Hofrat Dr. Karl Scheidle

Karl Scheidle was born the son of a teacher and organist, who soon discovered and encouraged his son's musical talent. His older brother was Hermann Scheidle, who later became a Tyrolean provincial councillor. Scheidle attended grammar school in Bregenz, Hall in Tirol and Feldkirch. He also took violin lessons at the Innsbruck Music School at a very early age and was already an organist at a young age.

After completing his A-levels, Karl Scheidle began studying at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Innsbruck (Dr. iur.), where he joined the Austria Innsbruck student fraternity. He then began training at the church music department of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

The economic situation at the time forced him to pursue a career as a civil servant at the regional finance office in Innsbruck. Karl Scheidle also completed further studies in composition in Innsbruck. In 1935, his first major work, his Mass in A major, was premiered in St. Augustin, Vienna.

After the Anschluss in 1938, he was dismissed from his post and worked as an organist and church choir director during the war. Towards the end of the war, he composed a Mass for Peace in C minor, which was premiered in September 1945 in the collegiate church in Wilten.