 2001 with Roswitha Szyszkowitz , Hannes Spiss and Anton Pointecker .

Roland Girtler dealt in detail with this case from a sociological point of view and came to the conclusion that - unlike in earlier times - the poacher and his relatives are shown little sympathy by the village environment. Poaching, once an additional source of food and rebellion, has degenerated into a pure adventure, the hunters are viewed much higher. That didn't prevent Girtler from dedicating a recipe to Walder in a poaching cookbook.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Simon Rosner: The unfortunate shot. In: Wiener Zeitung . September 7, 2007.
  2. ↑ a b c d Roland Girtler: Poacher - Social rebels in the mountains. Böhlau, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-205-98823-X .
  3. ^ A b Winfried Werner Linde: The Walder Saga: The Death of Pius Walder , 4th edition, Verlag Berenkamp, ​​Innsbruck 2006, ISBN 3-85093-120-X
  4. ^ Siegfried Becker, Andreas C. Bimmer (ed.): Humans and animals: cultural-scientific aspects of a social relationship. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 1991, ISBN 3-89445-116-5 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Michael Gehler (Ed.): Tyrol: "Land im Gebirge": between tradition and modernity , Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-205-98789-6 .
  6. ↑ Petra Tempfer: The late revenge of the poacher. on wienerzeitung.at , July 24, 2012.
  7. ^ ORF report by Stefan Lindner, tirol.ORF.at July 23, 2012
  8. ↑ Old invoice - a poacher does not award  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ORF TVThek July 30, 2012@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / tvthek.orf.at  
  9. ↑ Pius Walder: A poacher drama has kept East Tyrol in suspense for 30 years In September 1982 a hunter shot the poacher Pius Walder in East Tyrol's Villgratental. Since then his brother has been leading a bizarre campaign against oblivion. By Edith Meinhart Profil-online.at August 15, 2012
  10. ↑ Tourismusverband Mieminger Plateau: Tatort Trilogy - “Passion” - Bad Blood - Elvis Lives ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 22 kB) - press release .
  11. ↑ ORF shooting of Felix Mitterer's crime thriller “Elvis lives” Roswitha Szyszkowitz new partner of Harald Krassnitzer ORF Channel: Politics OTS0074 July 30, 2001, 11:31 am
  12. ↑ Roland Girtler, Eva Bodingbauer: Poacher cookbook. With bullet , Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-205-77257-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Walder, Pius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian lumberjack and poacher
DATE OF BIRTH April 4th 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Villgratental
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1982
Place of death Limestone in the Villgratental