Sepp Innerkofler

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Sepp Innerkofler, painting by Franz Defregger

Sepp Innerkofler (born October 28, 1865 in Sexten , South Tyrol , † July 4, 1915 on Paternkofel ) was an Austrian mountain guide and innkeeper.

Life

Innerkofler married Maria Stadler (* December 2, 1861 - April 18, 1946) from St. Lorenzen on January 8, 1895 . The children of the marriage were Gottfried Josef (* October 28, 1895; † July 22, 1956), Adelheid Maria (* December 12, 1896; † January 25, 1945), Josef Sebastian (»Pepi«, * July 8, 1898 ; † May 25, 1993), Franz Johann (* August 23, 1899; † December 15, 1943), Maria Katharina (* November 3, 1900; † April 4, 1989), Johann Evang. Sebastian (January 1, 1902 - May 6, 1909) and Max Florian (May 1, 1903 - January 28, 1904). In 1898, Sepp took over the Dreizinnenhütte , located 2405 m above sea level, on the Toblinger Riedel, as the innkeeper, which under his leadership was expanded several times into accommodation with 40 storage spaces. In 1903 he opened the Hotel Dolomitenhof in the Fischlein Valley in his native Sexten .

Sepp Innerkofler became known as a mountaineer through the first ascent (1890) of the north face of the Kleiner Zinne in the Sexten Dolomites . This achievement was also noteworthy insofar as it was »only« about a new difficult route (according to today's UIAA scale level IV-) to an already climbed mountain - the summit of the Kleiner Zinne was first reached in 1881 by Michel and Johann Innerkofler been. In addition, he had already climbed the wall up to the key point on his own before he turned back to lead the tourist Hans Helversen to the summit with his cousin Veit , as was the custom of his time .

After the beginning of the First World War he was able to recognize early war preparations on the Italian side on his mountain tours in the border region between Austria and Italy. After Italy declared war on Austria in May 1915, the military situation in the Alps was precarious for Austria because the main power of the army was on the Serbian-Russian front. To protect the Alpine border, following an old tradition, Tyrolean Standschützen were formed , consisting of young people or older men who did not belong to the age groups of conscription.

Innerkofler formed a group of mountain guides within the Standschützen. Due to precise local knowledge and alpine skills, they organized a successful war of movement in the mountains. The success was that the front in the Alps could be held until reinforcements ( Kaiserjäger ) arrived and an Italian breakthrough was prevented. Innerkofler fell in battle on July 4, 1915 while trying to retake the summit of Paternkofel, which was occupied by Italian Alpini . He was accompanied by Forcher from Sexten (who was also wounded as part of the action), Rogger and his brother-in-law Andreas Piller (all mountain guides) as well as Franz von Rapp and Josef Taibon. Several versions are in circulation about the circumstances of his death:

  • Some sources claim that Sepp Innerkofler sustained fatal injuries when he fell into the Oppelkamin after the Alpino Piero de Luca hit him in the head with a stone in the absence of a weapon ready to fire. De Luca is said to have confirmed this version at the age of 82 when he was interviewed in connection with a memorial service for Innerkofler. De Luca is said to have been rescued by Innerkofler shortly before from the walls of the Großer Zinne , in which he had climbed while exploring. The Italians asked the warring Austrians for Innerkofler's help, as they were unable to rescue de Lucas themselves. For the duration of the rescue operation, the two Italian negotiators remained with the Austrians as bargaining chips.
  • Other sources claim that Innerkofler fell victim to its own barrage. Innerkofler's son Pepi is said to have given this image on the 60th anniversary of his death. Like his brother Gottfried, Pepi is said to have followed the events with binoculars.

As was confirmed by Benitius (also: Benitus) Rogger, who was involved in the attempted summit attack, the fact that several of the hand grenades he threw at the Italian summit position did not detonate should have contributed to the fatal outcome for Innerkofler. The dead Innerkofler was recovered and recognized by de Luca and the Alpini. The corpse was first buried on the summit of the Paternkofel and the grave was provided with a simple wooden cross with the inscription “Sepp Innerkofler, Guida” ( Eng : Sepp Innerkofler, mountain guide) out of respect for Innerkofler . In 1918 the body of his son Gottfried and friends was exhumed and reburied in the Sexten cemetery after the front line had changed.

Grave of Sepp Innerkofler in the local cemetery of Sexten

In memory of Sepp Innerkofler and Piero de Luca, the via ferrata from the Dreizinnenhütte to the Paternkofel was named after the two actors.

The 1st NCO course of the armed forces in 1995 was named after him.

literature

Web links

Commons : Sepp Innerkofler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1. NCO course 1995 - Standschützen Oberjäger Sepp Innerkofler
personal data
SURNAME Innerkofler, Sepp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian mountain guide and innkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Sexten , South Tyrol
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1915
Place of death Paternkofel