Karl Heinrich Waggerl (1897–1973)

Waggerl began to publish openly antisemitic works in 1933 and, in 1936, he joined the National Socialist Austrian Federation of German Writers. After the “Anschluss” in 1938 he joined the Nazi Party and, in 1939, became a high-ranking official in the department responsible for writers of the Nazi Party administrative district of Gau Salzburg. 

After the war Waggerl was imprisoned by the Allied administration. Pardoned in 1948, he then enjoyed great success with the Salzburg Advent concerts. To this day, widespread conceptions about what constitutes the traditional Christmas spirit in Austria are still shaped by his ideas. His poems won him numerous honours and his books were bestsellers. In the late 1950s he once more made antisemitic remarks. A museum in Wagrain is dedicated to Waggerl.