© europics.at

17. 12. 09. - 16:00

• more Panorama news
• RSS Feed Panorama

17. 12. 09. - 16:00

Fritzl may receive Christmas blessing

By Thomas Hochwarter

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could be given a Christmas blessing from a local bishop, it has emerged.

Vienna newspaper Heute reports today (Thurs) Sankt Pölten Bishop diocesan bishop Klaus Küng is to bless inmates at a traditional Christmas mass at the grim Stein prison in Krems, Lower Austria where Fritzl is being held.

It is unclear whether Fritzl will go to the mass or not, but if he does, like other prisoners, he will receive the bishop’s blessing.

The daily reported the mass will be held on 22 December for organisational reasons, adding that fried salmon and potato salad were for dinner on 24 December at Stein jail.

Fritzl will also, along with other inmates, get special privileges on the day with prisoners allowed to sleep-in on 24 December instead of being woken as normal at 7am. They will then be allowed to play billiards or table soccer.

Fritzl, 74, is serving a life sentence after he kept his daughter Elisabeth jailed in a dungeon beneath his family home in Amstetten and repeatedly raped her and fathered seven children by her, one of which he let die when it was born with breathing complications.

According to latest reports he does little other than stare at the walls in his one-man cell all day at the jail.

Security measures on the wing where Fritzl is being kept were reportedly upped amid fears other prisoners were planning to kill him.

Claims that Fritzl might consider committing suicide were however recently dismissed by a leading psychiatrist.

Adelheid Kastner – who was assigned to determine Fritzl’s psychological state ahead of his trial – said: "Fritzl crossed so many borders but he has some nevertheless. He would never commit suicide as he has got certain ideas of justice. He now wants to take responsibility for his crimes."

Kastner, who recently released a book about fathers who abuse their children called "Täter - Väter. Väter als Täter am eigenen Kind" (Offenders – Fathers), also rubbished Fritzl’s claims he acted purely based on a horrible childhood shaped by a cruel mother, stressing he "always had the choice" what to do with his life.

"He was not insane at any point," she added.

Austrian Times

Related articles: quirky Austria

1. Doctor burglarises patients' homes

   » General News 2010-03-16

   A trainee doctor who broke into his patients’ homes and nicked their belongings while they were in hospital was arrested, police announced today (Tues).

2. Austrian elite forces join international 'parachuting dogs' training

   » Panorama 2010-03-16

   Austrian soldiers have taken part in an international military exercise parachuting with explosives sniffing dogs.

3. Austrian men have the most sex partners

   » Panorama 2010-03-15

   Austrian men have the most sex partners in the world, according to the British newspaper The Sun.

4. Three injured when hayloft collapses

   » General News 2010-03-15

   Three people were seriously injured Saturday night when a hayloft hosting a party collapsed, sending two of them plunging four metres to the floor, police said yesterday (Sun).

5. Fire door foils robbers in Burgenland

   » Panorama 2010-03-15

   Hapless burglars who wanted to break into a store in Mattersburg, Burgenland, were foiled Friday night by a fire-protection door they could not open, police said today (Mon).

6. Dead man walking - suspected suicide found alive in monastery

   » Panorama 2010-03-15

   A 68-year-old Vienna man thought to have committed suicide in Croatia to escape charges of sexually abusing his daughter has been found alive and well at a monastery in Upper Austria, the Federal Crime Office (BK) said t [...]

7. Drunk driver crashes onto railway track

   » General News 2010-03-12

   A drunk female driver wound up on a railway track in Tyrol’s Schwaz district early this morning (Fri) after losing control of her car, police said.

8. Migratory birds forced back by harsh winter

   » Panorama 2010-03-12

   Migratory birds that left Lake Constance in western Austria for breeding areas in the north have returned to the lake because of the long winter, according to expert Harald Jacoby.

9. Oscar winner Waltz has sex with a phone in TV sketch

   » Panorama 2010-03-12

   Austrian Oscar winner Christoph Waltz simulated having sex with objects for a sketch on American television.

