Department for External Church Relations
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Bishop Alexy of Vienna and Austria celebrates memorial service for an unknown soldier of the Red Army in Herzogenburg
DECR Communication Service, 08/12/2025
On 2nd December 2025, a reburial of the remains of an unknown soldier of the Red Army, discovered in the territory of the Oberndorf in der Ebene community, took place in Herzogenburg, Lower Austria.
According to available information, the remains belong to a soldier who died in April 1945 during the liberation of the region. Among the discovered objects were fragments of a uniform and footwear, a belt buckle and lapel pins bearing the inscriptions ‘Guards’ and ‘USSR Parachutist,’ of 1931 version. The hero has not been identified yet, website of the Diocese of Vienna and Austria reports.
Taking part in the reburial ceremony were senior officials and other staff members of the Russian Embassy and Russia’s permanent missions to the international organizations in Vienna and to the OSCE, as well as the Russian delegates to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security, representatives of the Embassies of the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan in Austria, members of staff of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation, along with representatives of local authorities and non-governmental organizations.
At the invitation of the organizers, prior to the reburial ceremony Bishop Alexy of Vienna and Austria celebrated a memorial service for the fallen soldier.
Oberndorf and Herzogenburg were liberated by the Soviet troops on 14th April 1945, which marked an important step towards the seizure of the city of Sankt Pölten – the key transport and defence centre of the German troops at the time.
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