Filo - Passiria - Volume 24

FILÒ

A Journal for Tyrolean Americans Volume 24

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An Introduction . . .

The Filò is to be published and distributed several times each year and is targeted to the children of our immigrant parents. The Filò (pronounced fee-lò) was the daily gathering in the stables of the Trentino where the villagers met and socialized. The intent is to provide a summary of our culture, history, and customs in plain English to inform and provide you with the background of your roots and ancestry.. If you wish to contact us, call Lou Brunelli at 914-402-5248. Attention: Your help is needed to expand our outreach to fellow Tyrolean Americans. Help us identify them, be they your children, relatives or acquaintances. Go to filo.tiroles.com and register on line to receive the magazine free of charge. You may also send your data to Filò Magazine, PO Box 90, Crompond, NY 10517 or fax them to 914-734-9644 or submit them by email to filo.tiroles@att.net.

Front cover: Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean hero and icon.

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Introduction to the Val Passiria...

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The Passeier Valley (: Passeier or Passeiertal Passiria or Val Passiria is the valley of the Passer river, in the mountains of the South Tyrol and borders on Austria. The Passer river is a left-bank tributary to the Adige River and runs for 26 miles entirely in the Sudtirol flowing then into the Adige River which makes its way down to Trento. Not only from a climatic viewpoint, the Val Passiria could be split in two parts. While the lower part of the valley boasts a rather gentle climate favoring the growth of apple orchards and grapevines, the upper Val Assyria is a rather mountainous area bordering on Austria and flanked by some very high peaks. The mountains and the natural environment of this valley are magnificent, partly included in the large Gruppo of the Tessa Natural Park.

The main mountain groups are: a section of the eastern Total Alps (where Otzi was found), the Passirie and Tessa Alps, the Breonie di Ponente Alps. Just over the Austrian border and hovering over Passiria is one of the most beautiful peaks, the Sugar Loaf (Zuckerhütl, 11,500 ft). The lower part of the valley attracts visitors seeking the leisure for those quasi-Mediterranean environments similar to nearby Meran while the upper part of the Valley provides hiking, climbing and the whole array of winter alpine sports and hospitality replete with hotels and entertainment opportunities.The following municipalities are located in the valley:Kuens, Riffian, St. Martin Passeier, St. Leonhard in Passeier and Moos in Passeier.The population of the valley is German-speaking.

on the municipalities of Moso and San Martino in Passiria. Located in a valley basin, it is situated at the parting of the roads to Passo del Rombo and Passo Giovo, directly at the border of the Gruppo di Tessa Nature Park. The municipality comprises the villages San Leonardo, Sant’Orsola, Mora, Prantago, Glaiten, Valtina and Gomion - originally the territory of the municipality stretched from Passo del Rombo to the present-day municipality of Scena. Meadows and forests characterize the landscape in the surroundings. However, not only nature casts a spell over the visitors, but also numerous attractions in the village that are worthwhile: the Sandhof farm, the birthplace of the Tyrolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer, with its MuseumPasseier, Castel Giovo, the Frenchmen cemetery, the Pfistrad alpine pasture.

Attached to the MuseumPasseir is the The “Norggensteig” the Path of the Dwarves, a themed trail is dedicated to dwarves, fairies reflecting the persons of the story telling of the Dolomites.(See article) Val Passiria is steeped in Catholic practices and traditions. Each year, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, bonfires are lit in the shapes of religious symbols on the mountain sides. It recalls the dedication of the Tyrol in the anticipation of the invasion by Napoleon in 1857.

(See article)View the artistic rendition of the valley (center fold of this issue) and where these communities and landscapes are situated.

For Tyrolean Americans, the birthplace of Andreas Hofer and the Insurrection he inspired along with the neighboring Schloss Tirol proximate to Meran with the San Leonardo in Passiria is a market town with some historical Lords of the Tyrol are the very places and 3,500 inhabitants and is considered to be both the eco- persons that prompted and nurtured our history origins nomic and political centre of the valley. The municipal and historical identities. territory stretches from 693 to 1,262 m asl and borders

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Passiria’s Mountains

Val Passiria, the German name is Passeiertal, is located north-east of Merano, in South Tyrol, the northern part borders on Austria.

It is crossed by the Passirio stream, which then flows into the Adige River near Merano. The mountains and the natural environment of this valley are magnificent, partly included in the large Gruppo di Tessa Natural Park. The main mountain groups are: a section of the eastern Ötztal Alps, the Passirie and Tessa Alps, the Breonie di Ponente Alps. However, one of the most beautiful peaks, the Sugar Loaf (Zuckerhütl, 3505 m), is located beyond the border, in Austria yet totally visible and proximate to the valley; the excursion to the Cima Libera refuge, with the ascent of Cima del Prete (3458 m) and the panorama of the Pan di Zucchero is recommended for expert mountaineers. The other wonderful mountain of this alpine sector is Cima Libera (3418 m).

There are also routes suitable for hikers, such as the Gigòt Ring (Gigòt is a 3000 m peak, around which the whole itinerary takes place), a nice tour that starts from the Birkenwald hotel (1442 m) , leads to the Nassereto and Cima Fiammante refuges in just over 3 hours of walking. Here you can rest and go back to Passo di Lazins, Bivacco Lammer and Casa del Valico, an itinerary of just under 6 hours. Finally, the third and final stage leads to Malga di Tablà and Maso Steiner, from where we started. The maximum altitude reached during this fascinating trek is the Lazins Pass, at 9213 feet.

