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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Tyrol

Tyroltĭr'ŏl, tīrōl', Ger. Tirol, province (1991 pop. 631,410), 4,882 sq mi (12,644 sq km), W Austria. Innsbruck is the capital. Bordering on Germany in the north and on Italy and Switzerland in the south, it is an almost wholly Alpine region, traversed by the Inn River. The main part of the province is separated from the fertile East Tyrol (Ger. Osttirol) by a corridor belonging partly to Italy and partly to Salzburg prov., Austria. The Tyrolean Alps, which culminate in the Ötztal Alps, are famed for their idyllic beauty and attract many tourists, thus supplementing income from the exploitation of the province's limited natural resources. Tourist centers include Kitzbühel, Kufstein, Sankt Anton, and Zell am See. Pasture farming, cattle raising, forestry, and dairy farming are the main occupations in the rural areas. Some industry is located at Innsbruck, Landeck, and Kufstein, including chemical, electrochemical, and pharmaceutical manufactures. The saltworks near Solbad Hall are an important source of revenue. The now little-worked silver and copper mines of Tyrol, known since antiquity, and its strategic position commanding the Brenner Pass across the Alps gave the region a fairly important role in European history. The Tyrol was inhabited by Rhaetic tribes when it was conquered (15 B.C.) by the Romans. It was invaded (6th cent. A.D.) by Teutonic tribes, the Baiovarii and the Lombards, and later by the Franks, who held all Tyrol by the 8th cent. Large parts of S Tyrol (now in Italy) were ruled from the 11th cent. to 1802–3 by the bishops of Trent and by the bishops of Brixen (see Bressanone). The two bishoprics were secularized and fell to Austria in consequence of the Peace of Lunéville (1801) between France and Austria. The northern section (constituting the present Tyrol), first divided into petty counties, was united under the counts of Tyrol and passed, with the abdication (1363) of Margaret Maultasch, to Austria and the Hapsburgs. In 1805 the Treaty of Pressburg awarded all Tyrol to Napoleon's ally, Bavaria, but when war broke out (1809) between France and Austria the Tyrolean peasants, led heroically by Andreas Hofer, rose in revolt and stubbornly defied the French and Bavarian troops. In 1810, Napoleon, at variance with Maximilian I of Bavaria, attached most of S Tyrol to Italy. Both parts were restored (1815) to Austria by the Congress of Vienna. The Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) awarded S Tyrol (the predominantly German-speaking province of Bolzano and the predominantly Italian-speaking province of Trento) to Italy. The ruthless Italianization policy of the Fascist government created much unrest and friction in the period between the two World Wars (see Trentino–Alto Adige). The Italian constitution of 1947, however, gave S Tyrol the status of an autonomous region, with full protection of minority rights.

Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Tyrol

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Ötztal Alps
Ötztal Alps, mountain group, in the Tyrol, W Austria, S of the Inn River and extending into northern Italy. It rises to 12,380 ft (3,773 m) in the Wildspitze, the highest peak in the Tyrol. Th...
Margaret Maultasch
Margaret Maultasch [Ger.,=pocket mouth], 1318–69, countess of Tyrol, called the Ugly Duchess, probably because of her unattractive appearance, especially her mouth. When Margaret's father, Hen...
Ofen, Alpine pass, Switzerland
Ofen, Alpine pass, 7,070 ft (2,155 m) high, Grisons canton, E Switzerland. The Ofen Pass Road links the Engadine Valley with the Italian Tyrol.
Hofer, Andreas
Hofer, Andreas, 1767–1810, Austrian patriot; son of a Tyrolean innkeeper. After its defeat by Napoleon I in 1805 Austria was forced to cede the Tyrol to France's ally Bavaria. In 1809, when Au...
Isar
Isar, river, 160 mi (257 km) long, rising in the Tyrol, W Austria, and flowing NE through S central Germany, past Munich, to the Danube River. There are more than 25 large hydroelectric plants...
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel, town (1991 pop. 6,238), in Tyrol prov., W Austria, in the Kitzbühel Alps. It is a famous winter sports and resort center and a summer health spa. Several majestic medieval castles i...
Arlberg
Arlberg, pass, 5,946 ft (1,812 m) high, W Austria, on the boundary between Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The Arlberg region forms the water divide between rivers flowing to the North Sea and those flo...
Kufstein
Kufstein, city (1991 pop. 13,528), in Tyrol prov., W Austria, on the Inn River, near the German border. It is a summer and winter resort. Manufactures include skis, glass, armatures, and metal...
Segantini, Giovanni
Segantini, Giovanni, 1858–99, Italian painter, b. in the Tyrol. A herder in his youth, he is known for his portrayal of Alpine peasant scenes. Although his early work is neoimpressionist in it...
Zillertal Alps
Zillertal Alps, range of the E Alps astride the Austro-Italian border and extending 35 mi (56 km) NE into the Tyrol. The range rises to 11,555 ft (3,522 m) in the Hockfeiler, on the internatio...

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Tyrol Snowboarding Adventure

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Mountain3.wmv

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Black-Knight-of-Tyrol

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Category: Pets & Animals

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