In Austria there are some “excursion destinations” where the critical question of why they (still) exist at all is definitely appropriate. The Dr. Dollfuß Memorial, which has been located on the Hohe Wand in Lower Austria since 1935, is probably at the top.

Hardly any person in Austrian politics who has died a long time ago is discussed more controversially than Engelbert Dollfuß. Depending on your political opinion, he is revered as a “martyr chancellor” who is said to have died in the fight against Hitler’s Germany, or he is described as a worker murderer. Regardless, it is a fact that Dollfuß initially governed as Chancellor in a bourgeois coalition. In 1933, he took advantage of two circumstances to abolish democracy and establish the Austro-Fascist regime: a voting glitch in parliament led to it being unable to make decisions. Instead of electing a new presidency, Dollfuß deployed the police to prevent another meeting.

At the same time, Federal President Wilhelm Miklas failed to fulfill his constitutional duty to intervene accordingly. The Constitutional Court, which could have put a stop to the goings-on, was put out of action by the resignation of pro-government judges whose positions were not filled. At the same time, there was support for Dollfuß and his dictatorship from Italy in the form of the Catholic Church, which was given a real “state-supporting role” and from dictator Benito Mussolini, who could be won over as a “protecting power”.

Enabling law from the First World War “unearthed”

Dollfuß initially ruled with the help of emergency decrees that were based on the War Economic Enabling Act from the time of the First World War. This law was not repealed when the first republic was founded. By the way, why is still controversial today. In any case, Dollfuß made it useful and wanted to create a Catholic theocracy from Austria on a class basis “under strong authoritarian leadership”. The Social Democrats, whose party was subsequently banned, were particularly up in arms against this. It culminated in a civil war that was violently suppressed. In particular, the controversial death sentences that were handed down against Social Democrats and members of the Republican Protection Association have, to this day, resulted in Dollfuß being classified as a worker murderer from the perspective of the red political camp.

In the bourgeois camp, people see it a little differently, because they have never seriously distanced themselves from the abolitionist of democracy. Rather the opposite is the case, because even long after 1945, memorials are still being maintained, memorial masses are being held and Dollfuß is being celebrated as a martyr-chancellor. This may also be due to the fact that the Federal Chancellor in question was murdered by an Austrian National Socialist in 1934.

Immediately after his death, this circumstance was literally “exploited” in Austrofascist propaganda. The new Federal Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, who also ruled in a dictatorial manner, built a personality cult around the dead Engelbert Dollfuß. Memorials were erected, stamps and coins adorned the portrait of the deceased and the phrase “A dead man leads us” appears in the so-called Dollfuß song.

The personality cult surrounding the dead Engelbert Dollfuß still has an impact today

As Minister of Justice, Schuschnigg was the “technician” behind the elimination of parliament and the transformation of the republic into a dictatorship. In contrast to Dollfuß, he was almost unknown among the general population and his charisma was roughly comparable to that of a shy boy. So it was initially a significant advantage for him to promote his predecessor Dollfuß as a martyr and to build a personality cult around the dead man. Under the Schuschnigg regime, countless squares, streets, buildings, churches and memorials were renamed or even rebuilt in honor of Engelbert Dollfuß. Some of them still exist today and one of them is the Dr. Dollfuß Memorial on the Hohe Wand.

The Dollfuß regime was brought to its knees by Hitler's Germany in 1938. This was followed by the invasion of the Wehrmacht, which took place without a fight, with some enormous cheers from the population. Hitler subsequently plunged the German Reich into World War II. After this, Austria became an independent state again.

The Fatherland Front, which was the unified party under Dollfuß and Schuschnigg, was of course no longer established. However, there are a number of high-level continuities, as some government members of the Schuschnigg cabinet or VF officials made another political career in the Second Republic in the ÖVP and in state and federal governments. It should be noted that almost all high-ranking VF and government members of the last Schuschnigg government had to spend the Nazi period in concentration camps. This also includes the dictatorial chancellor himself.

Schuschnigg had hopes of a comeback

During the founding of the Second Republic and the Austrian People's Party, he had serious hopes that he would be able to take over the leadership again and be at the head of the state again. But nothing came of this, because his former companions and subordinates in the First Republic clearly and clearly supported democracy and distanced themselves from Schuschnigg. With his former party colleague Dollfuß, this distance was much more difficult and in some cases and regions even to this day.

Prominent examples of “continuity” include: Julius Raab, who served as Trade Minister under Kurt Schuschnigg, was a founding member of the Austrian People’s Party, and later even served as Federal Chancellor for many years. Ludwig Adamovic, Justice Minister under Schuschnigg, became President of the Constitutional Court in the Second Republic. Leopold Figl, who held a leading position in the Federal Economic Council in the corporate state, was also a co-founder of the ÖVP and became the first democratically elected chancellor of the Second Republic. Also worth mentioning is Heinrich Gleißner, who was appointed governor of Upper Austria in the “VF State” in 1934. In 1945, as an ÖVP member, he became the first Upper Austrian governor of the Second Republic. He held this office until his resignation in 1971.