Another recommended excursion is the one that leads to the Stieberfälle waterfalls, near Moso, a picturesque village in the valley. This itinerary is within everyone's reach and lasts about an hour. The easy walk is rewarded by a grandiose natural spectacle, with the water falling with two jumps for 40 m. You get so close to the waterfall that the spray hits the visitor.

The municipalities that make up the valley are Moso in Passiria (the largest municipality), San Martino in Passiria (the most populated municipality), San Leonardo in Passiria, Rifiano, Caines, Tirolo and Scena.

The valley is characterized by a great variety of climatic zones, with vineyards and orchards, then pastures and high mountains with glaciers and alpine lakes. A magnificent cycle path of about 20 km starts from Merano and follows an itinerary parallel to the Passirio stream up to San Leonardo.

Originating from this valley are some important mountaineers and explorers of the past, such as Johan Haller, born in San Leonardo in Passiria in 1844 and died in 1906, participated in the polar expedition of Julius von Payer who discovered the Franz-Josef Land in 18721874. Alexander Klotz, born in San Leonardo in Passiria in 1834 and died in 1893, also took part in that important expedition, also as a guide. The first climber of the Ortles (3905 m), the highest mountain in Tyrol, was a native of this valley. This is Josef Pichler, born in San Leonardo in Passiria in 1765 and died in 1854; in 1804, with some companions, he managed to make the first ascent of this great and difficult mountain.Written by Riccardo DeCarli, Museo della Montagna, Trento

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Passiria’s Museum

Andreas Hofer, the hero and the icon of the Tyrol was born in Sandhof in St Leonard in 1767 at the very house where Hofer became an innkeeper, wine merchant, and cattle dealer. He was intensely loyal to the Austrian house of Habsburg and the Roman Catholic Church. He worked for the return of the Tirol to Austria after it had been ceded to Bavaria in 1805. His birth place will have been proclaimed and endorsed as a Tyrolean shrine …and now, this very special place was transformed into the Passiria Museum. The Museum shows the changing Habsburg rule in decline, Napoleon making his way as events of the Tyrolean uprisings of 1809 through a the new and dominant ruler of Europe. Tyrol came rather varied and interesting path, with a special focus on under the forced dominion of Bavaria, which too hastily the figure of Andreas Hofer. introduced drastic reforms that were countercultural to those of the Tyrol. While the Tyrol and its people were strongly attached to its homeland, Empire and its Catholicism, the Franco Bavarian forces assaulted their core values and traditions, a conflict and a clash between two rather different worlds and cultures.

The displays present the armed conflicts illustrating how the Tyrolean citizen soldiers used their familiarity with mountainous terrain to skirmish and defeat the Franco Bavarian forces both at Sterzing and Bergisel. The displays illustrate Hofer’s assumption of the governance of the Tyrol in Innsbruck while Austria sued for peace and subsequently abandoning Hofer and the Tyrol. His indecision and vacillation of continuing the conflict against overwhelming odds is highlighted. Betrayed, he was taken prisoner and executed.

The arrangement of the Museum moves its visitors through an orderly set of thematic displays. The first presents the notion of and need of heroism Visitors come across many famous figures: heroes of Greek mythology, heroes of war, fictional heroes and sports heroes, heroes for just one day and heroes who remain The Museum concludes its narrative of heroism illustratimmortal. Andreas Hofer is one among many. ing how the failed Insurrection evolved into a source of The visitor is then presented with a visual presentation of pride of their history, culture and homeland and the the recounting the salient moments of Hofer's life and abandonment of Hofer reinforces his heroic achieveactivities and his role and function at the center of the ments. momentous geopolitics of Europe of his times. The display frames the circumstances of his times with the

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Passiria’s Masi dello Scudo

Among the characteristic masi (farm househof in German) of the lower Val Passiria, mostly built of wood, there are some very particular masi similar to small castles. They are located on safe hills, scattered throughout the lower Val Passiria, where neither floods of the Passirio River nor avalanches can reach them. Some of these ancient masi have ivy-covered towers and meridians (sun dials) or ancient frescoes decorating their blackened walls.

Other masi have lost many typical characteristics due to renovations but still stand out from other "common" to supply the pantries of the Counts of Tyrol with local farms. products and to act as sentries on the occasion of the The particular position of the peasants of the Masi dello festivities in Castel Tirolo (Schloss Tirol-Tirol Castle) or Scudo (Houses of the Shield) in the valley dates back to Castel San Zeno. In exchange for their services, they the 13th century, when it was said that they served Count were also entitled to certain privileges in addition to the Albert of Tyrol (1190 - 1253) as squires. From the 14th right to hunt and fish for their own needs. In addition, century, the great farms of Val Passiria also acquired they could also present themselves armed in court and in noble rights since their owners probably descended from church. They were exempted from providing municipal the ancient landed nobility. Proof of this is found an services and were not subject to the obligation to testify. ancient document of 1317, the same year Meran In the spring, their horses, which they often needed obtained the civic right), the charter of liberty, with during their service, could graze from the mouth of the which King Henry of Bohemia, Count of Tyrol, Passirio on both sides of the Adige to the Isarco River. permanently exempted 12 peasants: Ebion, Pseirer, Gadenacker, Buchenegg, Baumkirch, Gereuth, Steinhaus, Kolber, Happerg and Gomion from the payment of any tax and established their lifting from all

