Ulrichsberg gathering
Encyclopedia
46°42′6.73"N 14°17′51.38"E
The Ulrichsberg gathering is an annual reunion for veterans of the Wehrmacht
and Waffen SS held at the Ulrichsberg
mountain in Austria
. Since 1958, it has been held each year on the first Sunday of October. The purpose of the gathering is to commemorate those who were killed in the Second World War and their "decent fulfilment of their duties" as soldiers.
At the entrance, the old SS slogan "Die Ehre Unserer Soldaten Heisst Treue" (the honour of our soldiers is their loyalty) is carved in large elaborate letters on the wall.
One of the particular features of the Ulrichsberg memorial site is the so-called "Ehrenhain" (Grove of Honour) where one can find several plaques with commemorative inscriptions and armorial symbols, among them one for the Kameradschaft IV, several for the "Kameradschaft ehemaliger Gebirgsjäger" (the association of former Wehrmacht mountain troops), some from a number of units of "Freiwilligen" (volunteers) and the Wehrmacht from different countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, and Latvia.
The event has drawn international criticism as a festival for old Nazis that serves as a feeding ground for neo-Nazis. The late Austrian politician and long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), Jörg Haider
, disagreed and spoke at the gathering in year 2000: "It can't be so that the history of our fathers and grandparents, due to dubious commentaries, is reduced to a single catalogue of crimes, and that the part they played in history is just thrown back in their faces," he said to great applause.
The Ulrichsberg gathering is an annual reunion for veterans of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and Waffen SS held at the Ulrichsberg
Ulrichsberg
Ulrichsberg is a municipality in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria, Austria.-Geography: Ulrichsberg lies in Mühlviertel in Upper Austria near the Bohemian Forest and along the Große Mühl river . It covers an area of 12.2 km north to south and 10.3 km east to west for a total area...
mountain in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Since 1958, it has been held each year on the first Sunday of October. The purpose of the gathering is to commemorate those who were killed in the Second World War and their "decent fulfilment of their duties" as soldiers.
At the entrance, the old SS slogan "Die Ehre Unserer Soldaten Heisst Treue" (the honour of our soldiers is their loyalty) is carved in large elaborate letters on the wall.
One of the particular features of the Ulrichsberg memorial site is the so-called "Ehrenhain" (Grove of Honour) where one can find several plaques with commemorative inscriptions and armorial symbols, among them one for the Kameradschaft IV, several for the "Kameradschaft ehemaliger Gebirgsjäger" (the association of former Wehrmacht mountain troops), some from a number of units of "Freiwilligen" (volunteers) and the Wehrmacht from different countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, and Latvia.
The event has drawn international criticism as a festival for old Nazis that serves as a feeding ground for neo-Nazis. The late Austrian politician and long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...
, disagreed and spoke at the gathering in year 2000: "It can't be so that the history of our fathers and grandparents, due to dubious commentaries, is reduced to a single catalogue of crimes, and that the part they played in history is just thrown back in their faces," he said to great applause.