Franz Hofer
| Franz Hofer | |
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Franz Hofer
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| Born | November 27, 1902 Bad Hofgastein |
| Died | February 18, 1975 (aged 72) Mülheim an der Ruhr |
| Nationality | German |
| Known for | Nazi party leader |
Franz Hofer (November 27, 1902 in Bad Hofgastein – February 18, 1975 in Mülheim an der Ruhr) was, in the time of the Third Reich, the Nazi Gauleiter of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg. As the Nazi party chief for the Tirol/Vorarlberg province he was the most powerful figure in the region. As the area's supreme Nazi, Hofer dealt directly with Hitler or with the Führer's deputy, Martin Bormann. Hofer was not only the party chief but the Reichskommissar in charge of the Tirol-Vorarlberg defences. His region embraced much of the suspected National Redoubt. Indeed, Hofer might well be considered the father of the Redoubt.
Born to a Bad Hofgastein hotelkeeper, Hofer went to the Volksschule-Realschule in Innsbruck and in 1922 began a career as a freelance salesman. In September 1931, he joined the NSDAP. He very quickly rose in the Party, becoming District Leader in April 1932, and in July of the same year acting Gauleiter of the Tyrol. Only four months later, on 27 November 1932 – Hofer's thirtieth birthday – he was promoted to Gauleiter of the Tyrol.
For his activities in the Nazi Party, which was banned in Austria, Hofer was arrested in June 1933 and sentenced by a Tyrolean court to two years in prison. On 30 August 1933, however, four armed SA men broke into Hofer's prison cell by force and freed him. He fled the prison amid gunfire, which wounded him. He made it to Italy, however, and only a few weeks later gave a speech at the Nuremberg Party Congress from his stretcher.
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