Memorial and plaque for the forced workers of the Tauernkraftwerks Kaprun (Heidnische Kirche)

Between 1959 and 1960, the Heidnische Kirche (Pagan Church) on the Mooserboden was built according to the plans of the German sculptor Josef Magnus. With a height of over ten meters, the monument commemorates more than 6,300 forced laborers and civilian foreign workers as well as approximately 4,000 prisoners of war who were compelled to work under inhumane conditions on the construction of the Kaprun Power Plant complex. In total, over 1,200 forced laborers lost their lives during the construction process between 1940 and 1945. The plaque, installed on the monument in September 2003, remembers these people. The plaque is the result of long-term research by a commission of historians on the construction of the Kaprun Power Plant complex. Initial plans for building a power plant in the High Tauern existed already during the interwar period, but these were never realized. After the "Anschluss" in March 1938, the National Socialists took up these plans; the existing energy reserves were to be used for the war and armaments economy. The foundation stone – laid by Hermann Göring – was already placed in May 1938; the planned construction period was ten years. Death cases occurred repeatedly, triggered by avalanches or rockfalls; however, accidents due to inadequate equipment and the poor physical condition of the workers were also not uncommon. The Kaprun Power Plant complex was completed in 1955 and is today regarded as a symbol of the post-Second World War reconstruction of the Republic. However, the inhumane Nazi forced labor and the resulting deaths and murders are nevertheless erased and forgotten.