Berger-Marterl

St. Gilgen, Salzburg, Österreich

"The German National Gymnastics Clubs of Seekirchen and Mattighofen in grateful memory of their gymnast Andreas Berger, who was overthrown here on 13 May 1926 by murderer's hand.

The text on this memorial stone tells a part of the story, Mrs. Sams also knows the background:

There were some of Andreas Berger's friends who were interested in his imminent death. They invited him to a pub crawl to Scharfling, let him enjoy plenty of alcohol and then walked up here with him. Equipped with a camera, he was supposed to photograph the steep rocky slope.What the murderers had not expected was that at the time Franz Wiener (father of Maria Sams) and his brother Martin were in close proximity to the woodwork. They heard the cries for help and hurried into the ditch. The two men hid the injured. He was taken to the hospital Mondsee, where he unfortunately died.

Friends of gymnastics clubs built the memorial stone. In 1998, Mr Helmut Moser, then chairman of the ÖTB Turnverein Seekirchen, arranged the renovation of the stone on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his death. For many years, devotions were held at the memorial. Today hardly anyone of the association has a relationship with Andreas Berger, which is why the interest in commemorative events is missing. Also, the damage of the stone occurred about 10 years ago has not been resolved.