Andreas Oxner

Anderl Oxner von Rinn, also known as Andreas Oxner, is a Blessed of the Roman Catholic Church. The three-year-old boy had been ritually murdered by the Jews in the village of Rinn.

Tale

The tale of the Anderl's ritual murder, known as Der Judenstein, is largely part of a Tyrolian oral tradition and only a few written versions exist. It was recorded by the Grimm Brothers in Deutsche Sagen.

In 1752, Pope Benedict XIV beatified Anderl, but in 1755 refused to canonize him and stated that the Roman Church did not formally venerate him.
Popular theatrical performances based on the writings of Guarinoni were performed until 1954 and facilitated the spread of the blood libel legend. The Brothers Grimm revived the tale in 1816 when they published the first volume of their German legends. In 1893, a book appeared, Four Tyrolian Child Victims of Hassidic Fanaticism by Viennese priest Josef Deckert.
The cult of Anderl von Rinn persisted in Austria until the 1990s. In 1985, Bishop of Innsbruck Reinhold Stecher ordered the body transferred from the church to the churchyard of Judenstein, and forbade his cult in 1994. Some ultra-conservative Christians still make a procession to his grave every year.