Franztaler memorial

The inscription on the memorial plaque reads: "Franztal, a suburb of Semlin near Belgrade, was founded by settlers from West Germany in 1816 under Emperor Franz I." Because of the war, the Franztaler had to leave their hometown in October 1944 by horse and cart. " On November 5, 170 escape cars arrived in Mondsee and parked their horse-drawn carriages in the Seeallee. The refugees were well received by the population.

19) They were mainly housed in camps or with the farmers of the area. In the early years many believed in a return to Franztal, but when it became certain that their homelands were lost, much of them emigrated and created a new existence in many countries. Mondsee remained for many the last connection with the old homeland. In 1975, the Association of the Franztaler Ortsgemeinschaft was founded. Since then, with its annual Heimatbrief, it has been a link for the Franztaler scattered over half the world.

20) In 1986, the Franztaler Memorial was erected and solemnly inaugurated in Karlsgarten. On a stone from Untersberger marble the escape route is chiseled, which led a part of the Franztaler from their homeland to Mondsee. This stone was erected as a souvenir of the former village Franztal and the deceased Franztaler in the old homeland, but also as a new reference point for Franztaler scattered across three continents or 15 countries and should symbolize a bridge to the present.

21) The inauguration of the monument was celebrated with a big party, during which Governor Josef Ratzenböck was welcomed. The solemn Mass was celebrated by Father Joseph Edlinger from Mondseer together with Pastor Karl Krawinkler from Oberwang, who was a chaplain in Mondsee in 1941.

A highlight of the club's history was in 1989, when the market town Mondsee took over the sponsorship of the "Franztaler local community". On the occasion of the commemoration meeting "50 years of Semlin - Franztaler all over the world" in September 1994, a sponsorship tree was planted in the Karlsgarten in Mondsee.

​22) In 1999, the Franztaler Heimatstube was established in the old parish hall Mondsee, which shows old costumes, textiles, embroidery, documents, old plans and testimonies as well as other exhibits of the Franztaler ethnic group.22) A fixture of the association is the annual Pentecost meeting, come to the "Franztaler" from all over the world to Mondsee.

18) www.meinbezirk.at/voecklabruck/lokales/fluechtling-aus-dem-franztal-d979379
19) cf. https://www.franztal.at/wir/denkmal-in-mondsee
20) cf. www.ooemuseumsverbund.at/museum/90_franztaler_heimatstube
21) cf. www.franztal.at/wir/denkmal-in-mondsee
22) cf. www.ooemuseumsverbund.at/museum/90_franztaler_heimatstube
Archive of the parish Mondsee (parish chronicle)