Matthias Spanlang

Due to his talent, he passed the Abitur after attending elementary school and the Petrinum college in Linz.

[3] When meetings of Austrian National Socialists were held in Sankt Martin in 1931, Spannlang made himself unpopular in these circles through his sermons and newspaper articles.

According to the report of a later released fellow prisoner, the Cistercian religious Konrad Just, Spanlang was taken to the detention bunker together with the priest Otto Neururer because both had carried out spiritual acts forbidden in the camp – in this case baptizing a fellow prisoner into the Catholic faith.

According to Konrad Just, Neururer was hung naked and upside down on his feet until after 34 hours death occurred in agony, as a result of excessive blood rush in the head.

[5] In 1996, Otto Neururer was beatified by Pope John Paul II, but not Father Matthias Spanlang, as there is no certainty about the circumstances of his death.