The privileges of the peasants were linked to landed property that could be divided and alienated at the discretion of the owners, provided that only the original obligations at the maso were respected. Therefore the privileges of some masi were divided so that still today 14 masi have the right to fish in the Passirio. Today there are 11 Masi dello Scudo, seven of which are located on the right side of the valley and four on the left. Currently, only the right to fish and the right to parade with shield and halberd (a two handed pole weapon) on the occasion of festivals remain of the ancient rights. Even today the peasants of the Masi dello Scudo flank the Blessed Sacrament during the procession of the Fires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the villages of S. Martino and S. Leonardo.

tax charges. These rights were subsequently guaranteed in 1363 also by Margherita di Tirolo-Gorizia). In return, the obligation to serve the regent of the region within the borders of Tyrol was required. They were always close to the Count of Tyrol and served him as chamberlains.

In 1407 the squires were enlisted for the last time in a conflict, where they helped Frederick IV of Habsburg to conquer the city of Trento. In peacetime, their task was 9

Sacred Heart Fires Burn Bright!

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The Tyrolean tradition of Herz-Jesu-Feuer…

Sacred Heart fires is a wonderful and exemplary illustration of the historical religiosity and piety of our people. Here is the story.

In 1796, Napoleon was steam rolling all the European nations and getting ever closer to invading the Tyrol along with its ally, Bavaria. When in 1796 Napoleonic troops came closer and closer, Tyrol was made ready for war, and representatives met up in Bolzano (South Tyrol) in order to discuss how to proceed. This is when the Abbot Sebastian Stöckl suggested to commit Tyrol to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in other words to trust in God. To fight them, they made an oath with the Sacred Heart, which helped them, to win against the oppressors. The South Tyrolean pledge eternal loyalty. From June 1, 1796, this feast day was celebrated with a solemn religious service that included the lighting of bonfires on the mountain sides in the shape of religious symbols.

The ritual to make fires on the mountains dates back to pre-Christian times in the cult of primitive races. They attached great importance to the sun, which was expressed by simulating the sun by making fires. Rome celebrated the Feast of the Saturnalia, the feast of the Unconquerable Sun. Fires were also made in order to put to flight plagues.

Today the fires across the mountains are prepared by societies or circles of friends and are lit in places where they are visible from afar. The wood is often carried for hours up to the mountain tops. Volunteers carry up tin cans, rags, and wood and diesel fuel up the mountain.

They are placed to form the various religious symbols.

Some fires are built in the form of a cross, a heart or the initials for Jesus HIS The Christogram IHS is a monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ. From Greek, it is an abbreviation of the name IHΣΟΥΣ (Jesus). In Eastern Orthodox Church the Christogram is composed with letters X, P, I and X arranged into the cross. They are the first letters of one from two words in Greek language: Christ and Jesus Christ. INRI refers to Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. As night falls, the cans of diesel fuel are lit revealing the fiery configurations seen After the unexpected victory of the Tyrolean troops over the French forces, they lit huge fires on the moun- from afar, the villages below and the groups gathered to enjoy the inspiring sight. The gathered crowd recall the tains to thank God and to honor the Sacred Heart. memory of how with the help of God and renewed Andreas Hofer renewed the vow before the Bergisel battle against the French and the Bavarians, in order to courage, the Tyroleans were able to hold their ground in battle and so the Sacred Heart fires have been lit all over unify the Tyrolean fighters. They won once again - and that made the Sacred Heart Sunday a significant holiday. the South Tyrol every year to commemorate the unexpected victory ever since. Brighter than the fires was and Still today, it is celebrated every year on the third still is… the pride for their “heimat”, homeland and their Sunday after Whitsunday. historic faith in God.

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The Tyrolean Insurect ion of 1809

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The Tyrolean Insurrection of 1809 could be called the high water mark of our Tyrolean history…defining us and distinguishing us.

The Tyrol was miniscule in comparison to the European nations of that time. It was singular since it represented a theocracy of the Holy Roman Empire that preserved and protected the passage of the powerful to the access to the papacy to affirm their power. It was also a microcosm of what was taking place across Europe during the period, distilled into a very distinct geographical area at a very particular time. In many ways, this insurrection has similarities to our history declaring our independence as citizen soldiers took on the mightiest armies of Europe skirmishing behind trees and rocks to gain their independence. This Insurrection was singular in and of itself standing up to the mightiest armies of Europe and doing so inspired by their culture, religion and traditions and led by a charismatic heroic figure.

expanded its control over the region. Bavaria's management, administration and attempted exploitation of the region would be a major cause of the eventual insurrection that would break out at the beginning of April, 1809.

King Maximillian I of Bavaria denied the Tyrol's prePressburg rights, guaranteed by the treaty in 1805, and implemented far-reaching economic, administrative and religious reforms into the region. Between 1806 and 1808, Tyroleans were taxed 20% higher than before.

