Hermine Mayr: Last catacomb teacher fought for home to the end

Hermine Mayr: Last catacomb teacher fought for home to the end

Hermine Aloisia Mayr, the last catacomb teacher of Tyrol, died on May 20, 2025 in South Tyrol at the age of 107. It was born on April 23, 1919 in Kurtasch, Deutsch-Südtirol, when the area was still part of German Austria. After the annexation by Italy, which formally took place in 1919 as part of the Saint-Germain contract, she struggled to regain her Austrian citizenship all her life. Despite her efforts, it was rejected by the Republic of Austria. This was perceived by many, whereby politics was often attributed to the pressure of assimilation policy under Mussolini, which forced the South Tyrolean citizenship to Italian citizenship, which meant a massive cultural change.

Hermine Mayr taught German in their mother tongue during a time when it was punishable to give lessons in German. Her classes secretly took place on farms and inns. This made them one of the last characters in a number of brave women and men who worked in the "catacombs" school. Hermione told about the challenges she and her colleagues had to endure in order to preserve the tradition of German -language education. This form of teaching organization was a direct consequence of the strong assimilation pressure, which weighed on the South Tyroleans, and the political changes of the 20th century, as the history of South Tyrol shows.

honor and recognition

Hermine Mayr was honored posthumously by the "Andreas Hofer Bund Tirol", who blames politics for their situation and demands that their Austrian citizenship are granted. This support has become a symbolic gesture for many, which reflects the continuing tensions between the ethnic groups in South Tyrol. The federal government and numerous supporters, including the South Tyrolean Schützenbund and the FPÖ politician Gudrun Kofler, expressed their thanks and appreciated their tireless efforts.

The Austrian Council of Ministers had last refused to return citizenship, supposedly because a 104-year-old could no longer be expected or success. The emotional burden of this rejection was great and hurt many who identified with Hermione and had followed their fights. She died in awareness of living and dying as an Austrian, which was denied to her. Together with her parents, she had never had to do without Austrian citizenship and at times also supported students through tutoring after the war.

a life in change

The biography of Hermine Mayr reflects the complex and often tragic history of South Tyrol. Historically, the area was part of Tyrol until the occupation by Italian troops in 1918, and the national feeling among the German -speaking South Tyroleans was strong. Hermione experienced the change from a political climate that was favorable for the German Tyrolean Tyroleans to a one that tried to force them to belong to Italian culture. Your personal memories are also part of the collective memory of all South Tyroleans who continue the struggle for cultural identity and social justice.

In her final resting place in Schenna in Schenna, Hermine Mayr will not only be remembered as a teacher, but also as a symbol for the tireless political struggle of the South Tyrolean for her inheritance and her identity, against a long and often painful process of assimilation and the loss of relatives.