Alberich (Karl) Berger OCist

Karl Berger attended the Erzherzog-Leopold-Salvator-Gymnasium in Vienna and graduated from the school in November 1914, after which he was drafted into military service from 1914-1918. Shortly after his return, he entered the seminary in Vienna. In January 1919, he applied for admission to the Cistercians at Lilienfeld Abbey, whom he had known since his youth. He was given the monastic name Alberich at his investiture on February 7, 1919. He completed his philosophical and theological studies in Vienna, Heiligenkreuz and Innsbruck, where he was ordained a priest in 1923.

In 1928, at the time chaplain in Lilienfeld, he was accepted into the student fraternity Austria Wien. After various pastoral assignments, e.g. in Wilhelmsburg, Obermeisling and Ravelsbach, and in between also as chaplain in Lilienfeld, Fr. Alberieb took over the parish of Unterretzbach, which belonged to Lilienfeld Abbey, as parochial vicar in 1934. In the parish chronicle there, he describes the political events in detail and without embellishment. In the summer of 1934, for example, he wrote: "Our Nazis enjoyed staining the vicarage wall. They broke into the front garden at night, and in the morning, the parsonage next to the front door was emblazoned with black iron paint: 'Patience, here we come! [

His "very headstrong character" (according to the professorial book) made him - in contrast to his predecessors - an opponent of the National Socialists from the outset. After the Anschluss, he noted: "On March 11, 1938, we were surprised by the radio news when our much-loved Federal Chancellor Schuschnigg announced his resignation. Here in Unterretzbach, Vinzenz Singer took over the provisional leadership of the municipality. It must be noted that the SA men on duty were the biggest crooks and thieves with criminal records, wearing armbands and carrying rifles and shouting 'Heil Hitler'."

Because - according to the accusation - he did not follow the "Gestapo instructions regarding Ascension Day", he was taken into "protective custody" for three weeks in the Znojmo district court.

A leaflet in the form of an obituary is attached to the parish chronicle, describing the precarious situation at the time: "It is with unforgettable sorrow that we announce the sad news that our dear, good mother, Mrs. Rosa Brotmarke, née Weizenmehl, has died suddenly and unexpectedly. We will remember her with a rumbling stomach. Her ashes will be buried in the family grave, where the following relatives already rest in peace: lard, cigarettes, wine, poppy seed strudel, salami, stilton, whipped cream and cream. The above persons died during the Anschluss and were Austrian citizens."

Towards the end of the war, the area around Unterretzbach became a transit area for various streams of refugees fleeing the Russians and seeking refuge here, for example from Silesia. "The Protestant pastor came in SS uniform. A hero's ceremony at the war memorial, a church service in the pub hall. No crucifix, but a large picture of Hitler." -

The Nazi terror ended with the surrender on May 8, 1945, but instead Russian units marauded through Unterretzbach. Alberich Berger witnessed his vicarage being looted. "That night was very sad for many of the women and girls. They were sometimes raped at gunpoint. Old and young." - The parish chronicle continues: "A Russian officer is said to have claimed that only five percent of what the German soldiers, especially the SS, did in the Ukraine was done here in Austria."