Teutonic Bailiwick on the Adige and in the mountains Deutschordensballei An der Etsch und im Gebirge | |||||||
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1260–1805 | |||||||
Status | State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||
Capital | Bolzano 46°29′37″N11°20′26″E / 46.493526°N 11.340593°E Coordinates: 46°29′37″N11°20′26″E / 46.493526°N 11.340593°E | ||||||
Common languages | Southern Bavarian | ||||||
Government | Theocracy | ||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||
• Established | 1260 | ||||||
• Joined Austrian Circle | 1512 | ||||||
1805 | |||||||
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An der Etsch und im Gebirge (German for 'On the Etsch and in the Mountains') was a bailiwick (Ballei) of the Teutonic Order, created about 1260 and headquartered in Bolzano (Bozen), now in the Italian province of South Tyrol, comprising several commandries in the former County of Tyrol and the adjacent Bishopric of Trent.
One of the Teutonic provinces within the Holy Roman Empire, An der Etsch held the feudal status of Imperial immediacy as a registered Imperial State. Its commandries were subordinate to a Landkomtur (commendator provincialis), who himself was answerable to the Deutschmeister commander of all bailiwicks in Germany and Italy, at times directly to the Grand Master.
The Teutonic Knights had erected a first hospital at the confluence of Etsch and Eisack near Bozen in 1202, followed by several hostels along the mountain road up to the Brenner Pass, vital for the Holy Roman Emperors heading for Italy or on crusades to the Holy Land.
The bailiwick lost its autonomy during the Napoleonic Wars upon the 1805 Peace of Pressburg, when Tyrol was ceded to the newly established Kingdom of Bavaria and finally incorporated into the Austrian Empire in 1814. From the view of the Teutonic Order, the province was never disestablished and up to today An der Etsch denotes the lay brothers' organisation in South Tyrol.
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society c. 1190 in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, having a small voluntary and mercenary military membership, serving as a crusading military order for the protection of Christians in the Holy Land and the Baltics during the Middle Ages.
The Brenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowest altitude among Alpine passes of the area.
The history of Tyrol, a historical region in the middle alpine area of Central Europe, dates back to early human settlements at the end of the last glacier period, around 12,000 BC. Sedentary settlements of farmers and herders can be traced back to 5000 BC. Many of the main and side valleys were settled during the early Bronze Age, from 1800 to 1300 BC. From these settlements, two prominent cultures emerged: the Laugen-Melaun culture in the Bronze Age, and the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture in the Iron Age.
South Tyrol, officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, is an autonomous province in Northern Italy, one of the two that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province is the northernmost of Italy, the second largest, with an area of 7,400 square kilometres (2,857 sq mi) and has a total population of about 534,000 inhabitants as of 2021. Its capital and largest city is Bolzano.
Bolzano is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The greater metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants and is one of the urban centers within the Alps.
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is an autonomous region of Italy, located in the northern part of the country. The region has a population of 1.1 million, of whom 62% speak Italian as their mother tongue, 30% speak South Tyrolean German and several foreign languages are spoken by immigrant communities. Since the 1970s, most legislative and administrative powers have been transferred to the two self-governing provinces that make up the region: the Province of Trento, commonly known as Trentino, and the Province of Bolzano, commonly known as South Tyrol. In South Tyrol, German remains the sizeable majority language.
Lana is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is situated in the Etschtal between Bolzano and Merano and at the entrance to the Ultental. The population rose to 12,566 in 2020.
Brixen is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Bolzano.
Neumarkt is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the city of Bolzano.
Modern-day South Tyrol, an autonomous Italian province created in 1948, was part of the Austro-Hungarian County of Tyrol until 1918. It was annexed by Italy following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I. It has been part of a cross-border joint entity, the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, since 2001.
Bronzolo is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 11 kilometres (7 mi) south of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol.
Montan is a municipality with 1,701 inhabitants in the South of South Tyrol in northern Italy, about 15 km south of Bolzano. The name Montan comes from the Latin mons ("mountain").
Salorno sulla Strada del Vino is the southernmost comune (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian-speaking municipalities in South Tyrol.
Bolzano/Bozen railway station is the main station of Bolzano/Bozen, capital of the autonomous province of Alto Adige/Südtirol, in northeastern Italy.
Rovereto railway station serves the Comune of Rovereto in the autonomous province of Trentino, northeastern Italy.
Brenner railway station is the border station of Italy and Austria. It serves the town and comune of Brenner in the autonomous province of South Tyrol, northeastern Italy.
Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, from its formation in the 12th century until 1919. In 1919, following World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, it was divided into two modern administrative parts through the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye:
The South Tyrolean Unterland or Bozen Unterland is a section of the Etschtal valley stretching from the regional capital Bolzano (Bozen) down the Adige (Etsch) river to Tramin and Salorno (Salurn). The area is known for its history, particularly regarding Rhaetic, Roman, and Germanic archaeological sites; its bilingualism, and its viticulture; the Gewürztraminer grape originated here.
The Department of Alto Adige was a northern department of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. The name had been used for a district of the Cisalpine Republic. Its name, in typical Napoleonic fashion of naming departments after geographic features, derived from the river Adige which flowed through it.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bolzano/Bozen in the Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy.