The Wildschönau Storm Troopers
Wild west in the Wildschönau!
The high Wildschönau Valley was once accessible only by mountain tracks or through the Kundl Gorge and for this reason was a good retreat for the Tyrolean Freedom Fighters at the beginning of the 19th century.
In the Sollererwirt in Thierbach the original table still exists where the local vigilante Speckbacher wrote his declaration calling local men to take up arms for Andreas Hofer against the Napoleonic army. 'Those who don't have a rifle, tie your stakes and pitchforks to long poles...!'
The Sturmlöda (Storm Troopers) and the Rifle Company remind us of this time. The Wildschönauers were the last reserve, armed only with scythes, pitchforks, flails and dressed in the clothes they stood in. And this is how we see them today as they march in church parades and processions.