Napoleon’s Continental Blockade that sought to paralyze Great Britain created an economic crisis depleting reserves, causing bankruptcies and trying up trade and wrecking the institutional framework of the Tyrol. The Tyroleans resented the extra taxes introduced to pay for the Bavarian garrison, the brutal manner in which Bavarians took over the official positions and the brutal way the Bavarian officials tried to “Bavarianise” the Napoleon was steam rolling through Europe subjugating Tyrol. one nation after another. To the south of the Tyrol, the A new constitution for the Kingdom of Bavaria was “Kingdom of Italy”was conquered with Napoleon as its announced in May 1808, reorganizing the regions into King. To the north of the Tyrol, there was Austria, the districts. The Tyrol was integrated into the Kingdom of rulers and patrons of the Tyrol and the declared adver- South Bavaria. The name “Tirol” was replaced y sary of Napoleon and the French Empire. The small “Sudbayern” (Southern Bavaria). An immediate result region of the Tyrol to the south was perched between was the imposition of conscription levies on the Tyrol.

Switzerland, Austria and Italy seemingly insignificant. The population of the Tyrol understood the signs of For 800 years, the Tyrol region had been part of the Holy time and anticipated hostilities between Austria and Roman Empire or specifically under the jurisdiction of France. They feared that new conscripts would be forced the Principati (Bishoprics) of Trent and Brixen wherein to fight against their Austrian former allies. The new a Prince Bishop was the temporal ruler. The Tyrol was conscripts simply did not show up and took to the also “ruled” by the royal family of the Hapsburg since mountains or went across the border to Austria. The the 14th century. Hence, integral to the Tyrolean identity opposition of the Tyrolean population prevailed on the was the Roman Catholicism that was protected and nur- Bavarian authorities to rescind the conscription levies. tured by the Prince Bishops and the Hapsburg. In 1805, Napoleon defeated Austria at Ulm and Austerlitz followed by the Peace and Treaty of Pressburg. As a result, the Tyrol region was ripped away from Austria and assigned to what was to become the Kingdom of Bavaria which was a client state of Napoleon. This ended the governance of the Holy Roman Empire and the rule of the Prince Bishops so that the Tyrol became a secular state. The Tyrol, part of Austria since 1363, immediately resented the annexation of their land to Bavaria. This resentment became stronger when Bavarian laws were enforced on the Tyrolean population who had lived according to their own laws and traditions. Manifold changes were introduced when the Bavarian government Tyrolean Rebellion 1809

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One must understand that people of the Tyrol had a history of living for 800 years under Prince Bishops, a theocracy if you will. Hence, Bavaria’s religious reforms seemed aimed at the destruction of Catholicism in the Tyrol. The reforms included the abolition of midnight mass in 1906, the expulsion of bishops, the ringing of bells, the closure and sale of Tyrolean convent properties. In addition, Napoleon’s invasion and take over of the Papal States and his harsh treatment and even imprisonment of the Pius VI and Pius VII offended and angered the Tyrolean population. These reforms convinced Tyroleans of the necessity to resist Bavarian occupation. Besides these pragmatic concerns, there was also an ideological basis to the insurrection.

the Austrian main army thus allowing the meager forces that were in the Tyrol. Napoleon was not at all preoccupied with the Tyrol since he was concerned with the southern German theatre and his Austrian adversaries in 1909.“Let the Austrians do what they will with the Tyrol; under no circumstances do I want to become engaged in a mountain-based war.” This enabled the Tyroleans to defeat the Bavarian troops, free cities such as Innsbruck and even the Bavarian homelands. In particular, the French and Bavarian troops that fought in the Tyrol, used to battlefield combat, found the guerrilla nature of warfare difficult to cope with. The mountainous region limited the possibility for pitched battles. The Tyroleans, fighting as skirmishing sharpshooters, were highly The French Revolution had ushered in the mobile and able to pick off the advancing enemy from Enlightenment in 18th century. Enlightenment ideology high up in the mountains. Alongside this they developed placed the emphasis on reason, common sense and per- another highly successful tactic: artificial avalanches to sonal freedom…rationalism. The Tyrolean population stop the Bavarians. was influenced by the counter movement to the The Insurrection lasted less than a year. The complexities Enlightenment …the Romantic Movement. The of the battles and geopolitics of the affiliations, the back Romantic Movement rejected the French Revolution’s and forth with multiple allies of France creates a very embrace of rationalism and valued emotion above all complex narrative to summarize for the space available else, is it history or tradition. The Medieval Age with its in the Filo`. Here a sequence of the timelines & events Catholicism and its hierarchy structured society were of the Insurrecion-1809... core values threatened by the French Revolution and April 9 Austrian troops led by Archduke Charles enters their invaders and affiliated allies. The Tyrol’s very way of Bavaria signaling the beginning of the Wagram thinking, living and functioning were being threatened at Campaign an existential level.

April 10 The Insurgency begins with Hofere doing the Concurrent with these Romantic values, Austrian nationalism arose as well in the person of the Tyrolean Josef von Hormayr. He had written a history of the Tyrol region and many anti-Napoleon brochures. His principal work was Österreichischer Plutarch, a 20 volume work extolling the lives of Austrian rulers, statesmen, generals and intellectuals. This work replicated the idea that a Catholic, monarchic Austria, as a strong Germanic power, must stand up to Napoleon's tyranny. This image of Austria and dynastic loyalty to the Hapsburgs were deeply rooted in the Tyrolean mind-set. These ideas and traditions contributed to a spirit of rebellion and opposition.

