German nationalism in Austria Austria falls and is swallowed up by Germany will mark the beginning of European chaos." The Austrofascist party, Fatherland Front, would echo the sentiments of Mussolini, and continue to struggle for an independent Austria. Nazis in both Germany and Austria intended that the German Reich would quickly annex Austria, the homeland of its leader, Adolf Hitler. They attempted to bribe many low-ranking Heimwehr leaders, and also attempted to bring Starhemberg into their fold, in effect merging the Heimwehr with the Nazi Freikorps. Gregor Strasser, an early, prominent Nazi figure, was charged with this effort. When Starhemberg, a fervent believer in
Berndorf, Lower Austria not even spared the forces of nature. The floods in 1939 and 1944 were the most destructive floods in the history of the Triesting river. When the war had ended, the metal company was confiscated by the Soviet Army and incorporated into the USIA. In 1957, it was given back to the State of Austria and merged with the "Vereinigte Aluminiumwerke Ranshofen (VAW)". Because of financial problems of the socialised industries in the 1980s, the Berndorf consortium was spun off and passed into private hands. The annual theatre festival takes place in the municipal theatre of Berndorf every summer. Berndorf,