Dr. Hans Kneß

Hans Kneß becomes an orphan at the age of 15. He moves from his hometown of Marburg an der Drau to Innsbruck to attend secondary school. There he joined the Cimbria Innsbruck secondary school fraternity in 1911. After graduating from high school in 1913, he began studying law at the University of Innsbruck and became a member of the Austria Innsbruck student fraternity in 1913. He had to interrupt his studies in 1915 when he was called up to the Imperial Rifle Regiment No. 3 of the Imperial-Royal Army. He was deployed on the Dolomite front until November 1918 (last rank Lieutenant d. R.).

After the war, he completed his studies and graduated as Doctor iuris in 1919. During his studies, he had already gained journalistic experience as a student trainee at the "Tiroler Anzeiger". He leaves the legal profession and becomes a journalist. He went to South Tyrol and became editor of the daily newspaper "Der Landmann", but was then expelled from South Tyrol and went to Rome as a correspondent for the Tyrolia publishing house, where he was arrested by the fascist police in 1925 and deported to Innsbruck.

Tyrolia sent him to Vienna as publishing director, where he was arrested in 1938 after the Anschluss. After his release from prison, the Nazis made it impossible for him to continue working in Vienna. He moved to Munich and became director of the Catholic publishing house "Kösel und Pustet".