I am going to be leading walks for
HF Holidays at two resorts in the South Tyrol over the next couple of months so I thought I'd do a bit of research into the area. It is the most northerly province in Italy and was once
part of the Hapsburg and then Austro-Hungarian Empires. Consequently about 60% of the
population speak German as their first language, 20% speak Italian and
4% Ladin. Also, according to a poll conducted in 2013, 46% of the
population still favour secession from Italy. It is an unusual and interesting place in many ways.
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| A photograph I took when I last visited the Dolomites in the South Tyrol |
History
At the start of the First World War, the Italian Government remained neutral because they were members of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. This was created in 1882 and was purely defensive; based on each country supporting the others if any of them were attacked. The most likely attacker at the time was France and, going for a belt and braces strategy, Italy had signed a similar defensive guarantee with France in 1902.
There remained mutual suspicion between Italy and Austria-Hungary and this was exploited by Britain, France and Russia when they signed a pact with Italy called the London Treaty. These countries promised Italy large areas of Austria-Hungary if Italy left the Triple Alliance and declared war against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The territories promised in the London Treaty were; The Tyrol (North,
South and East), Trentino to the South of it, and areas along the East
coast of the Adriatic Sea. The pact was supposed to have been kept
secret but the Bolsheviks spoiled the party by publishing it in 1917
following the Russian Revolution.
When Italy entered the war, Austria’s troops were heavily committed in Russia so the Austrians withdrew to create a defensive line that ran through the Tyrol and the Dolomites. A ferocious battle took place in the mountains up until the end of 1917 for the control of the peaks. Ropes, ladders and tunnels were used to allow troops to move around quickly. These became known as Via Ferrata when they were later replaced by iron structures and it started a new trend in rock climbing.
After the war, British and French leaders reneged on the deal even though the Italian army had occupied all of the Tyrol including Innsbruck. Only the South Tyrol and Trentino were given to Italy, along with some areas alongside the Adriatic.
The vast majority of people in the South Tyrol spoke German as their first language and they wanted to be re-united with Austria. Their currency was changed and attempts were made to persuade them that they would be better off as Italians.
To a limited extent they were allowed to continue with their customs and culture until the Fascists seized power in 1922. The Fascist regime instituted an assimilation policy, insisting on the exclusive use of Italian in public offices and the closure of most German schools. They also introduced incentives to encourage people to move there from other areas of Italy.
In 1939 Hitler and Mussolini decided to offer the inhabitants a choice between moving to Germany-Austria and becoming German citizens, or staying in Italy and accepting that they were Italian. The population was divided, with the majority leaving, most of whom were - in fact - resettled in Germany-Poland.
After the war the people who had gone to Poland were either murdered or sent back to the South Tyrol. It was hoped that the South Tyrol would be re-united with the rest of the Tyrol but this was not to be. Even though the German, Italian and Ladin languages were all recognized and taught in schools, many South Tyroleans were still very unhappy about still being in Italy.
An organisation called the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee blew up and set fire to some public buildings, Italian fascist monuments and electricity pylons. After their leaders were arrested they became involved with Austrian and German neo-Nazis and in 1967 they ambushed Italian Security Forces killing four of them.
After poor handling of the situation by both the Italian and Austrian governments for many years, an agreement was eventually signed between the two nations in 1969 stating that all disputes in South Tyrol would be settled at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and that the province would be given greater autonomy within Italy. This agreement allowed the area to keep a very high percentage of taxes and the province of South Tyrol is now the wealthiest in Italy and attracts large numbers of Tourists who mainly come to enjoy the mountains.
The most famous South Tyrolean is more than 5,000 years old and lived during the Stone Age. Nicknamed
Ötzi the Iceman, he was discovered in 1991 in a glacier with many of his clothes and much of his hunting equipment still intact. The mummy can be seen in the archaeological museum in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol.
Economy
The economy consists of artisans, services, industry and agriculture. There is lower unemployment than anywhere else in Italy and a higher GDP per capita. It is mainly small and medium sized businesses, many of which are family run that generate this income.
There is a system of proportional representation between German, Italian and Ladin speaking populations when it comes to allocating public office jobs. The Brenner Pass carries a huge amount of traffic between Italy and Austria and is famous for its traffic jams and the consequent pollution. The EU, Austria and Italy are currently funding the construction of The Brenner Base Tunnel to transfer freight traffic from the road to the railway. It is currently expected to be finished in 2028. When the tunnel is connected to the Innsbruck bypass tunnel, it will be 64 kilometres long, making it the longest underground railway tunnel in the world!
Most tourists are German (almost half) and Italian (over a third) but the South Tyrol also attracts people from Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Britain. About 60 percent visit in the summer and winter brings more than a third of the revenue. There are over 1,000 km of ski runs, 400 lifts and 13,000 km of hiking trails.
Many visitors are fascinated by the world of South Tyrol’s farmers. Every year, about 1,700 people, mostly German, come to the South Tyrol on voluntary work assignments in order to experience what life is like today on a mountain farm; where dairy farming, fruit growing (especially apples), and cultivating grapes for wine predominate.
Geology
The Alps were formed about 30 million years ago when the African and Euroasian Tectonic plates were pushed together and the African plate was pushed over the European plate. During the Ice Ages the area was repeatedly covered and then uncovered by snow and ice. The erosion this caused along with erosion by rivers created the landscape we see today.
The most interesting area of the South Tyrol from a geological perspective is the area to the East known as the Dolomites. They are named after the scientist Déodat de Dolomieu who discovered the mineral called Dolomite, which is Calcium Magnesium Carbonate - CaMg(CO
3)
2. The Dolomite Mountains are made of limestone but they contain a high percentage of this mineral.
The rock making up the Dolomites began to be formed about 250 million years ago, between the Permian and the Triassic geological periods. This corresponded with the most severe extinction of life in the history of the planet. About 96% of all marine species became extinct, as well as 70% of terrestrial vertebrates!
Consequently the mountains are key to understanding the way that life recovered from this event. In fact three of the subdivisions of the Triassic period are named after areas within the Dolomites: Ladinian, Fassanian and Cordevolian.
In the early Triassic, a large number of organisms developed that needed light to live. They began to build reefs in order to keep pace with the progressive lowering of the sea bed. They created an archipelago of islands with atolls and lagoons by extracting mineral salts from the sea and using them to build their skeletons.
Later this was transformed into the Dolomite mineral through the addition of magnesium, found in seawater. Scientists are still not sure how this happens and it is known as ‘The Dolomite Problem’. The region was affected by volcanic eruptions that often buried the reefs and fossilized them. There was then another period of reef building before land erosion covered the area in layers of fine mud. Some dinosaur footprints have been found in this mud.
The area was once again covered by sea. Red limestone - full of ammonites, belemnites and nodules of iron and manganese were deposited. Another great extinction followed as the dinosaurs and the ammonites were wiped out. The African Continent began to drift north into the European Continent. The Alps Mountain Range was created and The Dolomites were pushed up and exposed by erosion.
The Dolomites are famous for the way that they change colour at dawn and dusk to look pink, orange and sometimes even violet. This effect is known as Enrosadira and it is as a result of the Dolomite minerals in the rocks. Enrosadira is a Ladin word that means “turning pink” and the effect can vary enormously depending on atmospheric conditions. There are also particular rock faces that are coloured all day. Small amounts of iron give the dolomite crystals a yellow to brown tint and a high manganese content turn them a rosy pink colour.
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| Photo of Enrosadira from dolomiti.org |