In 1809, there were secret talks were held between an Innkeeper, wine merchant, and cattle driver, Andreas Hofer with the Archduke Johann and Stadion, a pro-war Austrian official debated the issue of an Insurrection in the Tyrol to act as a diversion for the main theatre in the Germanic states and prevent Italian troops coming north. In the Tyrol, the Bavarian forces were reduced to strengthen the French army with its allies fighting against 12

ceremonial blessing of the Tyrolean flags April 9-13 Killing of Bavarian troops in the Tyrol and the expulsion of those not killed…total of 3000 troops . Killed, injured or taken prisoners April 12 Innsbruck captured by Tyrolean light infantry April 14 Austrian troops meet up with Tyrolean insurgents at Sterzing (Vitipeno) and gain the first victory over the Bavarian troops on the following day.

April 16 Austrian troops reach Innsbruck. Region officially liberated

April 19-23 Napoleon defeats Austrians at TeugenHausen, Abensbert. Landshut, Eckmühl, and Ratisbon.

April 26 French troops are forced into retreat after the battle of Sacile May 19 French troops retake Innsbruck. Peace returns to the region.

May 21-22 French troops defeated at Aspern-Essling May 25-29 With the French pulling out to Salzburg, Tyroleans take the Berg Isel (a strategically important hill south of Innsbruck) and retake Innsbruck May 30 Hofer is honored and celebrated with a chain of honor (Ehrenkette) from the Emperor for his defense of the Tyrol.

July 5-6 French victory over Austria at the Battle of Wagram July 12 Archduke Charles signs an armistice after the battle of Znaim, agreeing to evacuate Austrian troops from the Tyrol “principally” for the submission of the Tyrol (Napoleon) August 1 General Lefebvre with 20,000 troops retakes Innsbruck, abandoned by the Tyroleans August 13 Hofer retakes the Berg Isel and his troops retake Innsbruck and Hofer remains Regent of the Tyrol until October 21. The task was difficult since the city funds were depleted and some of his troops return to the Tyrol to attend to harvests.

October 14 After the Austrian defeat at Wagram, Napoleon demands control of the Tyrol. The treaty of Schonbrunn, the Tyrol once again becomes Bavarian November 1 Hofer loses control of the Berg Isel and Innsbruck November 11 The Tyrol rises up again

break his word shortly after and call for the resumption of hostilities. By November 11, 1809, the Tyrol was entirely occupied. As reprisals were being carried out across the region, Hofer fled into the mountains with a large bounty on his head. January 27, Franz Raffl was bribed into betraying Hofer. He was captured in a mountain hut, transferred to Mantua and condemned to death.

Despite Hofer's devotion to the Hapsburg family, Francis I made little effort to intervene. Metternich was keen to negotiate with France, and neither was prepared to disrupt relations by raising the rather difficult subject of the innkeeper who had defied Napoleon for months.

Austria needed breathing space to recover from the 1805 and 1809 wars. On February, 20 1810, Hofer was executed by a firing squad. Eight days later, the Tyrol region was divided up between Bavaria and the newly-created Illyrian Provinces. By March, conscription had been reintroduced. Indeed, a Tyrolean contingent would serve alongside Napoleon during the Russian campaign of 1812. In 1815, Napoleon was defeated and the Tyrol returned to Austria.

There is a paradox regarding the memory and image as what he did and actually fought for. While regarded as a “freedom fighter” Hofer was looking backward and not forward focused on this Catholicism, his Emperor and his homeland. He was firmly set on the past, on a more conservative time, and more conservative values. He was focused not so much on individual liberty but freedom from Bavarian domination. I can imagine Hofer using the shibboleth of the Filo’: Who we are is who we were. Hence, who they were was Catholic, citizens of an Empire and attached to their Tyrolean culture, all of With the Treaty of Schönbrunn signed on 14th October which were being threatened. Hofer remains a Tyrolean 1809, Austria was hit with war indemnities of 85 million national hero, the very symbol and expression of Francs and the loss of a huge amount of territory, Tyrolean identity, and, to a certain extent, of Tyrolean including Carinthia, Croatia and Galicia, which all went independence. to France. The Tyrol became a Bavarian territory again.. Hofer did not create the Tyrol…the Tyrol created him as On October 21, with Bavarian, French and Italian troops it created our very own emigrant ancestors. It can be venpouring into the region, the Tyroleans abandoned tured that the Filo` is Hofer…and it is the Tyrol. Simply Innsbruck and the Berg Isel, just south of Innsbruck. said… the Filo` has Winter was closing in and with food shortages growing, embraced the advocacy Hofer's support declined and many of his men dispersed to assert our entitlement back into the mountains. On 28th/29th October, Hofer of claiming who we learnt of the peace treaty that had been signed by were in fact and in hisAustria. Hofer felt betrayed and abandoned by his tory so that Hofer is a beloved Emperor, The Tyrolean morale had been bro- Tyrolean icon and a ken. By the evening of 1st November, Innsbruck and Tyrolean symbol of that Berg Isel had been recaptured Innsbruck. Over the next identity. few weeks, Hofer surrendered to the French, only to 13

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Andreas Hofer...the Person

After having had his heralded invincible armies stopped and defeated, after having his imperial plans stalled and complicated by Andreas Hofer, Napoleon Bonaparte simply declared and asked…Who is Andreas Hofer??? In my travels throughout the Trentino and speaking to Trentino Trentini with their reconstituted identities and memories, I asked them the same question only to find them more literate of Dante and Garibaldi than any whatsoever awareness of Hofer. In the 1940’s and the 1950’s, gathering often with our paesani who arrived here with Austrian passports, I do not remember any reference to Hofer. In my on going dialogue with the readers of the Filo`, there is a widespread ignorance of Hofer. So who was Andreas Hofer…???

