Gastronomer fully confessed before the Salzburg jury – six months conditional imprisonment due to Nazi re-activation.
“That was nonsense with the stupid bottles. I should have thrown them away immediately.” – A Pongauer restaurateur confessed remorsefully, taking a seat before a jury (chaired by Judge Martina Pfarrkirchner) on Tuesday for crimes under the Prohibition Act. Public prosecutor Sebastian Wolfsteiner accused the innkeeper of having placed two wine bottles with labels showing Adolf Hitler in a glorifying pose on a cupboard in the dining room from an unknown date until May 25, 2022. “The bottles with the Hitler labels might be seen by the guests. The defendant seriously considered it possible that by setting up the bottles he was presenting National Socialism and its leader Adolf Hitler in a positive way to the outside world. And that he would be viewed by others as one the Nazi era or as a positively open-minded person”, according to the prosecutor.
The impeccable landlord (defender: RA Lukas Kofler) explained “that a good ten years ago Italian holidaymakers brought the wine bottles and left them with me”. The fact is: A member of an Israeli group of guests who stopped off at the inn in May 2022 saw the “leader’s wine”, took a picture of it and filed a complaint. The innkeeper’s lawyer said his client made a “big mistake” by not disposing of the bottles immediately upon receipt at the time. However, his client was “certainly not a Nazi. He had not otherwise hoarded any Nazi memorabilia. In addition, many foreign guests come to him.”
The jury found the host guilty of Nazi re-operation. The court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment, using the special mitigation law. In principle, the range of penalties is between one and ten years imprisonment. Not legally binding.
