Hofer, ANDREAS, the patriot leader of the Tyrolese in 1809, was born at St Leonhard, in the valley of Passeier, on 22d November 1767. For a century and a half his forefathers had been landlords of the inn 'Am Sand.' Although little higher in the social scale than a peasant, his force of character was such that, when in 1809 he summoned the people of the Tyrolese valleys to arms to drive out the French and the Bavarians, they responded with alacrity and enthusiasm, eager to show their love for their emperor and the holy church. In seven weeks he twice defeated the Bavarians, twice expelled them from Innsbruck, and finally swept them clean out of the Tyrol. As the armistice concluded between Austria and France after the battle of Wagram left Tyrol and Vorarlberg out in the cold, the French again inundated their valleys with some 40,000 men. But again Hofer in eight days routed the foe and retook Innsbruck. For the next two months Hofer was the actual military governor and civil ruler of his native land. By the peace of Vienna (October 14) the emperor of Austria again left Tyrol and Vorarlberg at the mercy of his enemies. Hofer, after some hesitation as to the wisdom of submission, once more took up arms; but this time the French and Bavarians were too strong for him. They steadily subdued one valley after another; and Hofer, seeing that the struggle was hopeless, disbanded his followers and took refuge in the mountains in the end of November 1809. But two months later his hiding-place was betrayed to the French, and Hofer was captured on 27th January, carried to Mantua, tried by court-martial, and shot on 20th February 1810. The 'Sandwirth' or 'landlord of the Sand' still lives in the memory of his people, and is the hero of many patriotic ballads. His statue, by Schaller, stands in Innsbruck.
See Hormayr, Das Land Tirol (1845); Egger, Geschichte Tirols, vol. iii. (1880); and memoirs by Weidinger (3d ed. 1861), Heigel (1874), and Stampfer (1874).