He was born November 22, 1767 near Sankt Leonard in the South Tyrol Val Passiria in the Sudtirol that borders on Austria. He was an innkeeper and a wine merchant in Sandhoff. He spent 8 years in the Welchtirol (now called the Trentino) in Ballino of the Val delle Giudicarie Esteriori…just a mile from my front door in the Bleggio part of the valley. He was a peasant, deeply religious, attended mass each day… profoundly loyal and reservedly modest…He was the embodiment of the Tyrol region.

His management style was characterized by the emphasis on hospitality, piety and tradition. Even his thick, dark beard, modest attire and large hat contributed to his image as the embodiment of the region.

To address Napoleon’s consternation, he could not figure out Hofer since in his view he was not royalty, had no military training, and was not seeking power. He never fully understood the insurrection or the reasons for which Hofer was fighting. Despite the mantra by which Hofer lived, “for God, the Emperor and the fatherland”, Napoleon never appeared to grasp that it was an ideological war against the French revolution and everything that it sought to eradicate, including conservative, traditional social hierarchy and the Catholic religion, as much as a war of liberation in reaction to the reforms implemented by Bavaria. Hofer's devoted loyalty to the Hapsburgs, although with hindsight misguided, remained incomprehensible for the pragmatist Napoleon, who never hesitated to dethrone a king or lock up the pope if it suited his needs.

fellow Tyroleans. Equally, he rarely intervened in tactical discussions of a military nature. His leadership and his worth in battle came from his presence, the strength of his belief, and the moral and symbolic authority that he brought. “Hofer's legitimacy was neither purely of a military nature, nor purely political.

His story greatly appealed to the Romantics of the time and those that came later. William Wordsworth dedicated a poem to him. In 1830, James Robinson Planché adapted the story of William Tell for an opera based on Hofer and the insurrection. Numerous histories appeared during the middle period of the 19th century, in French, Italian, German and English, many almost fictional in their retelling of the insurrection and Hofer's role. The image of Hofer was also embraced in the name of various different causes: German unification and PanGermanism during the 19th century (despite the fact that he was in fact fighting a German Bavarian occupation), an anti-Nazi, and anti-fascist resistance movement in the south Tyrol named the Andreas Hofer Allianz in 1939.

Hofer remains a Tyrolean national hero, the very symbol of Tyrolean identity, and, to a certain extent, of Tyrolean independence.. The image that many have of Hofer today is that of a revolutionary, fighting for his homeland and for individual freedom. Yet Hofer's insurrection was very anti-revolutionary in its ideals: this was not selfdeterminism and he was not looking forward. His regard was firmly set on the past, on a more conservative time, and more conservative values..

For our Tyrolean American community, Andreas Hofer was truly our brother rising up to oppose and fight to preserve our ancestral homeland, the lands, the customs, the culture, the faith of all of our ancestors…and like the Filo` strove to main our Tyrolean identity. As such he remains the advocate of our identity and the greatest champion of our homeland…and our origins. Hofer stood up, laid everything on the line and tiny as we were, he was our giant who had the courage, the determination to rebel and make a statement that no other nation had made. Hofer was the exemplar, the concrete visible symbol of the Tyrolean identity. It could be said that he affirmed, defined and taught the entire Tyrol who we had been and who we were…and this included our very own ancestors and emigrants. Our every own emigrants…

His strongly held ideological views and devotion to the even possibly unaware of Hofer…replicated in their Austrian crown made him a perfect figurehead in the emigrant experience their attachment to the Empire, our rebellion against the Bavarian forces and a symbol to his identity and our Catholic faith. Hurrah for Andreas 14

Hofer and Our Emigrants…

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In retrospect, in 1809, the tiny Tyrol was indeed “the mouse that roared” roaring against the mightiest armies of the French Empire along with its biggest tyrant and bully, Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a Tyrolean rebellion in defense of its homeland, its identity and its Catholic faith. This singular uprising was probably the high water mark of our Tyrolean history as well as its affirmation and celebration. Andreas Hofer did not invent the Tyrol…but he was its symbol and icon. Neither did Hofer create the Tyrol…the Tyrol created him. Accordingly, what was the aftermath and impact …if any on the people of the Tyrol after the Tyrol was restored to Austria and Napoleon defeated in 1815? Was he revered like a Patrick Henry, remembered in civic life, situated in the educational historical curricula of the schools, and in the very awareness of the ordinary citizens? I am not sure and information about this is hard to come by in a postannexation Trentino with it’s over 100 years of Italianization and Irredentist ideology. Certainly in the Sudtirol, he is to this day revered and celebrated by virtue of their Austrian traditions and affiliations along with the despicable persecution of the Sudtirol by Fascist Italy.

