Autonomous Province of Bolzano

Toponymy

The autonomous province of Bolzano is known under various names, due to the vicissitudes of the history.

the Province of Bolzano or Province of Bozen (this last form is less frequent in French),
the Haut-Adige (Adige Viola), name geographical of French origin (imposed during the occupation Napoleon ienne), referring to the sources of the Adige and imposed second once in Italian, by the fascistic Italian authorities and like official version by the province. The Constitution of Italy (Article 116) officially recognizes since the October 18th 2001 the two versions Viola-Adige / Südtirol .
the the Tyrol of the South (Südtirol), name which corresponds to the historical and geographical area of the Tyrol. The the Tyrol of North, the the Tyrol of the East and the Tyrol of the South constitute together a historical area of the the Tyrol (administrative unit of the Austria-Hungary before 1918),

Population

It has approximately: 470000 inhabitants, divided into 116 communes, whose principal ones are Bolzano (chief town), Merano, Bressanone, Brunico, Laives and Vipiteno.

The Haut-Adige , as the Vallée of Aoste is an officially multilingual area. In fact two thirds (69,4%) of the inhabitants are of native tongue German E and less than 5% of native tongue Ladin E of Dolomites. The italophones (26,3%) are concentrated especially in the chief town, Bolzano (all. Bozen ) and in the localities of Merano (all. Meran ), Bressanone (all. Brixen ), Laives (all. Leifers ) and Bronzolo (all. Branzoll ). The ladinophones (4,3%) especially in the Val Gardena (stable-lad. Gherdëina ) and in the Valley Badia.

In the autonomous province of Bolzano, the indication is entirely bilingual (German Italian/). In the municipalities of language Ladin E of the province, indication is largely trilingual (ladin/German/Italian).

Geography

The territory is irrigated by several rivers: the Adige (in German Etsch ), the Isarco (in German Eisack ), the Rienza (in German Rienz ), Passirio (all. Passeier ), Talvera (all. Talfer ), etc There exists also some Lac S, partly navigable for boats of small size: lakes of Resia (all. Reschensee ), lake of Caldaro (all. Kalterer See ), Lakes Monticol (all. Montiggler Seen ), Lake Braies (all. Pragser Wildsee ), Lake Varna (all. Vahrner See ).

It is bordering in north and the east on the Austria (the Tyrol and Salzburg), in the west of the Suisse, the south-east of the Venezia (Province of Belluno), in the south of the autonomous Province of Thirty ( Trentin ) and in the south-west (by the Col of Stelvio) of the Lombardy (Province of Sondrio).

The solid mass of the Dolomites which dominates Haut-Adige draws up its peaks with approximately 3 000 meters of altitude. These mountains consist of a particular calcareous rock, the Dolomie, identified at the XVIIIe century by a French geologist, Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, which left him its name. Each year, of the million tourists, carefree men of the regional problems, traverse this region, practitioner, according to the season, the ski or the climbing. They find there also the rest in comfortable country cottages with the foot of Dolomites.

Located at the borders of the German-speaking Switzerland and Austria, the Italian area of Trentin-Haut-Adige presents a tormented relief. Sprinkled in particular by the Adige river, it is a zone of alpine high mountains comprising several raised tops, like the Marmolada, culminating point of the Dolomites (3 342 meters). The forests succeed the mountain pastures it, offering to profusion larches, fir trees and rhododendrons. Particularly laughing, the valleys are essentially devoted to the cultures of apple, the grape and with the breeding.

Territorial organization

The 116 communes of this provinces gathered into eight communanutés:

Valley Venosta: Silandro,…
Burgraviato: Merano,…
Oltradige-Based Atesina/Überetsch-Unterland: Egna, Bronzolo/Branzoll, Laives, Ora, Terlano/Terlan, Appiano/Eppan, Caldaro (Haut-Adige)…
Bolzano/Bozen: formed only of common the homonym
Salto-Sciliar/Salten-Schlern: Ortisei, Renon, San Genesio Atesino, Sarentino…
Valley of Isarco: Bressanone,…
Alta Valle Isarco: Vipiteno,… Wipptal touches with the borders of Haut-Adige and the the Tyrol.
Valley Pusteria: Brunico,…

History

See also: History of Trentin-Haut-Adige

Haut-Adige was attached to the Italy at the end of the First World War, in 1919, pursuant to the Traité of Versailles. After a forced attempt at Italianization of the German-speaking population during the Fascism, the Italian République recognized in Haut-Adige a vast autonomy after the Second world war, accentuated starting from 1972 (second statute of autonomy).

Haut-Adige belongs to the rare disputed areas between the Romania (where Romance languages are practiced) and the Germania (where Germanic languages are practiced). The linguistic Frontière initial, which corresponded then roughly to the Limes of the Roman Empire, slightly moved back with the Moyen-âge in certain places (Flanders, Alsace, Suisse and the Tyrol). This slip is explained by a Bavarian colonization and partly lombarde which seems to go back to the year 1200. Haut-Adige was the cradle of poets who played a big role in the development of the German Langue like Oswald von Wolkenstein and Walter von der Vogelweide.

