Tyrol
Tyrol, or Tirol, is a historical region in Western Central Europe, which includes the Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East Tyrol) and the Italian region known as Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
Prehistory
In prehistory the region was home to a series of autochthonous cultures occupying
roughly the area of the later county of Tyrol. The most prominent are the late
Bronze Age Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno and Iron Age Fritzens-Sanzeno cultures.
The Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno culture, named after two important archaeological
sites near the modern-day town of Brixen/Bressanone in South Tyrol, appears
in the 14th century BC in the area of todays South Tyrol and Trentino, while
the northern part of Tyrol comes under the influence of the Urnfield Culture.
It is characterized by a particular type of richly decorated pottery, while
the metal-working is strongly influenced by adjacent cultures. The people of
the Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno culture cremated the dead and placed their ashes
in urns, and worshipped their gods in sanctuaries sometimes placed in remote
areas, on mountain-tops or close to water.
Around 500 BC the Fritzens-Sanzeno-culture, also known as culture of the Rhaetics,
after the goddess Rhaetia who according to roman authors was the main deity
of the people inhabiting the region, succeeds both the Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno
culture of the southern and the Urnfield culture of the northern part of Tyrol.
As in the preceding culture, the richly ornamented pottery is very characteristic,
while many aspects such as the metal-working, burial customs and religion are
strongly influenced by its neighbours, mainly the Etruscans and Celts. Nonetheless,
the Fritzens-Sanzeno-people possessed important cultural traits which clearly
distinguish them from adjacent groups, such as the typical mountain-sanctuaries
already in use during the time of the Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno-Culture, certain
types of fibulae, bronze armor, and an own alphabet derived from the etruscan.
Antiquity
The extent of the Roman Empire under Trajan (117)In 15 BCE the region was conquered
by the romans and its northern and eastern part where incorporated into the
Roman Empire as the province of Raetia and Noricum respectively, while the part
south of and including the area around the modern day cities of Meran/Merano
and Bozen/Bolzano became part of Italia's Regio X. As in the rest of Europe,
the Roman era left deep marks in the culture and in the language (see: Rhaeto-Romance
languages).
According to a more recent and controversial theory, the Rhaeto-Romance languages
are autochthonous and date back to before the roman conquest (see: Paleolithic
Continuity Theory).
Middle Ages and early modern era
From the 6th to the 9th century, the region was settled by the Bavarii and the
Langobards. As part of the Frankish Empire and later the Holy Roman Empire the
region had a strategic importance as a bridgehead to Italy as the southern part
of the duchy of Bavaria.
Tyrol, incorporated into the southern part of the Duchy of Bavaria during the
Early Middle Ages, consisted largely of ecclesiastical holdings of the Bishops
of Brixen and Trento. Over the centuries, the Counts residing in Castle Tyrol,
near Merano, extended their territory over much of the region and came to surpass
the power of the bishops, who were nominally their feudal lords. Later counts
came to hold much of their territory directly from the Holy Roman Emperor. The
Meinhardinger family, originating in Gorizia, held not only Tyrol and Gorizia,
but for a time also the Duchy of Carinthia.
1363/1369 the Wittelsbach released the country for Habsburg when Margarete Maultasch, lacking any descendants to succeed her, bequeathed Tyrol to Duke Rudolph IV of House of Habsburg. From that time onwards, Tyrol was ruled by various lines of the Habsburg family, who held the title of the Count of Tyrol (see List of rulers of Austria).
The red eagle in Tyrol's coat of arms is derived from the red Brandenburg eagle at the time when Louis V, Duke of Bavaria and Margarete Maultasch governed Brandenburg as well.
Napoleonic Wars and 19th century
Following defeat by Napoleon in 1805, Austria was forced to cede Tyrol to the
Kingdom of Bavaria in the Peace of Pressburg. Tyrol as a part of Bavaria became
a member of the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806. The Tyroleans, known to
be an obstinate and proud people, rose up against the Bavarian authority and
succeeded twice in defeating Bavarian and French troops trying to retake the
country. Austria lost the war of the Fifth Coalition against France, and got
even harsher terms in the Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809. Often glorified
as Tyrol's national hero, Andreas Hofer, the leader of the uprising, was executed
in 1810 in Mantua, having lost a third and final battle against the French and
Bavarian forces. Tyrol remained divided under Bavarian and Italian authority
for another four years before being reunified and returned to Austria following
the decisions at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Integrated into the Austrian
Empire, from 1867 onwards it was a Kronland [Crown Land] of Cisleithania, the
western half of Austria-Hungary.
Tyrol is also known for some of the finest snow skiing in Europe. Some
famous resorts in the Tyrolean Alps include Kitzbühel, Wilder Kaiser, Ischgl,
and St. Anton, home of the world's first ski school founded by Hannes Schneider.
The Tyrol Gröstl is a traditional food which contains potatoes and pieces of cut pork browned lightly together with chopped onion and butter in a frying pan. It is spiced with abundant marjoram, plus salt, pepper, caraway and parsley. Gröstl is often served with fried egg and herbs, sheet or rohnensalat (beetroot).
"The Green Hills Of Tyrol" is a popular bagpiping tune, as a 3/4
retreat march. It is one of the best known, and oldest tunes played by pipe
bands. It was originally transposed by Pipe Major MacLean in Crimea, during
the Crimean War.