Did our relatives know of Andreas Hofer? They came from the one and only Tyrol that produced Hofer. They came as citizens of the Empire while their relatives that stayed behind fought for Austria in the Kaiserjaeger along with young men from the Sudtirol. Years after our emigrant’s arrival, Fr Bolognani arrived in 1950. He was educated by post-annexation schools and can be best represented as Italian Trentino. For 22 years, he moved around the US seeking to meet Trentino Italians…He did not find them. Instead he found our emigrants in a new land, in diaspora holding tenaciously to the ties and allegiance to the Empire of which they had been citizens, to their distinctive and affirmative Tyrolean identity and their connection to the Roman Catholicism. Such a discovery is a revelation irrespective whether they knew or did not know about Andreas Hofer. They actually reflected more than just an affinity to Hofer but a similar and essential connection to his mantra…“for God, the Emperor and the fatherland”. It should be noted that Hofer did not originate, improvise or articulate the

mantra. It was imbedded in Tyrolean culture…and throughout the Tyrol. It was the motivation of the 15,000 citizen soldiers that joined Hofer in standing up to the French and the Bavarians in 1909.

Fr. Bonifacio Bolognani is possibly our one and only historian that observed and chronicled our original emigrants. Yet, Fr. Bonny although identified with us, was from a different time and a different definition. Born in 1923 in a post-annexation Italy of which he was a citizen, he attended schools that were replete with Irredentist, Nationalistic…and subsequently Fascist ideas and ideologies. Hence, educated differently, affiliated differently, he was amazed at his disparity with our emigrants who tenaciously held on to memories of the Empire and their Tyrolean identity. He observed that our folks were “preferred workers” and how they were deliberate in asserting that they were not Italian and would flash their Austrian passports to demonstrate their identity. In fact, he commented that although they seemed to be Italian in language and did not speak German, they were citizens of the Empire complicating their adaptation to our country. Moreover, he saw this separation of our people in how the Italians gravitated to the cities while our people embraced the country sides where they found their very own paesani. Fr. Bonny was simply not a Tyrolean nor did he have the emigrant experience to understand these dynamics. Puzzled and surprised, he begrudgingly admitted…Well. “After all our people were 1000 years under Germanic sovereignty.”

Well, then….did our emigrants know of Andreas Hofer?

Were they inspired and motivated by him? Maybe… probably…likely? But it really does not matter since our emigrants simply replicated the very same Tyrolean culture that they had in common with Andreas Hofer.

While Hofer took up arms and did battle with the would be invaders and destroyers of the Tyrolean land and culture, our emigrants had the required courage to escape poverty and take on the struggle and challenge of adapting to their new country, establishing and protecting their family…while possibly keeping up the remembrance that who they were is who they had been. Hence, we salute our Tyrolean hero…truly our brother!!!

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Hiemat...the Homeland

Most recently, Dr. David Tomasi, a special friend and contributor to the Filo`… responded to an email of mine regarding Andreas Hofer with a celebratory expression in German that included the word heimat and translated simply said…God bless our homeland. It was also the expression of Hofer who expressed the very same attachment and love for his lands as have our very own emigrants parent and relatives as they remembered with nostalgia and affections their valleys, mountains and communities of the Tyrol they had left behind. My son Christian warned about the word as regards its connotation. So I called David. Here is his response…

Let me start by saying that your son Christian is absolutely right in being extremely careful with the usage of the term "Heimat." In fact, this term is very often associated with the concept of "Blut und Boden" (= Blood and soil). This is very unfortunate, as the concept of blood and soil has been "taken over" by Nazis in their attempt to perpetrate their pseudoscientific claims of Aryan superiority. In general, the concept of Heimat could be viewed in a similar way as the concept of Swastika.

Outside the Western cultural area, especially the US and the EU, the swastika is generally associated with its ethno-cultural and religious meaning, found in most ancient cultures, but especially in Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.

With that commentary and understanding, while remembering that the corruption of the word and its meaning by the horrific Nazi’s in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and realizing that corrupt use of it persists with the White supremacists and neo Nazis in our very own country who raised their ugly heads in Charlottesville, let’s revert to its use and understanding by Hofer and our very own emigrants prior to the annexation to Italy in 1919.

Hiemat is Heimat is a word translating to "home" or "homeland". The word has connotations specific to , and specifically , , so that it has no exact English equivalent. The semantic distinction from simple "home" (Heim) at least by the 16th century is that Heim denotes an individual house (or inhabited by an ) while Heimat denotes the wider () of a people or tribe. It is glossed with patria throughout, and as such is synonymous with .

Luther translates the phrase "the land of my kindred" (terra nativitatis mea ) in Genesis 24:7 as meine Heimat.

indeed the Tyrol with its lands, culture and religious faith.

It was the rallying cry and even the call to arms to defend it from invaders and would be destroyers of their heimat.

The Insurrection of 1809 was a singular historical episode and symbol of such an attachment to one’s homeland. While that Insurrection played out in the geopolitics of a specific area and a specific time, one sees this attachment in evidence in so many cultures and lands. Heimat while a Germanic word and concept, it is interchangeable and replaceable with patria and homeland. Our Native Americans demonstrated this as our nation regrettably took their lands and all too often slaughtered their tribes. In the epic Italian novel of Alessandro Manzoni (I Promessi Sposi-The Betrothed), in the Addio Monti passage, there is presented the thoughts and feelings of a refugee ripped from his valley, homestead, places, customs longing and longing for these precious assets of his existence of his home valley and village. In 1899, Jean Sibelius, the famed Finnish patriot and composer who wrote the song poem Finlandia that evolved into Finland’s anthem. It is replete with the expressions, thoughts and feelings that could easily be put into the mouth of Andreas Hofer.

