Tyrol and Its People. Clive Holland

ALP256MOUNT LATEMAR276A WAYSIDE SHRINE IN A PINE WOOD298AUTUMN IN SOUTH TYROL314

      IN MONOTONE

	FACING PAGE
A VILLAGE ON THE BRENNER	10
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
YOUNG TYROL	18
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
A WAYSIDE SHRINE, TYROL	24
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
ABOVE THE ARLBERG TUNNEL	32
SUNSET ON A TYROLESE LAKE	36
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
A TYPICAL TYROLESE LANDSCAPE	36
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
THE TRISANNA VIADUCT AND CASTLE WIESBERG	72
A PEEP OF THE ZILLERTHAL	72
THE FAMOUS "GOLDEN ROOF," INNSBRUCK	78
A TYPICAL INNSBRUCKER	88
VIADUCT ON STUBAI RAILWAY	130
VIEW OF THE GROSSGLOCKNER	130
THE MARKET PLACE, HALL	134
THE HALL VALLEY—WINTER	142
MOZART'S HOUSE IN THE MAKART PLATZ, SALZBURG	152
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
ONE OF THE FINEST DOORS OF THE STATE APARTMENTS IN THE FORTRESS, SALZBURG	164
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
MOUNTAIN PASTURES	178
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
HOHEN-SALZBURG AND THE NONNBERG	182
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
SALZBURG MARKETWOMEN	190
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
MERAN	198
SCHLOSS TYROL, NEAR MERAN	202
A STREET IN BOZEN	206
ST. CYPRIAN AND THE PEAKS OF THE ROSENGARTEN	212
MISURINA LAKE	262
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
A ROAD THROUGH THE DOLOMITES	264
A PEEP OF THE DOLOMITES	270
From a Photograph by Clive Holland
THE LANGKOFEL	272
From a Photograph by Dr. Otto Rosenheim
A PEEP OF KITZBUHEL	286
SCHLOSS MATZEN	294
By kind permission of W. A. Baillie Grohman, Esq.
LANDECK AND ITS ANCIENT FORTRESS	320
CHURCH INTERIOR, TYROL	324
From a Photograph by Clive Holland

TYROL AND ITS PEOPLE

       Table of Contents

CHAPTER I

       Table of Contents

      THE ROMANCE AND HISTORY OF TYROL FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

      As early as the eighth century Tyrol received a name which could not be bettered as descriptive of its scenery and institutions—"das Land im Gebirge," the Land in the Mountains. Fascinating alike is the scenery of Tyrol and its history. When one crosses the Swiss frontier by the Arlberg route one at once enters upon a land of mountains, rivers, and pleasant valleys. And with equal truth it may be said that when one crosses the frontier of Tyrolese history one is at once plunged in the midst of stirring, romantic, and gallant deeds enacted throughout the centuries from that far-off age, when the Cimbri penetrated and traversed the country and swept into north-eastern Italy, down almost to our own time.

      That Tyrol should have proved the battle-ground of nations is, of course, largely due to its geographical position. In early days it formed a "buffer state" between the Roman empire and the territory of the Cimbri and Alemanni.

      The question of the original inhabitants of Tyrol is still a much debated one, and appears to be as far off final settlement as ever; and this notwithstanding the enormous amount of interest which has been manifested in the subject by scientists, archæologists, and students during the last two centuries. Whether they were Cimbri, Etruscans, or Celts is still doubtful, although many learned authorities—more especially linguists—incline to the view that the earliest inhabitants were mainly of the Ligurian race, who were followed by Illyrians and Etruscans.

      And also regarding the manners, customs, and general characteristics of these early inhabitants, whoever they may have been, very little conclusive evidence is yet available. By both Greek and Roman writers they were referred to as Rhætians, in common with the inhabitants of Eastern Switzerland; and Horace himself speaks of "The Alpine Rhæti, long unmatched in battle." Thus it is that the most ancient name by which Tyrol is known is that of Rhætia.

      INVASION OF THE CIMBRI

      To the Romans, however, all-conquering though they were, little was known of the country until the Cimbri penetrated its mountains and traversed its valleys and passed on their way to the north-eastern frontier of Italy about 102 B.C.

      By what route these barbarians crossed the Alps on their march to invade north-eastern Italy there has been as much discussion as over the question of the original inhabitants of Tyrol. And, although the event to which we refer occurred scarcely a century prior to the conquest of Tyrol by the Romans there is little information other than of a speculative character to throw light upon the question at issue. For many years the weight of opinion was in favour of the contention that the Cimbri entered Southern Tyrol and eventually reached the Venetian plains by the Reschen Scheideck and the Vintschgau, but the later researches of Mommsen have served to give additional, if not absolutely conclusive, weight to the view that the Brenner was the route taken by the Cimbri[1] on their way southward from their Germanic fastnesses, just as it was undoubtedly the route, but, of course, reversed, chosen by the Romans under Drusus by which to enter Tyrol on their march of conquest.

      One piece of evidence which would appear to be of considerable weight, and as conclusively favouring Mommsen's view, is the fact that the Brenner route forms not only the one of lowest altitude, but also the only one by which the whole Alpine system and its parallel chains can be crossed by passing over one chain alone, and in no other spot in the range do two valleys on either side cut so far into the centre of the principal chain of the Alps.

      Moreover, from Plutarch's "Marius" one learns the spot where the Roman general, Quintus Lutatius Catullus, and his legions, which were sent from panic-stricken Rome to check the advance of the invaders, first encountered the Cimbri on the banks of the River Adige between Verona and near the foot of the Brenner. The encounter ended in the triumph of the host of skin-clad invaders who descended the snow-slopes of the mountains with an onslaught so terrible that even the trained and well-armed hosts of Rome had to give way before them. But the power of Rome was not easily shaken, and the triumph of the Cimbri was but brief. Their southward march was destined very soon to meet with so severe a check that further advance on Rome, or into the heart of Italy, was rendered impossible. In 101 B.C., the year following their appearance in the beautiful province of Venetia, where they created, so historians tell us, a terrible panic, the Roman