South Tyrol

An Alpine region in central Europe, the former County of Tyrol, a possession of Austria-Hungary, was divided between Austria and Italy after the First World War. The south is nowadays part of the autonomous Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige, which is largely German-speaking.

The majority of the inhabitants actually speak a German dialect of the Bavarian group, called Südtirolerisch, but a quarter of the population is Italian-speaking and a small minority use a Ladin dialect, as do some areas of Graubünden in Switzerland.

During the Fascist period, a policy of forced Italianisation was applied and many place names were purely invented, but the population resisted and obtained a status of autonomy which helped to stem the erosion of local dialects.

Bolzano is actually called Bozen in Südtirolerisch and Bulsan in Ladin, while the small town of Prato allo Stelvio is actually called Prad am Stilfserjoch, to name but two examples.

This is a vast region that we only passed through during our 2022 "Switzerland Tour Outside Switzerland". We'll probably return one day, attracted by the beauty of the landscapes!