As from the 4th century, the Tyrol formed part, as the remainder of Italy of North, the Roman Holy roman Empire and, as from the year 1363, of the Austrian Empire of the Habsbourg, sharing the fate and the history of the Austria in an almost uninterrupted way until the end of the First World War.

The Tyrol fell some time to the hands from the French troops from Napoleon and its Bavarian allies. The hero of the armed struggle against the invaders, Andreas Hofer, shot with Mantoue, is a popular character of the Tyrol, as can the being Giuseppe Garibaldi for the Italians. Its Irrédentisme was often proposed at more recent times. The anthem of Andreas Hofer became the official anthem of the Tyrol.

Since 1919, it belongs to the Italy following the peace treaty of the First World War. Towards 1910, the inhabitants of language Italian of Haut-Adige was not less than 5%. Starting from 1922, Haut-Adige was subjected to an attempt (fallen through) at Italianization forced on behalf of the fascistic mode , which supported the Immigration since the other Italian areas and tried to impose the generalized use of the Italian language, especially by imposing a monolingual teaching in the schools, which, not only caused protests and rancour on behalf of the inhabitants of Haut-Adige of German language, but also caused the birth of a clandestine teaching, in the schools of the catacombs. In same time however, the bringing together between Hitler and Mussolini, and the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich (Anschluss) reduced the pressure of the Propagande, while cells Nazis, tolerated by Rome, proliferated in Haut-Adige.

In 1939, an agreement between the Nazi regime and the fascistic mode, interested for various reasons to move away the greatest possible number of Germans from the area, led to famous the Options , who transfer a good part of the inhabitants of Haut-Adige of German language, confronted with the fascistic pressures which chose to emigrate towards Third Reich, initially towards the grounds conquered in the East (Poland), tearing whole families between the “ Dableiber ” (those which decided not to betray their ground) and “ Optanten ” (those which decided not to betray their cultural identity).

After the September 8th 1943, in a context of collapse of the fascistic capacity in Italy, Haut-Adige was controlled directly by the authorities Nazis (they are the 600 days). This period supported the German language with the detriment of Italian. Many inhabitants of Haut-Adige of German language engaged in the S and the Gestapo, collaborated in persecutions against the Jews (the community of Merano was decimated) and in hunting for the Italian soldiers relaxed after the September 8th. Among the most inflexible guards of the Concentration camp of Bolzano - stage towards Mauthausen, Auschwitz, etc - were distinguished several inhabitants from German language, including women. Moreover individuals (Franz Thaler, Josef Mayr Nusser) or small groups, especially in the minority which had not chosen the Third Reich Nazi (the Dableiber ), courageously opposed the Nazifascisme by trying even straightforwardly the armed struggle.

At the time of the second after war, Haut-Adige was again returned to Italy. The Alliés imposed on Italy a treaty protection of the province ( Accord Of Gasperi-Gruber , September 5th 1946). This treaty italo-Austrian was the base of the resolution n° 1497 of the the United Nations which pressed urgently the two countries with “ to take again the negotiations with the objective to find a solution with all the divergences relating to the implementation of the agreement of Paris of September 5th, 1946 ”, insofar as, in fact, the Italian Gouvernement did not apply these agreements completely.

In the Years 1960, organized a terrorist movement aiming to the reunification of the Tyrol, BOTTOM (committee for the release of the Tyrol of the South). At the beginning, its actions were directed exclusively against the goods (monuments fascistic, electric lines) and not against the people.

Among the representatives more for the fight for the reunification there was Sepp Kerschbaumer and Georg Klotz which defended their cause in close coordination with the political authorities of Haut-Adige (charismatic the Silvio Magnago of the Südtiroler Volkspartei, president of the province) and of Austria (Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Minister for the Foreign affairs of the time and very popular chancellor thereafter).

Following the action of the Police officers and justice the fight hardens costing the life a score of people between the Italian police force, the Italian population and supposedly the resistance indigenous . The fight continued until final the Eighties.

During years, including by this terrorist activity or liberation struggle according to others, the territory obtained government of Rome a very broad and very comfortable autonomy (the last provincial budgets rose to approximately 7.000-8 000 billion liras per annum). It is about the most thorough statute of autonomy for a province in Europe (with that of Åland in Finland).

Haut-Adige today

With the release of last the activist tyrolienne, Karola Unterberger in 2003, one hopes that the hard historical bracket is definitively closed.

In spite of the overall positive exit of the events, much, not only the familiar ones, remember with pain but as with recognition, of the high price in life human, health, expropriations, exile and prison, as a number restricted, but always too high people in the two populations, in the police force Italian and Austrian, had to pay like contribution to the current peaceful and stable cohabitation under the statute of autonomy.

