 Enthusiastic contact, coupled with a warm and open personality, made many friendships open to him all social classes; however, he paid special attention to the care and upbringing of children and adolescents to independent and mature personalities; dealing with them was uncomplicated and comradely ... ".According to contemporary witnesses, Maier was "a real buddy" , "a happy person” and an “accurate soccer player.”

With the abolition of religious instruction by the Nazi regime, Maier also lost his job as a teacher in 1938, but remained chaplain in the parish of Vienna-Gerstof-St. Leopold, deepened his theological studies and received his doctorate in July 1942 (second doctorate - theology).He then violated the orders of his ecclesiastical authorities in that he not only acted "purely as a pastoral" but also politically.