page_title: Matthäus Hetzenauer
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Matthäus Hetzenauer / Early life
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Dekanatspfarrkirche von Brixen im Thale
context_page_description: Matthäus Hetzenauer was an Austrian sniper in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He served in the 3rd Mountain Division on the Eastern Front of World War II, and was credited with 345 kills. His longest confirmed kill was reported at 1,100 meters. Hetzenauer received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 April 1945.
context_section_description: Matthäus Hetzenauer was born on 23 December 1924 in the Austrian Tyrolean village of Brixen im Thale to Simon and Magdalena Hetzenauer, descendants of a long line of Austrian peasantry in the Kitzbühel region. He was baptized as a Catholic on Christmas Eve in the medieval parish church and was raised with his two brothers and sister on his parents’ farm above the village. Hetzenauer grew up surrounded by the long Tyrolen custom of hunting and hunters, such as the tale of Georg Jennerwein, his father was a hunter, and his uncle Josef was a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian Army who displayed his medals, including an Iron Cross, in a display case. With this backdrop, Hetzenauer was drafted in September 1942 at age 17 into the 140th Mountain Rifle Reinforcement Battalion based at Kufstein.
caption: Brixen im Thale's parish deanery, where Hetzenauer spent much of his youth.
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