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Bible Encyclopedias
Andreas Hofer
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or By the hotter heads among the peasant leaders and deceived by false reports of Austrian victories, Hofer again issued a proclamation calling the mountaineers to arms. The summons met with little response; the enemy advanced in irresistible force, and Hofer, a price once more set on his head, had to take refuge in the mountains. His hiding-place was betrayed by one of his neighbours, named Josef Raffi, and on the 27th of January 1810 he was captured by Italian troops and sent in chains to Mantua. There he was tried by courtmartial, and on the 10th of February was shot, twenty-four hours after his condemnation. This crime, which was believed to be due to Napoleon's direct orders, caused an immense sensation throughout Germany and did much to inflame popular sentiment against the French. At the court of Austria, too, which was accused of having cynically sacrificed the hero, it produced a painful impression, and Metternich, when he visited Paris on the occasion of the marriage of the archduchess Marie Louise to Napoleon, was charged to remonstrate with the emperor. Napoleon expressed his regret, stating that the execution had been carried out against his wishes, having been hurried on by the zeal of his generals. In 1823 Hofer's remains were removed from Mantua to Innsbruck, where they were interred in the Franciscan church, and in 1834 a marble statue was erected over his tomb. In 1893 a bronze statue of him was also set up on the Iselberg. At Meran his patriotic deeds of heroism are the subject of a festival play celebrated annually in the open air. In 1818 the patent of nobility bestowed upon him by the Austrian emperor in 1809 was conferred upon his family.
See Leben and Thaten des ehemaligen Tyroler Insurgenten-Chefs Andr. Hofer (Berlin, 1810); Andr. Hofer and die Tyroler Insurrection im Jahre 1809 (Munich, 1811); Hormayr, Geschichte Andr. Hofer's Sandwirths auf Passeyr (Leipzig, 1845); B. Weber, Das Thal Passeyr and seine Bewohner mit besonderer Riicksicht auf Andreas Hofer and das Jahr 180p (Innsbruck, 1851); Rapp, Tirol im Jahr 1809 (Innsbruck, 1852); Weidinger, Andreas Hofer and seine Kampfgenossen (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1861); Heigel, Andreas Hofer (Munich, 1874); Stampfer, Sandwirt Andreas Hofer (Freiburg, 1874); Schmolze, Andreas Hofer and seine Kampfgenossen (Innsbruck, 1900). His history has supplied the materials for tragedies to B. Auerbach and Immermann, and for numerous ballads, of which some remain very popular in Germany (see Franke, Andreas Hofer im Liede, Innsbruck, 1884).
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Andreas Hofer'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/a/andreas-hofer.html. 1910.
