Ministerialrat Dr. Karl Ohnmacht

Karl Ohnmacht was born the son of a doctor. After completing eight grades of elementary school, he attended the teacher training college in Linz and initially became an elementary school teacher in the Innviertel region. Due to his exceptional aptitude, he was assigned to the training elementary school at the Episcopal Teacher Training College in Linz and, at the same time, passed the supplementary examination for university entrance qualification.

Karl Ohnmacht then began studying mathematics and physics at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Innsbruck in 1923 (Dr. phil.) and joined the Austria Innsbruck fraternity that same year. At the same time, he also studied Scholastic Philosophy (Dr. phil. schol.) at the Faculty of Theology. After completing his studies and passing the teacher certification exam, he became a professor of mathematics and pedagogy at the Episcopal Teachers’ Seminary (Teacher Training Institute) in Linz.

There, Karl Ohnmacht became active in the Christian Provincial Teachers’ Association of Upper Austria, leading to his election in 1934 as a representative of the teaching profession to the Upper Austrian Provincial Parliament, where he served until July 15, 1936. In mid-1936, he was appointed to the Ministry of Education in Vienna, where he worked in the Department of Pedagogical Affairs for elementary and middle schools as well as teacher training.

After the Anschluss in March 1938, Karl Ohnmacht was dismissed from his position and lived a secluded life with his family at his mother-in-law’s home in Solbad Hall. At the end of 1943, he moved to Enzenkirchen in the Innviertel region. His serious illness spared him from further persecution and imprisonment.

In May 1945, Ohnmacht was reinstated; he resumed his post at the Ministry of Education in early 1946 and soon afterward became head of the Pedagogical Department for elementary and secondary schools as well as teacher training. At the beginning of 1947, his heart condition began to worsen again. He had to be hospitalized and subsequently went to Enzenkirchen to recuperate, where he succumbed to his heart condition during the heat of the summer of 1947. He was buried in the family plot in Ried im Innkreis.