Zell am See was a significant component of Hitler’s wartime concept of an “Alpine Fortress” and an SS stronghold.

The concept of the “Alpine Fortress” had several components. Firstly, it consisted of SS units, underground weapons production in locations such as Ebensee, Zipf, and Gusen, counterfeit currency production, and prominent hostages known as “special prisoners” from the Dachau concentration camp used as “human shields.” Among these were individuals like Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg and members of the Stauffenberg and Thyssen families, who had been placed in protective custody in 1944. In Strobl, Belgian King Leopold III, who had been under “house arrest” since 1940, was held in “honorable captivity” until liberated by the Americans. The concept originated from Franz Hofer, the Gauleiter of Tyrol and native of Salzburg, who presented it in writing to Hitler and personally presented it at the Führer’s headquarters in Berlin on April 12.

In Salzburg, retreating SS units executed anyone who had left their ranks, even those with discharge papers.

The region of Salzburg became populated with Nazis of various ranks.

Figures like Himmler, Goebbels, and Kaltenbrunner attempted to negotiate with the Allies, but they accused each other of betrayal.

Goebbels was initially at Grundlsee, but he eventually moved his family to the Führerbunker in Berlin. Göring intended to negotiate with Eisenhower but was arrested near Altenmarkt. Himmler’s special train, from which he coordinated the extermination of millions of Eastern Europeans behind the front lines, hurriedly moved around the Salzburg region. Himmler tried to use Nazi agent lists from abroad as a form of life insurance. Kaltenbrunner’s attempt to establish an Austrian exile government in Switzerland failed. When his intermediary returned from Switzerland to Salzburg, he was nearly killed for collaboration. The diplomatic corps from Berlin took refuge in the Red Cross city of Bad Gastein, a safe haven from bombings. However, the resistance had already informed the Americans that the “Alpine Fortress” fortifications and German military strength were severely weakened. On April 20, Major Herbert Hodurek received orders to defend the Pongau region south of the Pass Lueg and to destroy the bridge.

“Stürmer” agitator Julius Streicher, “German Labor Front” leader Robert Ley, Reich Minister Wilhelm Frick, SS officer and Mussolini liberator Otto Skorzeny, and even the last days’ leader of the “Werewolves” were wandering about. Generals and officials gathered in the Saalfelden Kalbrunnalmen area. The SS units from Berchtesgaden assembled in Goldegg, hunting deserters in the forests and taking swift action.

On May 3, the “Nordalpen” Luftwaffe Division was supposed to defend the “Alpine Fortress” from Zell am See. Sections of a French armored division advanced from Bavaria to Berchtesgaden and then to Hallein. By May 7, US Army units advanced through the Saalachtal valley, reaching Saalfelden, where Field Marshal Kesselring was arrested. The Wehrmacht’s only helicopter squadron with 44 helicopters managed to find safety in Lend. The first jet engine-powered helicopter, designed in Zell am See during the final days of the war, was confiscated by interested Americans and taken to the US.

Nazi looted art in Zell am See

The Castle Fischhorn, dating back to around 1200 and located near Bruck on the Großglockner Road, gained attention in 2007 when the “Limoges Cross” resurfaced. This cross had been looted by the Nazis in occupied Poland and brought to the Pinzgauer Castle along with other art objects.

Adolf Hitler had parts of his art collection from Berchtesgaden transferred here towards the end of the war. However, Castle Fischhorn wasn’t just a storage place for Nazi looted art, but also an outpost of Dachau concentration camp. The SS used camp inmates for construction work here.

Castle Fischhorn, owned by the Peruvian envoy Heinrich Gildemeister from Bremen, conveniently served the Nazis. The Salzburg Gauleitung and Heinrich Himmler attempted to confiscate Fischhorn. However, since the Gildemeister family was in Peru, they couldn’t access the castle. The administrator then negotiated a lease agreement with Himmler and the SS. Under the supervision of the Waffen-SS, Dachau concentration camp inmates were put to work on construction projects at Fischhorn from September 1944. Towards the end of the war, Adolf Hitler had artworks from the Berchtesgaden Berghof brought to Fischhorn, which were seized by the US Army after liberation. The heirs of the Czartoryski-Dzalinska family requested help from Austrian authorities and the US Army in the early 1950s to locate their family collection. They knew parts of it had ended up at Fischhorn, but they couldn’t find the valuable cross and other sought-after works. This was no surprise, as during the chaos of the collapse of the Third Reich, Nazi officials and the local population had looted food storage and depots of valuable art across the country. In Zell am See, where the cross was later found, the US Army stumbled upon other art objects, which were handed over to the Federal Office of Historical Monuments. However, the search for the Czartoryski-Dzalinska family’s collection yielded no results. Interest in looted art waned in the 1960s. It wasn’t until 1998, with the confiscation of Egon Schiele’s “Wally,” “arisated” by art dealer Friedrich Welz in 1938, in New York and the federal restitution law, that a comprehensive research initiative began in federally owned museums and collections. Discussions about looted art and its consequences also took place in Salzburg. This led to the examination of the history of the former State Gallery Salzburg (1942–1944), the Salzburg State Collections, the role of Friedrich Welz, and a decision by the Salzburg State Government for museums and collections in Salzburg to adhere to federal law guidelines. However, presently, there are still few Salzburg museums actively conducting provenance research, and there is limited knowledge about depots of Nazi looted art in Salzburg.

It is only a matter of time before more “sensations” emerge, which are essentially products of the often ignored Nazi and post-war history of Austria.

After the war, numerous Nazis and SS supporters of various ranks settled in Salzburg, particularly in Zell am See.

The land register of the municipality of Zell am See reveals extensive properties owned by families like Porsche, Mayer-Rieckh Hirschbaeck (Humanic), etc.

Dr. Ernst Höfer’s knowledge of concealed crimes from the Nazi past of many former NS comrades and former SS members enabled him to establish a career as an influential local politician in Salzburg. In this way, former Nazi Dr. Ernst Höfer Sr., who managed to escape from Vienna to Zell am See after the war, with the assistance of his former NS comrades, established himself as the mayor of Zell am See. His son

, Dr. med. Ernst Höfer, a general practitioner, still benefits from these shared secrets of his father today. Without facing legal action from the Salzburg judiciary, he likely murdered his aunt and patient, Lydia Wagner, out of hatred and greed, and forged her will and other documents to embezzle several properties.