The South Tyrolean Unterland () or Bozen Unterland (''Bozner Unterland''; ) is a section of the

Etschtal The Etschtal, , is the name given to a part of alpine valley of the Adige in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, which stretches from Merano to Bolzano and from Salorno to Rovereto. South of Rovereto, the valley's name changes to Vallagarina, but ...

valley stretching from the regional capital

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

(Bozen) down the

Adige The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows through most of northeastern Italy ...

(Etsch) river to Tramin and

Salorno Salorno sulla Strada del Vino (; ) is the southernmost ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about southwest of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian-speaking municipalities in S ...

(Salurn). The area is known for its history, particularly regarding

Rhaetic Rhaetic or Raetic (), also known as Rhaetian, was a Tyrsenian language spoken in the ancient region of Rhaetia in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. It is documented by around 280 texts dated from the 5th through the 1st century BC ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, and Germanic archaeological sites; its

bilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

(

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

), and its

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

; the

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and which performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz ( ; although this is never the case in German, because mean ...

grape originated here. The region should not be confused with the

Tyrolean Unterland The Tyrolean Unterland () is that part of the Austrian state of Tyrol east of its capital city, Innsbruck, excluding East Tyrol. Extent and language The Tyrolean Unterland should not be confused with the Tyrolean Lower Inn Valley (''Tiroler Unt ...

in the

Austrian state Austria is a federal republic consisting of nine federal states. The European Commission calls them provinces. Austrian federal states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each federal state has representatives in ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

Geography

The Adige valley between the

Fiemme Mountains The Fiemme Mountains, sometimes also the Fleimstal Alps () or Fiemme Dolomites (), are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps in the Italian region of Trentino-South Tyrol. The range was named after the Fiemme Valley (Italian: ''Val di ...

in the east and the

Nonsberg Group The Nonsberg Group (, ) is a mountain range in South Tyrol and Trentino in Italy and part of the Southern Limestone Alps. A large part of the Nonsberg Group is formed by the Mendelkamm. Their highest peak is the Laugenspitze (). The Nonsberg Group ...

in the west is part of an important north-south transport route, traversed by the Brenner Autobahn (

Autostrada A22 The ''autostrade'' (; : ''autostrada'', ) are roads forming the Italy, Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about , as of 30 July 2022. There are also 13 motorway spur routes, which extend for . Most of the ...

, part of the

European route E45 European route E45 connects Norway and Italy, through Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria. With a length of about , it is the longest north–south European route (some east–west routes are longer). The route passes through Alta ...

) and the

Brenner Railway The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...

line from

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

. The South Tyrolean Unterland comprises the valley municipalities of

Auer Auer may refer to: People * Auer (surname) Places and rivers ; Germany: * Auer (Odenwald), a river in the Hessian Odenwald * Auer Bach, a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, tributary of the Wupper * Auer Mühlbach, a river in Bavaria, branch of t ...

Bronzolo Bronzolo (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol. Geography As of 30 November 2 ...

, Kurtatsch, Kurtinig,

Laives Laives (; ) is a town and a (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol, and the fourth largest municipality in the ...

, Margreid, Montan, Neumarkt,

, Tramin, and

Vadena Vadena (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about southwest of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol. Geography As of November 30, 2010, it had ...

as well as the mountain communities of

Aldein Aldein (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. Aldein borders the following municipalities: Bronzolo, Montan, Deutschnofen, Auer, South Tyrol, Auer, Trude ...

Altrei Altrei (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography Altrei is the only South Tyrolean municipality in the Fiemme Valley of the Southern Limestone Alps, located about south of Bolzano half-way t ...

in the

Fiemme Valley 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

, and Truden. Neumarkt usually rates as the chief town of the Unterland area, though the largest settlement is Laives (Leifers). The adjacent municipalities of Eppan and Kaltern in the west, beyond the Mitterberg massif, form the separate

Überetsch The Überetsch (; ) is a hilly section of the Etschtal in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It lies south-west of Bolzano and is a known tourist destination, famous for its wines, castles and lakes (Kalterer See, Montiggler Seen). The municipalities ...

area. Both are part of the South Tyrolean

Überetsch-Unterland Überetsch-Unterland ( ; ) is a district (; ) in the southern part of the Italy, Italian province of South Tyrol. It comprises the valley of the Adige river from Bolzano in the north to Salorno in the south. Overview The hilly Überetsch region, ...

district.

