ALTO ADIGE-SÜDTIROL, A BORDERLAND

South Tyrol is often perceived as a special place, fortunate and happy, by the national and international public opinion. For the most part this perception is correct and obviously concerns also the provincial capital Bolzano: beautiful panoramas, a certain urban propriety, order, cleanliness, and above all the non-existing unemployment, pretty efficient social services, better cared for and more efficient education than in the rest of Italy, high expenses for culture, theatres and theatre companies in both of the two local languages, a permanent symphony orchestra with own concert hall, the School for Film and Documentary ZeLIG, a brand new and wealthy university…

And then the prehistoric mummy of the Similaun, Ötzi, the Iceman, the famous (or infamous) Christmas market, the Loden in Via dei Portici, the exquisite sweet dishes…

And above all that air of a Nordic town, more Austrian (at least in the old town) than Italian in which two worlds meet and two different languages are spoken…

But this meeting has not always been this happy. Hatred and ethnic and nationalist resentments have always disturbed Alto Adige – South Tyrol. Italy actually waged four wars on Austria in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century with varying degrees of success which ended in 1918 with the annexation of today’s province of Bolzano certainly (and rightly, if one reflects on it) not very much welcome to the people of South Tyrol who were and felt Austrian and, above all, Tyrolean, and did not love Italy (and why should they?) at all. And then fascism, with its crude attempts to Italianize the German-speaking population, part of which, also caused by a misunderstood patriotism, had approached Nazism or Germany anyway, aggravated the already not so happy situation. Then World War II, especially after September 8, re-inflamed old hatred and caused real tragedies which are often ignored.

After the end of World War II, Alto Adige – South Tyrol, in spite of the German speaking population’s contrary opinion, continued to be part of Italy.

At that time a long fight for the return to Austria or at least for the concession of a very vast autonomy began. This fight was covered with attacks which often took the shape of real terrorist actions in which people were killed or injured. The Italian-speaking population had the moral force never to retaliate. But the state did react by sending military and police contingents and with behaviour and conduct as it seems were not always thoroughly worthy of a democratic country: it was even talked of torture in prison. The South Tyrolean “dinamitardi” (bombers) continued their actions also while negotiations about the concession of a local autonomy to Alto Adige – South Tyrol (with almost total reduction of the special-status Region Trentino – Alto Adige’s competences) which became the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, provided with vast power and exceptional financial provisions, were in progress.

Today the two (three with the Ladins) ethnic groups live together peacefully but not always friendly: the Italians in particular often feel like the real minority, excluded from the most important positions of power and all in all like a second class citizens.

In the two ethnic groups’ schools (rigorously separated) the other group’s language is studied but almost always with little enthusiasm: interethnic associations, groups, personal friendships are still quite rare.

In a lot of circumstances it is necessary that anyone (even a foreigner or child of a mixed couple) declares to belong to one of the three recognized ethnic groups…

Intolerant behaviour are no exceptions: there are plenty of neo-Fascist and neo-Nazi groups.

Signs of change are discernible: the international university and the film school are trilingual (Italian, German, English), the so-called mixed families are promoting innovative propositions, some associations are open for both ethnic groups, bilingualism is considered by everybody (or almost everybody) an important value. However, the atmosphere, for those who can see clearly, does not appear to be altogether cheerful.

In short, Bolzano is beautiful, wealthy, peaceful (now and hopefully forever):

but it knows the problems of borderlands very well because it has experienced all of them, resolved a lot of them and still lives some of those problems.