With National Socialism, many political positions and posts in the public service were reassigned. The cult of the Führer and the ideology of the National Socialist Party were structurally cemented at all levels. Innsbruck's mayor Franz Fischer was replaced by Egon Denz upon the takeover of power. Edmund Christoph likewise replaced Governor (Landeshauptmann) Josef Schumacher (1894–1971) overnight, before Franz Hofer (1902–1975) took his place as Gauleiter in May 1938, becoming Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) from 1940. The young, ambitious careerist stands as a representative for many who made careers under National Socialism. Hofer was born in Bad Hofgastein in the province of Salzburg. His father, himself a staunch German nationalist, came to Innsbruck in 1909 to take over the Gasthof Breinößl. Hofer completed his schooling in Innsbruck before running a radio shop. As early as 1931, he became a member of the NSDAP in Austria. After a short time, he rose to Gauleiter—a title that initially brought him more trouble than credit. Following the ban on the party in Austria, Hofer was imprisoned, but was freed by members of the SA. Shot while fleeing to Italy, he subsequently traveled to the Altreich (Old Reich), where he became a German citizen and launched a rapid career within the party. After the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria, the loyal Hofer was appointed Gauleiter of Tyrol and Vorarlberg by Hitler's decree on May 24, 1938, and two years later as Reich Governor of Tyrol-Vorarlberg. His plans were as ambitious as his title, as Tyrol provided fertile ground for National Socialism. Relative to population size, no other district in the Ostmark had more party members than this one. By 1939, Hofer was already close to his goal of establishing the first completely 'Jew-free' Gau. A year later, only one Jew remained registered in Tyrol. Furthermore, Hofer enriched himself lavishly on a personal level with Aryanized property. In this way, he acquired the Villa Schindler—formerly belonging to the operator of the Café Schindler at Rennweg 10—as well as the Lachhof in Kleinvolderberg near Innsbruck, where he established a type of command center outside the city. The anti-Catholic Hofer also took severe action against church organizations; the Wilten Boys' Choir (Wiltener Sängerknaben) was as much a thorn in his side as the ubiquitous depictions of Mary in Innsbruck. Socialist and communist organizations played no role in Tyrolean society, posing less of a threat than stubborn Catholics. All religious orders were closed, and Catholic youth groups and associations were integrated into the National Socialist system. Between 1938 and 1945, 119 out of 570 priests were taken into custody at least once; eleven were executed or did not survive the conditions of their imprisonment. When Italy came under complete German control in 1943, Hofer took his next career step. He was appointed Supreme Commissioner of the Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills (Operationszone Alpenvorland), which comprised Tyrol-Vorarlberg and the Northern Italian provinces. It was also Franz Hofer who conceived the idea for the so-called 'Alpine Fortress' (Alpenfestung), the final bastion of the German people against the enemy. On April 12, 1945, less than a month before the end of the war, he presented this proposal in person to Adolf Hitler, who subsequently appointed him Reich Defense Commissioner of the Alpine Fortress.

When all hope was lost and the final dreams of an Alpine resistance stronghold collapsed, Hofer proved to be remarkably adaptable to changing circumstances. Following negotiations with the advancing Allied forces, Innsbruck was surrendered without resistance as an open city on 3 May 1945, thereby sparing it from the devastating battles that marked the final days of the war in many other places. Only a few days earlier, however, Hofer had still presented himself, at least outwardly, as a committed National Socialist. This is evident from a radio address he delivered on 30 April 1945:

"However, should the enemy, despite heroic fighting, be at the gates of Innsbruck, a defence of the Gau capital under the given circumstances would by no means save the worst, but rather destroy the last.... But we want to claw our way into our mountains all the more tenaciously..."

Hofer was arrested a few days later. In October 1948, he managed to escape from the internment camp at Dachau and flee to Germany, where he went into hiding in Mülheim an der Ruhr under a false name. It has never been conclusively proven, but it is entirely possible that American and British intelligence services assisted their former adversary in escaping. Such assistance may have been motivated by a desire to protect their own methods and networks that had been used against National Socialism in Tyrol and were now being deployed against the Soviet Union. Had Hofer stood trial, these activities might well have become public knowledge. In 1949, a court in Munich sentenced him in absentia to ten years in prison. In July 1953, this judgment was upheld in Munich, although the sentence was reduced to three years. Since the time he had already spent in custody was credited toward the sentence, Hofer remained a free man. In Austria, meanwhile, a court sentenced him to death in 1949. However, this sentence was never enforced, and no criminal prosecution followed. Among Hofer’s supporters were Johannes Baptist Geisler, Bishop of Brixen, and Alfons Weißgatterer, Governor of Tyrol. In legal proceedings held in Innsbruck in 1950, his assets were confiscated by the Republic of Austria. From 1954 onward, Hofer lived openly under his real name in Germany. He managed the company Ruhr Armatur GmbH, a supplier of sanitary equipment. Although legal proceedings were initiated concerning his involvement in Aktion T4 in Tyrol, the Nazi programme of the “destruction of life unworthy of life,” the case was ultimately dismissed in 1963. In a sense, Tyrol remained loyal to its former Gauleiter even after his emigration and until his death. Hofer had always been an admirer of Tyrolean traditions. As Gauleiter, he promoted folk music, traditional costumes, and the Tyrolean riflemen’s associations (Schützen). While these organizations were officially dissolved in 1938, under Hofer they were reorganized into the Standschützenverband. The conductor of the Wilten-Innsbruck Town Band, Sepp Tanzer, whom Hofer appointed head of the Department of Folk Music within the Reich Music Chamber, composed the Standschützen March in his honour. When Hofer was buried in Mühlhausen thirty years after the end of the war, a delegation of Tyrolean riflemen attended the funeral to pay their final respects. The Tyrolean Government Building (Tiroler Landhaus), which remains the seat of the Tyrol provincial government to this day, was constructed during Hofer’s rule and stands as a lasting architectural reminder of the Gauleiter of Tyrol.