History

After the fall of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, the Adige valley south of Bolzano was gradually settled by Bavarian peasants from the 6th century onwards. By 800 AD, the border region with the Italian

Duchy of Tridentum The Duchy of Tridentum (Trent) was an autonomous Lombards, Lombard duchy, established by Euin during the Rule of the Dukes, Lombard interregnum of 574–584 that followed the assassination of the Lombard leader Alboin. The stronghold of Euin's ...

was incorporated in the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

duchy of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, which itself formed a constituent

stem duchy A stem duchy (, from '':wikt:Stamm, Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Baiuvarii, Bavarians and Alemanni, Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the Kingdom of Germany at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dyna ...

of the

German kingdom The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( 'kingdom of the Germans', 'German kingdom', "kingdom of Germany", ) was the mostly Germanic language-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The king was elec ...

and of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

from 962 onwards. In the 12th and 13th century, the

Counts of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised ...

continued to expand their dominant possession in the region and finally achieved independency from the Bavarian dukes as well as from the

prince-bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

s of Trent and

Brixen Brixen (; , ; or , ) is a town and communes of Italy, commune in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography Brixen is the third-largest city and oldest town in the province, with a population of nearly twenty-three t ...

. In 1363 the Tyrolean lands fell to the Austrian

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

. The Unterland area remained a transition zone between the German and

lands for centuries.Hannes Obermair: ''How to Record a Conflict? The Communities of the German Part of the Diocese of Trent during the Late Middle Ages.'' In: Marco Bellabarba, Hannes Obermair, Hitomi Sato (eds.): ''Communities and Conflicts in the Alps from the Late Middle Ages to Early Modernity.'' (Fondazione Bruno Kessler. Contributi/Beiträge. 30). Bologna-Berlin: Il mulino—Duncker & Humblot 2015. , pp. 101–118 (pp. 103–105). A distinct language border did not develop until

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

times; during rising 19th century

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

it was consolidated at the Adige narrow south of Salorno (''Salurner Klause'', ''Chiusa di Salorno''). When after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the Tyrolean lands up to Brenner Pass fell to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

according to the 1915 Treaty of London, the Italian authorities shifted the border northwards and from 1921 the entire Unterland area up to

belonged to the

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

province. The

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime in Italy decided to force the so-called mixed-language regions to be

Italianised Italianization ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is the spread of Italian culture, Italian language, language and Italian identity, identity by way of integration or Cultural assimilation, assimilation. It is also known for a process organized by the Kingdom of Ita ...

while German South Tyroleans insisted on the Salorno border (see ''

Bozner Bergsteigerlied The Bozner Bergsteigerlied () is one of the two unofficial hymns of the South Tyroleans, the other being the '' Andreas-Hofer-Lied''. Its lyrics were composed in 1926 by Karl Felderer in Moos am Ritten to the melody of an old Tyrolean craftsmen ...

'').

After the war, German-speaking activists again demanded the return of the Unterland to the South Tyrol province. On 30 May 1946 a large protest rally on the Castelfeder hill near Neumarkt was organised by the newly established

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (, SVP) is a regionalism (politics), regionalist and mostly Christian democracy, Christian-democratic list of political parties in South Tyrol, political party in South Tyrol, an Autonomous administrative divisio ...

(SVP). By the First Statute of Autonomy of South Tyrol in 1948, the Unterland was finally affiliated with the Bolzano province. Since 1975, the area is part of the South Tyrolean Überetsch-Unterland district.

Sources

* Südtiroler Kulturinstitut (publ.): ''Das Südtiroler Unterland'', Bozen: Athesia 1980. * Erich Egg: ''Kunst im Südtiroler Unterland'', Bozen ²1991.

References

.Gemeinde Kurtinig (Hrsg.): ''Kurtinig – Ein Dorf an der Sprachgrenze in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart'', Athesia Verlag 1998. {{Authority control Geography of South Tyrol Italian wine

Geography

History

Sources

See also

References