On June 20, 1914, the most serious aviation accident of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy occurred near Fischamend. Monarchy when a biplane collided with the “Körting” guided balloon. Both aircraft crashed and nine people died – on the occasion of the 110. . Am 24. Juni 1914 wurden die Toten in einem Ehrengrab auf dem Zentralfriedhof beigesetzt. Zum 110. Jahrestag der Katastrophe fand in Fischamend eine Gedenkveranstaltung zu Ehren der Opfer statt.
The ceremony was initiated by local historian Rudolf Ster. The chairman of the Fischamend Aviation Interest Group (ILF) has been dealing with the aviation history of his home community for many years – and the tragic story of the “Körting” is simply part of that. He therefore approached the municipality at the beginning of the year with the idea of a dignified memorial service on June 20. Mayor Thomas Ram and his deputy Gerald Baumgartlinger did not need much convincing, as both politicians are proud of the great aviation history of their municipality. the great aviation history of their municipality and are extremely committed in this regard. https://militaeraktuell.at/anna-wijkander-wird-neue-cfo-bei-saab/ And so last Thursday, the 110th anniversary of the accident, numerous people gathered in front of St. Michael’s Church in Fischamend to remember the tragedy of the “Körting”. This location was deliberately chosen by the ILF and the municipality, as there is a memorial to all the aviation pioneers who died in Fischamend in front of the church, whose origins date back to the 14th century – the names of the nine victims of the “Körting” disaster are of course also listed there. Mayor Thomas Ram and Deputy Mayor Gerald Baumgartlinger took part in the ceremony, as did a delegation from the Hochmeister and Deutschmeister battalions and a high-ranking representative of the executive. As a special guest, Maximilian Habsburg-Lothringen was welcomed as a representative of the Habsburg family. Pastor Ivica Stankovic, who had stepped in at short notice for his brother Josip who had fallen ill, commemorated the dead in a speech in front of the memorial before the delegation of the Deutschmeister laid a wreath dedicated by the municipality of Fischamend and the ILF in front of the air memorial to the sounds of the song of the Good Comrade. Afterwards, the participants of the commemorative event, led by the German Masters, moved into the church, where Father Stankovic celebrated a dignified service. In his sermon, the priest, who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1979 and had to flee the Yugoslavian civil war with his family as a teenager, emphasized the high value of the “service to the homeland” that the nine airmen who died in the “Körting” disaster had performed. “Many pioneers of aviation had to sacrifice their lives so that we can fly so easily today,” Stankovic recalled the high blood toll in the early days of aviation.
In his speech, Maximilian Habsburg-Lothringen explained why the catastrophe disappeared from the public consciousness so quickly: “Only a few days later, the assassination in Sarajevo led to the First World War. First World War with millions of deaths”. In his laudatory speech, ILF President Rudolf Ster reverently read out the names of the nine airmen who lost their lives on June 20, 1914: Captain Johann Hauswirth, First Lieutenant Ernst Hofstätter, Lieutenant Otto Haidinger, Corporal Franz Chadima, Private Franz Weber, Engineer Gustav Kammerer, First Lieutenant Adolf Breuer, First Lieutenant Ernst Flatz and Frigate Lieutenant Wolfgang Puchta. Hiromi Landerl (piano) and Marion Meissner (vocals) provided the musical accompaniment to the service, which concluded with Franz Schubert’s “Wandrers Nachtlied”. “This piece was played 110 years ago in honor of the nine airmen who died in an accident. That’s why we deliberately chose it for today,” ILF Chairman Rudolf Ster told Militär Aktuell.
