South Tyroleans

Southtyroleans are an ethnic group in the province of South Tyrol. South Tyroleans speak South Tyrolean language or Ladin. About 30% of people who live in South Tyrol speak Italian. This group of immigrants was lured with economic subsidies and subsidised housing in the Italianisation campaign of Fascist Italy after the illegal annexation in 1919.

The language South Tyrolean is inside South Bavarian.

History

The name Tyrol comes from the castle Tirol in Dorf Tirol in Vinschgau. The Tyroleans saw themselves always as an own identity in the Habsburg Empire. Before 1919 a whole Tyrolean identity existed. After the annexation the Fascist regime oppressed South Tyroleans by Italianisation of names, place names and ban on the mother tongue. The South Tyroleans were expropriated and several 70,000 Italians were settled. Today they are the majority in the cities of Bozen and Meran.

Identity

There are 3 main groups of peoples which live in South Tyrol:

A "Volksgruppe" (Group of Folks) is defined as:

"The FUEN (Federal Union of European Ethnic Groups) defines the status of an ethnic group as follows: "An ethnic group ethnic group [...] is an ethnic community characterised by features such as its own language, culture or tradition. tradition. It does not form a state of its own in its homeland or is domiciled outside the state of its nationality. (national minority)"^[1]

South Tyrolean speaking people
Ladins native in Ladinia
Italians who were resettled to South Tyrol after 1919

Language

The South Tyroleans speak South Tyrolean language (a South Bavarian language) as their mother tongue and as foreign languages learn English, Italian and Standard German in school.

The Ladins speak Ladin (a Rhaeto-Romance language) and learn Standard German, English and Italian in school.

The Italian people speak Italian and learn English in school. Because the vast majority lives in Bozen and Meran, little need is for Standard German competence.

The Ladins, who historically or in their efforts for their language rights and politically feel very close to the South Tyrolean-speaking people.^[2]

The Italian speaking people who reside in South Tyrol have through their language and knowledge about the forcible expulsion and subsequent settlement of their ancestors no identifying marks with South Tyrolean and consider themselves "Italian".
The designations South Tyroleans and Italians, which are common in literature and especially in historiographical works, are used. In favour of this designation of the ethnic groups is the fact that until the 1970s and until today the Italian language group clearly distinguishes itself from the German-speaking inhabitants of South Tyrol (and vice versa); hardly any Italian-speaking inhabitants of South Tyrol feel or refer to themselves as South Tyroleans.

With the Project "Europaregion" of North, East, South Tyrol and Trentino is an attempt to revive the supranational identity. After the illegal annexation by Italy they see themselves now as neither Italian, German, Tyrolean or Austrian.

There also exists a Dictionary of South Tyrolean.

The South Tyroleans, a German people?

When asked the South Tyroleans dont consider themselves as neither Tyrolean, Austrian, German or Italian.^[3]

There are strong tendencies among Italians to distance themselves from being South Tyroleans.

The Ladins see themselves completely as South Tyroleans.

The German tourists get labelled as "die Deitschn", Austrians as "die Eschtreicha" and Italians as "die Italiena or "die Walischn".

South Tyrolean language is the everyday language. In school, newspapers and TV Standard German is written, read and spoken. By many it is considered a foreign artificial languge.

Notable South Tyroleans

Max Valier
Andreas Hofer
Reinhold Messner
Silvius Magnago
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer