Tirol#

Tyrol (Tirol): area 12,648 km2; pop. 631,410; population (1991) density: 50 per km2; capital: Innsbruck; number of houses: 138,537; 1 statutory town, 8 political districts, 15 court districts, 279 municipalities (11 towns and 18 market towns), supreme provincial court in Innsbruck.

Geographical position: Tirol originated as a family name, derived from a castle near Merano; it is bordered by the provinces Salzburg and Carinthia on the east, by South Tirol/Alto Adige (Italy) on the south, by Switzerland (the Grisons) and Voralberg on the west and by Germany (Bavaria) on the north. Since the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) it has consisted of North Tyrol (10.628 km2, pop. 583,072) and East Tyrol (2020 km2, pop. 48,338); these two parts, however, are separated from each other by South Tyrol (Bozen/Bolzano), connected by corridor traffic from Innsbruck via Franzensfeste to Lienz which was established in the Paris Agreement with Italy in 1946. A peculiar feature until Austria´s accession to the European Union in 1995 was the customs exclave of Jungholz at the north-western tip of Tirol, which is surrounded by Bavarian territory.

Landscape: In the Early Middle Ages Tirol was called "land in the mountains" which is a perfect description of the geographical position of this Alpine country with its many mountain passes. Tirol´s political and geographical importance has always been determined by the accessibility of its Alpine passes. The lowest passes of the Eastern Alps (Brenner Pass (1,370 m) and Reschen Pass (1,504 m)) have been used as traffic links between Central Europe and the Mediterranean since Roman times. Tirol also served as the most important traffic link between the Eastern and the Western hereditary lands of the Habsburgs.

North Tirol is situated between the Northern and the Central Alps and is traversed from southwest to northeast by the River Inn. The North Tirolean limestone chains (Lechtal Alps, Mieming Mountains, Karwendel Mountains, Rofan Mountains and the Kaisergebirge Mountains) are up to 3,000 m high, only thinly populated and characterized by abundant pastures, woods and game. Between these limestone chains there are three passes (Fern Pass (1,216 m), Seefelder Sattel Pass (1,185 m) and Achen Pass (940 m)), which lead from the Inn Valley down to the Bavarian Alpine foreland. The Ausserfern and the Lech Valley are situated to the west of the Fern Pass. The main railway lines and roads go from Kufstein to the Brenner and Arlberg passes (1,793 m). In the south the Silvretta mountain (more than 3,000 m), the Oetztal Alps, the Stubai Alps and the Zillertal Alps form the massive mountain chains of the Central Alps (gneiss, slate): These are higher and more massive than the Northern Limestone Alps and many of them have glaciers and are rich in woods and pastures. The ranges of the Central Alps are often broken up by wide, more densely populated lateral valleys, which were formed in the glacial age and contain large tracts of arable land. These lateral valleys are: the uppermost part of the Inn Valley, the Oetz Valley, the Wipp Valley, the Ziller Valley and the valley of the Kitzbueheler Ache river. Lake Achensee is Tirol´s largest and deepest lake, the Gepatsch Glacier is the largest glacier in Tirol and the second largest (17 km2) and longest glacier (9.2 km) of the Eastern Alps. East Tirol is situated in southwest Austria to the south of the massive Alpine spur and takes in the uppermost reaches of the Drau valley, the Isel valley and the Lienz basin. In the north the fissured hanging glaciers of the massive mountain range of the Hohe Tauern (composed of gneiss and slate) and the Venediger Mountains and the Grossglockner Mountain (3,798 m) form a natural boundary with the province of Salzburg. The Defereggen Mountains and the Schober Mountains rise to the north of Lienz and to the south of the Grossglockner Mountains area. The wooded Defereggen Mountains are smaller than the peaks of the Hohe Tauern range. To the south of the Drau valley and the fertile Lienz basin rise the imposing peaks and the great rock walls of the Lienz Dolomites and the long straggling chain of the Carnic Alps composed of slate.

Climate: North Tirol has a temperate climate, consistent with its position to the north of the Central Alps at the western edge of Central Europe with the Mediterranean to its south. The climate in the Northern Limestone Alps is cool with a high precipitation level. The Inn Valley and its lateral valleys are characterized by an Alpine climate with lower precipitation levels and warm Foehn winds that come from the south, in winter the climate is sometimes influenced by Inversion. East Tirol has long and colder winters than North Tirol but the summers are warmer with a higher level of precipitation.

Population: With a share of 8.1 per cent of Austria´s population Tirol is the country´s fifth largest province. Between 1981 and 1991 the population increased by 7.6 per cent (which is the third highest population growth after Salzburg and Voralberg); the population increase between 1971-1991 amounted to 87,000. Tirol has the second largest proportion of children in the population (19.3 %, the average for all the 9 provinces is 17.4 %). The most densely populated area is the district of Innsbruck-Land (141,334 people, 22.4 %). The areas with the lowest population density are the districts of Landeck (40,207) and Reutte (29,140). 87 % of the people in Tirol are Roman Catholics, the largest percentage of Catholics in all the 9 provinces (about 78 % of Austria´s total population are Catholics); about 15,200 (2.4 %) people are Protestant and about 14,800 (2.3 %) are Muslims; about 13,400 (2.1 %) are members of other churches (mainly of East and Southeast European Orthodox churches); about 3 % do not belong to any denomination.

Folk culture and folk art are richly represented in Tirol. The various traditions and customs of all the peoples that came into the country on the one hand and distinct cultural developments in many of Tirol's secluded valleys on the other led to a great variety of influence in art and culture and especially in folk art. A special position in Tirolean architecture is occupied by the farmhouse or farmstead: the prevailing type of farmstead is the single-building farmstead (Einhof) which can be subdivided into two main forms and various transitional forms. The largest area in which almost only Einhof farmsteads are found is the middle Inn Valley ("Mittertennhof") and the lower Inn Valley ("Unterlaender Einhof"). The Einhof farmstead is also very common in the upper Inn Valley up to Landeck, the Ausserfern, the lower parts of the side valleys and the Kitzbuehel area. The style of Zwiehof farmsteads, which are predominant in East Tirol and in the westernmost part of Tirol (in the district of Landeck), is strongly influenced by the Rhaeto-Romanic building tradition. Even more important differences are revealed if the comparison is not confined to farmstead and living area ground plans but also considers the use of different building materials and rules of succession; in this respect the Inn Valley can be divided into an eastern and a western part, the boundary being the area in which the Ziller Valley enters the Inn Valley. The farmsteads in the western part are stone structures with oriels, further east the prevailing types are buildings built of brick at least up to the gable and a ground plan with a lateral hall, they are rather small due to the rules of succession, which required the property to be shared equally among the children; the farmsteads in the eastern parts are wooden structures, sometimes with a ground floor built of brick; all of them have carved wooden balconies and balustrades and have a ground plan with a central hall separating the kitchen from a rural type of parlour (Stube). In this region the succession rules provided that the farm estate should be not divided but left to one of the offspring, accordingly these farmsteads are often large-scale holdings.

Agriculture: Tirol was originally a land of peasants. Today, however, industry and trade, tourism and the energy sector play a major role. Agriculture and forestry have always been determined by a large proportion of non-arable land (26.6 %), large areas of wood (36.4 %), pastures and meadows (34.5 %), Alpine Pasture Husbandry) and by a small share of arable fields (1.0 %). In 1998 Tirol had 13,559 mountain farmers; 22 % of these mountain farmers in the second, 36 % in the third and 23 % in the fourth handicapped zone (EU classification). The most prominent breeds of cattle are the Brown Swiss and the Simmental cattle.

Economy: Tirolean industries make a major contribution to the gross domestic product of the country, their share is higher than that of trade and tourism. In 1997 a production value of more than 51 billion ATS was reached by 505 companies with 32,189 employees in various industrial branches. The glass and chemical industry had the biggest share (24.9 %), followed by the iron and metal working industry (17 %), the food, beverages and tobacco industry (9.6 %) and the textile and clothing industry (6.2 %). In some branches substantial structural changes have been made in the last thirty years: Between 1964 and 1993 there were no major changes in the wood working industry and the food, beverages and tobacco industry. Production values did, however, increase greatly in the glass and chemical industries (1964-1997 from 15 % to 24 %) and substantially decreased in various other industries: in the textile and clothing industry from 21 % to 6 % (1964-1997) and in mining and the stone industry from 14 % to 7 %. In the mid 1990s the share of exports was more than 60 % of the production value. In 1995 the highest percentages in exports were those of the iron and steel working industry (40 %), followed by the glass and chemical industry (31 %). The district with the highest real net output is Innsbruck-Land, followed by Kufstein, Reutte, Schwaz and Lienz. The most important areas with iron and steel working industries are Fulpmes, Schwaz, Stans, Hall, Anras, Imst, Innsbruck, Kufstein and Abfaltersbach. Mechanical and structural steel engineering is situated in Innsbruck, Vils, Lechaschau, Kufstein, Kirchbichl, Telfs and Lienz; the Jenbacher Werke AG is one of Tirol´s biggest producers, it produces locomotives, railways carriages, motors and electrical units. The Tiroler Roehren- und Metallwerke AG situated at Hall is Austria´s largest foundry. One of the largest private entrepreneurs in Austria is the Plansee Group in Reutte. Important chemical industries are situated in Kundl, Fieberbrunn, Absam, Schaftenau, Innsbruck, Voels, Erpfendorf, Schwaz and Kufstein; the company Biochemie GmbH in Kundl is Austria´s largest producer of antibiotics. Donau Chemie AG in Landeck produces acetyline stones and the Simmerwerke W. Simmer GmbH & Co KG in Kufstein produce radial packing rings, conical nipples, packing collars and high-grade rubber-metal connections. The food, beverages and tobacco industries play an important role in the province´s economy; and the biggest companies in this branch are in Innsbruck, Schwaz, Hall, Kufstein, Oberhofen and Stans. The most important companies in the paper and wood working industries are: Papierfabrik Wattens GmbH (one of the world´s biggest producers of cigarette paper), and the Fritz Egger GmbH (largest producer of chipboards in Central Europe) situated in St. Johann in Tirol. Tirol´s biggest company is Swarovski & Co. (glass industry), consisting of TYROLIT-Schleifmittelwerke in Schwaz, a glass grinding factory in Wattens and an optical factory in Absam. The main mineral resources found in Tirol are magnesite (Fieberbrunn), oil shale (Karwendelgebirge Mountains), copper (Brixlegg), lime (Inn Valley) and cement (Kirchbichl, Vils and Eiberg). Tirol relies mostly on its abundant water power resources and there are many hydro-electric power stations; Tirol´s main power suppliers are TIWAG (44 power stations with a total capacity of 1,504 MW in 1998), Tauernkraftwerke AG (TKW) in the Ziller Valley (subsidiary of Verbundgesellschaft, 8 power stations with a capacity of 1,056 MW in 1998), and a large number of communal and private suppliers. In 1997 Tirol had 320 power stations with a total capacity of 2,722 MW. The largest power stations are: the storage power stations Silz (500 MW) and Kauner Valley (392 MW) owned by TIWAG and Mayrhofen (345 MW), owned by TKW; also the pump-fed power stations Haeusling (360 MW) and Rosshag (230 MW) of TKW and Kuehtai (289 MW), owned by TIWAG.

Tourism: Tourism plays a major role in almost all Tirolean villages and towns. Tirol has by far the highest number of overnight stays of all Austrian provinces (in 1997: about 38 million, the province of Salzburg being second with 20 million overnight stays). In 1997 the tourist resorts with the highest numbers of overnight stays were Soelden (1,726.935), followed by Mayrhofen (1,191.597), Seefeld (1,162.785), Innsbruck (1,089.435), Ischgl (960,289) and Neustift im Stubaital (938,829). Other important tourist resorts are St. Anton, Eben, Kitzbuehel and Wildschoenau. There are numerous hotels and boarding houses as well as private B&Bs. Five glaciered regions in the Kauner, Pitz, Oetz, Stubai and Ziller Valleys offer summer skiing as a special attraction. Some quite extensive areas of East Tirol form part of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. Tirol is a paradise for climbing and hiking enthusiasts and has about 3,500 km of hiking trails and about 1,500 km alpine mountain paths.

Transport and Communications: Tirol is Austria´s transit country. Not only the trade route from north to south across the Alps passes through Tirol (Brenner motorway A 13 with the Europabruecke across the Wipp Valley) but also the west- east traffic route (along the Inn Valley, Inntal motorway A 12) runs through Tirol. As far as goods traffic is concerned, the Brenner and the Inntal motorways are the most used roads in north-south transit traffic: 75-80 % of the goods traffic in Austria (1997 23.4 million tonnes) use the Brenner pass road, which leads to major environmental problems in the area (noise, pollution). The A 12 and A 13 motorways form an axis for European tourist traffic. Corridor traffic between Salzburg and Tirol cuts across a stretch of German territory (Berchtesgaden; "kleines deutsches Eck" - "small German corner"); travellers from Innsbruck to East Tirol reach their destination via South Tirol (Italy). The Felbertauern road connects North Tirol (Kitzbuehel) via the Pinzgau region (Mittersill) with East Tirol (Matrei, Lienz). Tirol has a large number of mountain railways, ski-lifts and chair-lifts; the regional airport is at Innsbruck-Kranebitten.

Culture: Apart form several castles and palaces and the residential buildings in Innsbruck most buildings of architectural significance were commissioned by the church. Important pre-Romanesque architecture (St. Proculus at Naturns, St. Benedict at Mals) and outstanding Romanesque buildings (Tirol Castle, the castles of Hocheppan and Sonnenburg, collegiate church at Innichen) are situated in South Tirol. In North Tirol the collegiate churches and the city churches in St. Georgenberg-Fiecht, Wilten, Stams and Innsbruck have been altered in Baroque style. Tirolean art was flourishing in the late Gothic period: at first in South Tirol (parish churches in Bolzano and Merano, secular wall paintings in Runkelstein and Lichtenberg), later in North Tirol (the parish churches in Schwaz, Imst, Landeck, Hall in Tirol and Kitzbuehel as well as the church near Kundl (St. Leonhard) are in almost pure Gothic style). Picturesque town buildings have been preserved in Kitzbuehel, Rattenberg, Schwaz and Hall in Tirol. One of the most important artists of the late 15th  century was M. Pacher. Italian architecture had a major influence on Renaissance buildings in Tirol, e.g. the Goldenes Dachl and the Court Church in Innsbruck and the castles of Ambras and Tratzberg. At the beginning of the 16th  century Innsbruck became an imperial residence and was made a focal point for art and culture by Emperor Maximilian I (e.g. outstanding armourers´ works, as made by the Seusenhofer family). The finest examples of Baroque architecture in Tirol are the parish church (Karlskirche) of Volders, the Servite Church in Rattenberg and the Imperial Castle (Hofburg) in Innsbruck; Rococo buildings are the basilica in Wilten and the parish church of Goetzens. The most significant family of architects who shaped the Baroque architecture of Innsbruck was the family Gump. Tirolean Baroque painters like P. Troger, A. Zoller, J. J. and F. A. Zeiller, M. Knoller, J. Schoepf and the Unterperger family (two brothers) were famous all over Europe. Outstanding Classicist artists were the sculptor F. A. Zauner, who mainly worked in Vienna and the landscape painter J. A. Koch (working in Rome); the leading genre painter of the 19th  century was F. Defregger, who greatly influenced A. Egger-Lienz. Today the Tirolean association of artists ("Tiroler Kuenstlerschaft") has about 380 members. The most important architects of the 20th  century are L. Welzenbacher and C. Holzmeister; outstanding painters are M. Weiler and P. Flora. A graphic arts competition has been organised in Innsbruck every two years since 1952. The abundant variety of folk art is an important contribution to Tirolean art: wood carvings, frescoes, shrines, waycrosses, engraved plates in Tirolean guesthouses Rustic furniture (Alpbach, Ziller Valley), masks and models of Nativity Scenes.

The famous medieval poets Walther von der Vogelweide, Oswald von Wolkenstein and several other poets and writers of later periods had their roots in Tirol: A. Pichler, C. Dallago, F. Kranewitter, K. Schoenherr, S. Rieger, known as Reimmichl, J. Leitgeb and the literary circle around L. Ficker, who published the cultural journal "Der Brenner". F. Mitterer is one the most important contemporary authors in Tirol and his plays are very popular in Germany as well as in Austria.

Among the literary documents that originated in Tirol were the Abrogans (the oldest Latin-German dictionary), the Ambraser Heldenbuch, the epics about Dietrich von Bern (Theoderic the Great) ( Dietrich Epics), the legends around King Laurin and many medieval Easter plays, Passion Plays and Fastnachtsspiele (Carnival Plays), some of which are still performed today: the Passionsspiele in Thiersee and Erl, open-air performances in Rattenberg, Kufstein and Elbigenalp; the tradition of folk plays is still alive at Telfs and was long influenced by the Exl-Buehne theatre.

Sacred and secular music was already cultivated in the Middle Ages at the Court in Innsbruck and in Tirolean monastery schools. The Baroque tradition of music and opera in Innsbruck has been revived by two festivals: the "Ambraser Schlosskonzerte"( regular concerts at Ambras Castle) founded in 1963 and the "Festwochen der Alten Musik" (Festival of Early Music) founded in 1977. Today there are 180 choirs (with more than 8,000 members) and several folk song groups often consisting of members of one family. Some of these choirs ("Walther von der Vogelweide") and folk music groups ("Volkssaengergruppen") are internationally famous and also perform in other countries. A competition of folk music ("Alpenlaendischer Volksmusikwettbewerb") has been organised in Innsbruck every two years since 1974. In villages more than 300 brass bands, 255 Schuetzenkompanien militia bands and 107 folk tradition associations contribute to the cultural programmes offered on church and public feast days. There are still a great variety of traditional customs in Tirol: Schemenlaufen in Imst, Schellerlaufen in Nassereith, Schleicherlaufen in Telfs, Blochziehen in Fiss, Antlassritt in the Brixen Valley, pre-Lenten palm processions and crib exhibitions.

The centre of cultural life and scientific development has always been the provincial capital Innsbruck. Innsbruck is home to the university, the Tirolean Provincial Museum Ferdinandeum, the Museum of Tirolean Folk Art and the provincial theatre. The Europaeisches Forum Alpbach is held in Alpbach every year. Since the seventies there have been a large number of cultural initiatives which have continued many aspects of the former Jugendkulturwochen (youth festival) and which focus on contemporary and alternative art.

History: Several archeological finds (e.g. "Oetzi"), urn graves and names for areas, villages and fields deriving from pre-Roman times suggest that at least the larger Tirolean valleys had already been settled in pre-historic times. After the Roman Conquest in 15 B.C., the area to the south of Thinnebach stream near Klausen/Saeben (Chinsa all´ Isarco) in the Eisack Valley and south of the Toell river near Merano in the Adige valley belonged to the Italian Municipium Tridentum (Trento); the Puster Valley (Val Pusteria) to the east of the Muehlbach Klause together with the Municipium Aguntum (to the east of Lienz) was made part of interior Noricum; the area to the east of the mouth of the Ziller stream belonged to Noricum Ripense and the area to the west and to the north of the Thinnebach stream and to the north of the Toell stream became part of Vindelicia and Raetia ( Roman Era). After the collapse of the Roman Empire and the end of the migration of the Germanic peoples the Bavarians, who invaded the area from the north in the 6th  century forced back the Slavs, who came from the southeast, up to the Lienz Gorge; the Bavarians had already claimed the territory up to Salurn/Salorno from the Romanized Lombard kingdom. However, in some valleys (in the upper Vintschgau/Val Venosta, in the Engadin and the valleys in the Dolomites) the speakers of Rhaeto-Romanic and Ladin dialects managed to retain their lands, Tirol came under Frankish rule, when both the Lombard kingdom (in 773/774) and the Bavarian duchy (788) were conquered by Charlemagne.

