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Franz Jägerstätter
Austrian martyr and conscientious objector (1907–1943)
BlessedResearchedAustriaSecular Franciscan Order
Feast: 9 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
20 May 1907
verified
Died
1943
verified
Beatified
26 October 2007
by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, for Benedict XVI, in Linz
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
Franz Jägerstätter was born on 20 May 1907 at St Radegund in Upper Austria, the son of Rosalia Huber and Franz Bachmeier, who was killed in the First World War; his mother's husband Heinrich Jägerstätter adopted him in 1917. He had only a basic village schooling.
A farmer, he said no to Hitler: he refused to swear loyalty to the Reich, and was condemned to death for it and executed in 1943.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A farmer who followed his conscience against Hitler to the scaffold.
Sources
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Franz Jägerstätter
- Wikidata Q45243 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Franz Jägerstätter (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.