But they no longer wanted Kurt Schuschnigg on the “team”. Embittered, he emigrated to the USA and worked at a university for many years. Neither he nor any other leading member at the time were ever legally prosecuted for the breach of the Federal Constitution and all other alleged violations of the law during the time of the corporate state. Those who “came back into control” after the Second World War must have already taken care of this. In addition, because of the serious crimes committed by the Nazi regime, it was relatively easy to make the era of the corporate state disappear from the minds of “official Austria” or to reinterpret it historically as a bulwark against Hitler. This resulted in a controversial discussion that continues to this day and there is no uniform view of the time under Dollfuß and his successor Schuschnigg.

Dollfuß homages were only built after 1945

The Dr. Dollfuß memorial on the Hohe Wand is a real prime example of the fact that there is disagreement about how to deal with legacies from the Austrofascist era. But this was definitely opened in 1935 and is therefore a real legacy. The situation is completely different with honors that were only given after 1945. For example, the controversial Dr.-Dollfuß-Platz in Mank, which only received its name, which is still valid today, in 1965. The opposition has been calling for this contaminated name to be eliminated for decades, but the ÖVP, which has the majority in the local council, sees no reason for this. Supposedly it is the last and only Dollfuß Square in Austria. This wouldn't be all that surprising, because during the Nazi era all traffic areas that bore his name were renamed and after the establishment of the Second Republic, other names were chosen. Mank is an absolute special case, because the traffic area was only given this name in 1965.

Not far away, in the community of Texingtal, the so-called Dollfuß Museum was set up and opened by the community in 1998. It is located in the former birthplace of its namesake. For many years, pretty much no one was interested in the museum run by the community in honor of the former dictator, which is more like a memorial and memorial site.

That changed suddenly in 2021, when Gerhard Karner (ÖVP), who was previously mayor of Texingtal, was appointed Federal Minister of the Interior. The Dollfuß Museum was suddenly in the national and international media. It was temporarily closed for “redesign”. It has now been announced that it will be “constructively resolved” within the next few years.

Hohe Wand: plaque from 1935 “disappeared”

So far, a slightly different route has been chosen on the high wall. The memorial plaque that was placed on the right side of the memorial was removed. So far, no one has even bothered to use paint to hide the fact that something has been removed. Remarkable, because apparently they no longer want the public to know that the church is “in pious memory of the martyr chancellor Dr. Engelbert Dollfuß” was opened as “the religious monument of the Fatherland Front” under Kurt Schuschnigg and Archbishop Theodor Innitzer. The removal in 2023 is almost ridiculous given the fact that the plaque has been hanging since 1935 and even survived the Nazi era. At least these visitors immediately pointed out that they were in a controversial place from the past.

There are of course flowers and wreaths in the memorial itself, which make an extremely fresh impression. It was not possible to find out exactly who cares for this site, lays flowers and wreaths, and exchanges and lights candles. Apparently people in this small town don't like to talk about it at all. It just sits there and doesn't bother anyone since 1935 and at all? Which memorial site? In the region they talk about the Engelbertkirche and “that up there” would be a church and nothing else. The huge “Dr. Dollfuß Memorial” (with a missing “D” that someone probably took with them as a souvenir) doesn’t matter. It’s there, it doesn’t bother anyone and why should you “tear down” or change a church.

In an interview with Aviation.Direct, a resident admitted that there are really uninvited guests every now and then and there is a good reason that the church is usually locked and the memorial is protected by a dirty plexiglass pane. Every now and then there is vandalism, theft and visits from uninvited sprayers. However, these are always removed or repaired by the church. So you're quite happy that the site or church cannot be reached without a car, because there is no bus service on Hohen-Wand-Straße and only an inconspicuous blue church plaque directly on the footpath indicates its existence. The only road sign has no reference at all to the name of the church or the memorial site.

Does anyone know the right way to handle it correctly?

Another example of the half-hearted approach to the Dr. Dollfuß Memorial is a flyer that is posted in a display case to the right of the main entrance to the church. The building history of the church is discussed quickly in small print without any critical consideration. But: It is explicitly pointed out that the Engelbert Church is not named after Engelbert Dollfuß, but rather Saint Engelbert.

Before the time of National Socialism, the Dollfuß Memorial is said to have been much more magnificent. Unknown Nazi supporters knocked down or destroyed the frescoes depicting the dead and a statue. Remarkably, the site as such has not only survived this period, but has been renovated several times since 1945 and is still regularly supplied with fresh flowers, wreaths and candles.

How do you properly deal with such historically contaminated buildings? Is it the right way to simply take down the original plaque, which probably hardly anyone read anyway? Or should we put up huge information boards about the history, which young people in particular, who often can't understand the names Dollfuß and Schuschnigg, can't understand? Simply use the site for something else or even tear it down? Or just leave everything as it is – history is history? Exactly this discourse has been going on in Austria for decades, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, sometimes not at all, and no one has yet found a “right answer” that everyone would agree with.