• Born: 12 December 1882 in Berwang near Reutte (Austria)
• Died: 15 December 1935 in Moravian Rothwasser (CZE)

Parents:

• Father: Ferdinand S. PATSCHEIDER 1849-1897
• Mother: Adelheid SCHUCHTER 1854-1911

Marriage:

• 1st marriage (childless), 29 May 1911 with Julie GERBER, d. 1925
• 2nd marriage, 28 July 1927 in Maria Hilf near Zuckmantel, CZE, with Wilhelmine JAROSCH 1909-1998

Children:

• Irimbert PATSCHEIDER, born 8 April 1928 in Graz (Austria)
• Giselheid PATSCHEIDER, born 3 May 1929 in Moravian Rothwasser (CZE)

(Author's note: my grandfather on my father's side)

Basic data:

• Secondary school (Gymnasium) in Freistadt, Innsbruck, and Feldkirch (Austria)
• Assistant Medical Director in Moravian Rothwasser (CZE)
• Completed medical studies in Innsbruck in 1911
• World War I: Chief of the 1st Brno Medical Company
• Doctor and head physician in Moravian Rothwasser (CZE)

Because the financial situation of a small civil servant was very difficult at that time, Ferdinand and Adelheid decided to entrust their two oldest children, Therese and Anton, to Aunt Therese, the mother's sister. She was married to Dr. Niederleitinger, Austria's senior military surgeon, in Rohrbach (Upper Austria). The Niederleitinger couple had no children of their own, and so the two Patscheider children were able to enjoy an excellent education with their foster parents. In his first years of secondary school, Anton still studied in Freistadt (Upper Austria).

Anton Patscheider (1882-1935) later completed his secondary schooling in Feldkirch and received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Innsbruck in 1911. That same year his mother died. Soon after, he was sent to the Balkan front of the Turkish-Serbian War as a field physician by Prof. Dr. Hans von Wocherer, director of the Surgical University Clinic in Innsbruck.

In 1912 he married Julie Gerber, a citizen’s daughter from Kufstein, who had supported him during the last years of his studies. Her sister Marie had also married a doctor, Dr. Paul Kniely, a few years earlier. At the end of 1913 Anton accepted a position at the hospital in Moravian Rothwasser. The couple rented a typical Moravian house and soon made themselves at home there.

During World War I, Dr. Anton Patscheider became head of the 1st Brno Medical Company. Its field hospital in Pergine in Val Sugana faced an almost unmanageable number of war casualties, especially in 1917. His wife Julie accompanied him on all his campaigns as a nurse. Highly decorated, the couple returned to Moravian Rothwasser at the end of the war. To remain in charge of the hospital, however, they had to accept Czechoslovak citizenship.

Anton Patscheider was a true Tyrolean, but not as strongly nationalistic as his brother Richard. He was perhaps more tolerant in character and broader in outlook than his siblings. He was a musical, sociable man, well-regarded in the community for his many activities.

He was a passionate reader, had a trained baritone voice which he shared at local festivals and opera performances, and wrote poetry. He was very active in the "Schlaraffia". Like his father, he was also an avid hunter and forester.

In 1925, his wife Julie died of cancer. In her memory, Anton donated a pipe for the heroic organ at Kufstein Fortress. His widowhood weighed heavily on him, and he spent much of his time traveling.

In 1927, at Whitsun, he drove his cherished Opel to visit his brother in Troppau. On the way, he stopped in Braunsdorf as a guest of the director of the Mikulasch sugar factory. It was there, at the local fire brigade festival, that he met Wilhelmine Jarosch.

On July 28, 1927, Dr. Anton Patscheider married Wilhelmine Jarosch at the pilgrimage church of Maria Hilf near Zuckmantel. The engagement was brief, but the groom was eager to marry, aware that his time might be limited. Over the next eight years, the couple faced many challenges. Though only 18 when she married, Wilhelmine quickly had to learn how to manage a large household and the demanding role of a country doctor’s wife. Their shared love of music, and for each other, carried them through.

Dr. Patscheider’s health suffered from overwork and the harsh climate of Moravian Rothwasser. The couple sought relief in Wies, southern Styria, where they stayed with Dr. Paul and Marie Kniely for several months. During this time their son Irimbert was born in Graz on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1928. After returning to Moravian Rothwasser and spending another year there, their daughter Giselheid was born in May 1929. Wilhelmine, however, fell ill with puerperal fever and required months to recover.

As their living quarters soon became too small, they built a modern house opposite the hospital. This marked the beginning of a new era for the family. Dr. Patscheider expanded the hospital, continued his work, and built a wide circle of friends. He frequently invited school classes for meals, serving hearty soup with fresh rolls from a large laundry basket. The Sisters of St. Hedwig, whom he had called from their Motherhouse in Wrocław, served him faithfully, and their beautiful handicrafts are still partly preserved by the narrator today. In gratitude for their loyalty, Dr. Patscheider built a chapel next to the sisters’ wing.

The chapel was consecrated by the Bishop of Olmütz in December 1935, a great joy for the hospital. Yet, on the very day the celebrations ended, Dr. Patscheider fell ill with pneumonia and passed away on December 15, 1935, leaving behind a legacy of love and kindness.

End of chronicle excerpt (written in 1988 by Mag.^a Giselheid Patscheider-Riedmann)

Sources (italicized are original contents):

• Manuscript 3992, Tyrolean State Archive Innsbruck according to Wopfner: page 52, Gen. XII:
  Anton Patscheider geb. 17/12 1882, heir. / 1911 Julia Gerber
  Arzt und Primar in Mährisch Rotwasser
• Dr. Richard Patscheider: "Vom Oberrhein zum Etschquellraum" pages Z25 and Z26:
  Anton gb. 1882 XII. 12 in Berwang, h. 1911 V. 29 Julie Gerber aus Kufstein + 1925 in Mähr. 85062.
  2. Ehe a. 1927 VII. 28. Wilma Jarosch aus Troppau / Anton + 1935 in M. Hilf b. Zuckmantel. (Eltern: Jarosch Wilhelm und Antonia Rosner, Braunsdorf.).
• Ancestry passport Irimbert Patscheider page 9, No.: 2:
  Patscheider Anton Alois Josef
  Born 12.12.1882 in Berwang, Baptism Reg.-No. IV/51 Parish Office Berwang
  Marriage 28.7.1927 in Mariahilf with Wilhelmine Jarosch, Parish Office Zuckmantel, Reg.-No. VI/288
• Patscheider Chronicle:
  see text above.

Comment:

Both the Ahnenpass and the personal accounts in the Chronicle are credible and thus provide a solid basis of information.

How misleading the information in Richard Patscheider's book can be is clearly shown here: if one reads carefully on page Z26, it says that Anton died in 1935 in Maria Hilf near Zuckmatel. But that is not true — in Maria Hilf he married Wilhelmine Jarosch. That was probably what Richard Patscheider meant, but the text does not necessarily make this clear!