Matthias Wißhofer

Matthias Wißhofer (also Wieshofer, Wießhofer, Wishofer and Wisshofer; 1752, Kössen - 23 September 1819, St. Johann in Tirol) was an Austrian freedom fighter, clergyman and pastor.

In the course of the Tyrolean Rebellion (1809), during heavy fighting on the Pass Strub [de], he offered his life to the Bavarian Field Marshal, Karl Philipp von Wrede, in an effort to obtain mercy for the resistance fighters and prevent the destruction of St. Johann.

The poetry collection, Bilder und Sagen (Pictures and Legends, 1889), contains a poem dedicated to him, by Bartholomäus Del Pero [de].

To mark the centenary of the Tyrolean resistance, a monument to Wißhofer him was constructed on St. Johann's main square.

The base in inscribed "Erretter aus Feindesnot" (roughly, Savior from Enemy Persecution, after Psalm 7).