The Votive Church is a place of memory, remembrance, and gratitude. There is also a window commemorating the Catholic victims of National Socialism, where one can also find Chaplain Heinrich Maier.
Kaplan Dr.Dr. Heinrich Maier
* February 16, in Großweikersdorf
† March 22, 1945 in Vienna
Ein Hoffnungszeuge - A Witness of Hope
Heinrich Maier entered the seminary in 1926 and was ordained a priest in 1932. Starting in 1940, he became involved in the resistance against the Nazi regime and, together with others, founded a group that provided the Allies with crucial information about German armaments factories.
In 1944, Maier was arrested by the Gestapo and brutally interrogated. Despite torture, he did not betray his comrades.
Surprised, the Nazi judge asked the priest:
"What do you get from taking the blame for others?"
... The priest answered:
"Sir, I will need nothing more."
In October 1944, the People's Court sentenced him to death. After being tortured in the Mauthausen concentration camp, he was executed on March 22, 1945, in Vienna during the last regular execution of the Nazi regime.
His last words were:
"Long live Christ the King! Long live Austria!"
Maier is considered one of Austria's most significant Catholic resistance fighters.
And I, would I be willing to give my life?
And for what would I give my life?
Well-informed, the pilgrimage of faith continues.
glaubensweg zum Dom | pilgrimage of faith to St Stephen‘s Cathedral
via >> KHG-Kapelle & Landesgericht <<