This autonomy is based on a rigid separation of the populations in the schools, on the obligation of the Bilinguisme for all the public employees, on the distribution of public employment proportionally to the importance of the linguistic groups.

In the last years of the 20th century and the first of XXIe century, one attends the progressive diffusion of an evil being of the population of Italian language (which passed from 35% to approximately 25%), with a completely unforeseeable later evolution.

The entry of Austria in the European Union and its adhesion with the Traité of Schengen involved a redeployment of the armed forces of the border between the two Tyrols towards the other areas of Italy. These troops being made up quasi exclusively of Italians, that strongly contributed to this phenomenon.

Among the objective causes of the discomfort of the Italian group, traditionally related to the Italian right wing (MSI initially, National alliance today) also the question of its political representation is registered. Since the recent adoption of the majority electoral system with double turn, in the communes of more than 15.000 inhabitants, the Italian right wing, even in the common to strong Italian majority like Bolzano, sees itself regularly exceeded by the left which profits from the German vote, more directed against the line than favorable to the left. The municipal councils which result from it are strongly conditioned by the local German minorities and not very representative of the linguistic group locally majority.

For some time, it seems that part of the population of German language of Haut-Adige included/understood the need for balancing the accounts of the past, adhesion with the Nazism, as that was done in Germany. However a rather recent scandal around the party “Union für Südtirol” and of the adviser Pöder shows that there is still a strong minority of extreme right-hand side. On her side the population of Italian language opposes the demolition few symbols Fascism, a such monument with the victory decorated with beams of lictors and faces of Duce.

Recent policy

The autonomous province of Bolzano is represented by the Council of the province made up of 35 advisers (legislative body) and by a Junte of the province (executive body, with a president and assessori , associated). At the time of the last elections (October 2003) the results were the following (between brackets, profits or losses compared to the elections of November 22nd, 1998):

Südtiroler Volkspartei (PLEASE), 167.347 v., 55,6%,21 advisers (=);
National alliance, 25.370 v., 8,4%,3 advisers (=);
Grüne Fraktion - Gruppo verde - Grupa Vërda, 23.701,7,9%,3 advisers (+ 1);
Union für Südtirol, 20.548 v., 6,8%,2 advisers (=);
Die Freiheitlichen, 15.122 v., 5%,2 advisers (+ 1);
Insieme has will sinistra - Pace E Diritti, 11.572 v., 3,8%,1 to advise (this list is an alliance of the Left Democrats with the SDI and communist Refondation);
Central-Margherita It - Unione autonomista, 11.180 v., 3,7%,1 to advise;
Forza Italia, 10.187 v., 3,4%,1 to advise;
Unitalia Iniziativa social, 4.497 v., 1 to advise (=);
Ladins, 4.109 v. (- 1);
Alternativa rosa - Alternate Enrosadira, 2.879 v.;
Left the Italian Communists, 2.613 v.;
League of North, 1.625 v.

At the time of the inaugural session of the November 18th 2003 were elected president of the provincial Council Richard Theiner (PLEASE) and vice-president Giorgio Holzmann (National alliance). One month exactly later, Theiner having been appointed provincial assessor (function incompatible with that of president), a new president was elected, Veronika Stirner Brantsch (PLEASE).

The provincial executive (Junta, in Italian Giunta ), of center-left, is chaired since 2003 by Luis Durnwalder (PLEASE) (also president of the area Trentin-Haut-Adige) with two vice-presidents, Otto Saurer (PLEASE) and Luisa Gnecchi (Unis on the left). The junta (eight other members) PLEASE includes/understands only elected officials except for the latter and of Luigi Cigolla, Union separatist.

Famous characters

Michael Gaismair
Kanonikus Michael Gamper
Lilli Gruber, journalist, présentarice of television, and appointed European, DS (Olivier)
Andreas Hofer
Silvius Magnago, president of the council of the province until in 1991
Reinhold Messner, climbing of the extreme and old Appointed European of the Greens (I Made green).
Peter Mitterhofer
Giorgio Moroder
Gustav Thöni, champion Italian of Ski
Shine Trenker, actor of the years 1940, famous in Germany and Austria, which was father at 80 years.
max Valier
Walther von der Vogelweide
Oswald von Wolkenstein
the musician Nikolaus Harnoncourt, grandson of the Count de Meran

Mountains and tourism

Schlern ( Sciliar ) (2563 m)
Rosengarten ( Catinaccio )
Dolomites
Latemar
Drei Zinnen ( Tre Summit di Lavaredo )
Zainggerberg

Thermal tourism

Merano

See too

Common of the province of Bolzano
Dolomiten and Viola Adige , two daily newspapers of the province.

External bonds

Official site of the autonomous province of tourist Bolzano
Gate
suedtirol.com

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