The first period of Christianisation began in the 5th  century, it spread from the south and Trento and was related with the founding of the first bishop´s see at Saeben Castle, The second period of Christianisation was introduced by the Bavarians: In 769 Duke Tassilo III founded the monastery in Innichen/San Candido as a base from which to convert the Slavs. With the renewal of the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne (in 800) and by Otto I (in 962) and their intensified campaigns and advances towards Rome, the Tirolean lands and especially the passes, were again of great political interest: In 1004 and 1027 the counties of Trient/Trento, Bozen/Bolzano and Vintschgau/Val Venosta were granted to the Bishop of Trent; in 1027 the county Norital, from the Thinnebach stream across the Brenner pass to the Ziller stream, and in 1091 the county of the Puster Valley (Val Pusteria) were granted to the Bishop of Brixen/Bressanone; the old system of churches directly subordinated to the Emperor (which was in force up to the Investiture controversy) still prevailed and the investiture of bishops loyal to the Empire was intended to help the Emperor to keep free access to the most important passes. The bishops needed secular authorities (advocati or landvogts) to be responsible for defending the territories and for carrying out justice and interpreting the law. The high nobility of Tirol was entrusted with this hereditary authority. After many, sometimes violent, conflicts Albert III, the last of the Tirolean Counts (d. 1253), was able to unite the duchies of Trent and Brixen and thus give an extensive territory his name and coat of arms (1248). After Albert´s death the possessions were divided into two parts and given to his sons-in-law, but this division did not last long: Meinhard II of Goerz (1259-1295) re-united the territories and even enlarged his domains mainly to the northwest ( Meinhardiner). Meinhard II established a new administrative system and divided the country into judicial districts (in the context of a systematic policy of founding towns), which have continued to this day. In 1271 he had to share the inherited territories in Tirol and Goerz with his brother Albert and divided them along the Muehlbach Klause at the Western end of the Puster Valley. After the death of Meinhard´s three sons his granddaughter Margarete Maultasch inherited the county of Tirol. After the death of her second husband, Ludwig of the House of Wittelsbach (d. 1361), and her son Meinhard III (d. January, 1363), Margaret made over the county of Tirol to her Habsburg cousins Rudolf IV, Albrecht III and Leopold III; the transfer document was witnessed by one representative of the churches, one of the burghers and 12 noblemen, the first evidence of the growing influence of the Estates, who were to become an important element in provincial politics by the first half of the 15th  century. Duke Frederick IV ("with empty pockets") (1406-1439) abolished serfdom and the peasants began to form the fourth Estate. He moved his seat from Merano to Innsbruck and although Merano remained the formal capital up to 1848, Innsbruck became the ducal residence and administrative centre of Tirol. Under the rule of Maximillian I (in Tirol from 1490-1519) Tirolean territories were further expanded by inheritance, which led to the addition of part of the territory of Goerz (Puster Valley, district of Lienz), by the incorporation of the Bavarian judicial districts of Rattenberg, Kufstein and Kitzbuehel in the war of the Bavarian Succession (1504-1505) and by the conquested areas called the "welsche Confinen" to the south of Trento and Cortina d´Ampezzo at the end of the Venetian War (1516). After negotiations with the Tirolean Estates, a decree known as the Tiroler Landlibell was issued, which provided for the defence of the enlarged territories, and this remained in force (with some reforms) until 1918. This decree was very important in the wars of 1632, 1703, 1796/1797, 1809 ( Tirol´s Fight for Freedom), 1848, 1859 and in World War I (1915-1918).

When the spiritual principalities were secularised in1803, the principalities of Brixen and Trent, which had only been federated with Tirol, were made part of its territory. From 1805/1806 to 1814, in the Napoleonic Wars, Tirol was incorporated in Bavaria, between 1810-1813 the area to the south of Klausen/Chinsa and Merano was ceded to Italy and the area to the east of the Toblacher Feld plain (Dabbiaco) became part of the Illyric provinces of France (re-united with Tirol in 1813/1814). The last territorial expansion was in 1816 when the Ziller Valley, the Itter-Hopfgarten and Windisch-Matrei domains (today Matrei in East Tirol) were separated from the Principality of Salzburg and incorporated into Tirol. In the 19th  century the Brenner and the Arlberg railways were built (1856-1884) which gave a major impetus to the early phase of industrialisation and tourism. Innsbruck was made the provincial capital in the new provincial Constitution of 1849 and became an international traffic junction and the economic centre of the area.

After the First World War, under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) Tirolean territory to the south of the Brenner pass was ceded to Italy and became South Tyrol. Not only the territory but also the diocese of Brixen/Bressanone was divided and the part remaining in Austria was changed into an Apostolic Administration; the diocese of Innsbruck, which encompassed the territory up to the Ziller stream in the east, was established in 1964, and Voralberg was given its own diocese (Feldkirch) in1968. In the First Republic the Christian Socialists were the dominant political party and the Social Democrats were only of minor importance; of the armed militias, the Christian-Socialist Heimwehr was the only one of importance; nevertheless, political strife led to armed conflict at Woergl in February 1934. Many impoverished mountain farmers emigrated because of the difficult economic situation ( Dreizehnlinden); growing tourism was severely handicapped by the German Tausend-Mark-Sperre. The National Socialist Regime incorporated Voralberg into Tirol and East Tirol into Carinthia in 1938. The discrimination against Catholic church (schools were closed) and the fact that South Tirol remained with Italy led to considerable resistance. At the end of 1943 Innsbruck, Hall and Woergl were attacked by allied bombs. Innsbruck was occupied by American occupying forces on May 3, 1945. North Tirol became part of the French occupying zone and East Tirol part of the British zone.

According to the Tirolean Landesordnung (Constitution) of 1989 as amended in 1998 the legislative organ in Tirol is the Landtag elected for a period of five years and consisting of 36 members. The provincial government has five representatives from the People´s Party and two representatives of the Social Democrats. Tirol has 13 representatives in the Nationalrat and 4 in the Bundesrat. The current Landeshauptmann is a member of the People´s Party.

Literature#