Franz Jägerstätter
Austrian martyr and conscientious objector (1907–1943)
Feast: 9 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
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.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- 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.