10. Nurse goes loopy at Linz General Hospital

    » General News 2010-03-12

    A nurse ran amok yesterday (Thurs) at Linz General Hospital (AKH), attacking her instructor after failing a further education course for the third consecutive time, police said.

Related articles: Fritzl

1. Fritzl fears murder plot

   » General News 2010-03-08

   Incest beast Josef Fritzl has had two prisoners transferred after he became convinced they were plotting to kill him, it has been claimed.

2. Fritzl's hair-raising pleas revealed

   » General News 2010-02-15

   Incest monster Josef Fritzl is begging his family for cash behind bars so he can afford special shampoo for his hair transplants.

3. Fritzl dungeon may be filled in

   » General News 2009-12-29

   The cellar prison in which incest beast Josef Fritzl held his daughter captive for 24 years may be filled in with concrete, it emerged today (Tues).

4. Fritzl may receive Christmas blessing

   » Panorama 2009-12-17

   Incest monster Josef Fritzl could be given a Christmas blessing from a local bishop, it has emerged.

5. Headline-hitting crime cases book by court reporter

   » Panorama 2009-11-10

   A veteran court reporter has released a book on Austria’s most spectacular crime cases of the past 20 years.

6. Fritzl not suicidal, shrink claims

   » General News 2009-11-03

   Incest monster Josef Fritzl will not commit suicide because he wants to "take responsibility" for his crimes, a leading psychiatrist has claimed.

7. 'Second Fritzl case' in Lower Austria

   » General News 2009-10-21

   A 60-year-old Lower Austrian has been arrested after his daughters claimed he molested them for years.

8. Rammstein reportedly sing about Fritzl case

   » Panorama 2009-10-16

   German scandal rock band Rammstein is set to cause controversy again as a new song allegedly deals with the incest case of Amstetten.

9. 'Croatia's Josef Fritzl' worked in Austria

   » General News 2009-10-15

   A man dubbed the "Croatian Josef Fritzl" has worked for an Austrian company, it has emerged.

10. ORF London correspondent on 'Brown-bashing' and reactions to 'Austrian cellar stories'

    » Panorama 2009-10-09

    The ORF’s UK correspondent has revealed why working in the "city jungle" of London is like a dream come true for her.

Zumtobel reports worse results
Vorarlberg lighting firm Zumtobel has reported worse results for the first three quarters of its 2009/2010 business year (1 May to 30 April).

Special security measures for Austrian poker tournament
Austrian police will take special security measures at this month’s European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament following the robbery at an international poker tournament in Berlin earlier this month.

Soaring fuel prices avoid more drastic inflation decrease
Inflation in Austria dropped slightly last month, federal statistics agency Statistik Austria said today (Tues).

Back seat passengers in seat belt warning
One third of back seat car passengers in Austria do not use seat belts, according to the Committee for Traffic Safety (KfV).

Erste Bank Austria chief to retire early
Erste Bank in Austria announced today (Tues) that its General Director Elisabeth Bleyleben-Koren would retire on 30 June 2010 even though her contract expires in mid-2012.

Five Romanians arrested for robbery in Upper Austria
Police arrested five Romanians suspected of having injured and robbed a car dealer yesterday (Mon) in Ansfelden in Upper Austria’s Linz-Land district.

New season begins at Vienna's Prater
The new season kicks off at Vienna’s Prater amusement park with the popular Schweizerhaus restaurant expanding its beer garden and installing a 117 metre high tower near the entrance setting the theme for "Vienna in 1900".

Minister makes U-turn on asylum seekers
People’s Party (ÖVP) Interior Minister Maria Fekter has said for the first time that Austria might not need a third asylum seekers’ centre - a move seen by many as being a policy U-turn.

Vienna electricity outage lasts one hour
A defective cable caused an electricity outage in Vienna-Leopoldstadt this morning (Tues) for about one hour, said energy supplier Wien Energie.

Palfrader and Scheuba to get the dirty job done at Volkstheater
An acclaimed cabaret stage show featuring TV star Robert Palfrader will be performed at the Volkstheater Vienna this Saturday.