Consider Googling the words lyrics and singing of Findlandia. This is my song, O God of all the nations…A song of peace for lands afar and mine…This is my home, the country where my heart is… Here are my hopes and dreams, my holy shrine. Your minds and hearts will stir your very own patriotism and love of our country as does the singing of America the Beautiful. …Oh beautiful for heroes proved …In liberating strife…Who more than self, their country loved .Our very own emigrants these felt these very same “heimat” sentiments. Over the years, I have witnessed in my own family and in that of our paesani, this “heimat” type of nostalgia for their monti, their mountains, la nossa val, their valley, il nos paes, their villages, le nosse famee, their relatives. As such, they demonstrated the fundamental epic and pathos of being an emigrant leaving their beloved heimat and courageously embracing a new country placing it aside, burying it or hided in heart and mind to embrace a new country, a new future for the sake and well being of their families. We thank and celebrate them for all they were and did for us.

In the mind and heart of Andreas Hofer, Heimat was

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Tiröler Knödel

Tiroler Knödel is the ultimate Tyrolean dish and is the relative, cousin, paesan of none other than Canederli which were presented and featured in the Filo` some years ago. It even included a song in dialect whose lyrics were the elements and process of making them. This seemingly repetive presentation is worthy of the privileged and beloved status of these delicious dumplings. Moreover, the repetition is indeed useful to illustrate of how we were ourselves repetitious of each other until after usurping the Tyrol, Italy sought to draw a line of separation and division, while the humble Filo` decided instead to unite us with a circle rather than a line. As unspectacular as the name may be, these fluffy dumplings with bacon, sausage and fried onions more than make up for it in flavour. They are particularly filling and have always been very popular. There’s a good reason that the Austrians have the old saying: “Du musst mehr Knedl essen.” (“You have to eat more dumplings!”).

There is a legend about the origins of Knödel. Apparently mercenary soldiers once entered an inn and wanted a quick and filling meal. As the cook only had bread, butter, eggs, bacon and milk, this was all mixed together... so the first dumplings.. Today they are a speciality not only in Tyrol but are widespread and a popular export to many countries throughout the world. The truly desired ingredient is Tyrolean Speck, a type of smoked ham. Since it is not easily found in the USA, smoked bacon is substituted with the lard trimmed.

Knödel Ingredients 1 cup stale bread cut into cube\ Salt 1/4 cup of milk (for soaking) 2 eggs 3 tablespoons of bread crumbs 1 onion (finely chopped) 1/2 cup smoked bacon - diced 1/2 cup sausage 2 table spoons of butter 1 pinch of salt & pepper 1 tbsp flour 1 bunch parsley (chopped

Preparing Cut the bread into cubes and pour the warm milk over them. Mix with the eggs and leave to stand for 30 minutes.Peel the onions and chop finely.Dice the bacon and sausage and fry briefly with a little butter in a pan. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Leave to cool for a short while and add to the bread cubes.Add the flour and chopped parsley and leave the dough to rest, covered with a tea towel, for 30 minutes. Fill a pot with water, add a little salt and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, make 10 dumplings from the mixture and slowly place in the simmering water. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.

Strain the dumplings and add to soups or serve as a side with a main dish.

Ingredients

Chop parsley

Chop onion

Dripple the mixture into boiling water

Saute bacon and sausage in butter

Form mixture in round dumplings

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cut the bacon and sausage

Boil 15 minutes in chicken or beef broth or consume`

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A Very Special Family

There occurred an episode with the Crosina Family that is truly Capraesque or a narrative from O`Henry. To appreciate it, it would be useful to remind ourselves of the history of this very special family and their effect on our history.

sioned the artist Giovanni Battista Rovedata to paint the altar piece that depicts the Blessed Mother and child along with saints Barbara and Giustina. There is a basilica honoring Santa Giustina in Padova, the original center of the Crosina family. The painting was the church’s altar piece for several centuries so The Crosina’s were a noble family familiar, comforting and inspiring from Padua. Sometime in middle of to the faithful who gathered each the 13th century escaped persecuSunday for the Eucharistic liturgies. tion…….. and found a place in the In 1978, it was stolen during the small village of Balbido in the night and the beloved portrait went Bleggio of the Val delle Giudicarie. on a clandestine and criminal Despite the newness of their new odyssey throughout Germany from surroundings and the humble status Franfurt and Stuttgart slipping back of their village, there emerged an Recovered Altar piece (pala) of the Church of Santa to Trento and assigned to their Antonio Crosina who became a Giustina-Balbido, Val delle Giudicarie restoration laboratory where priest and then a bishop. He was not an ordinary bishop of an ordinary diocese but none Francesca Raffaelli and Roberto Perino completed the other than the Prince Bishop of the Principato work. In hot pursuit, searching and funding the wide (Bishopric) of Brixen (Bressanone) parallel and co-equal effort to find it was yet another family member Giorgio with the Principato of Trent. Their dioceses represented Crosina. He succeeded and found it and joyfully and trithe most important real estate or territoriality since as umphantly restored it to its place so that the parishioners temporal rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, they ruled could interface with it remininscent of so many of its and safeguarded the all important passage from the families who had previously and piously prayed in front Brenner Pass down to Rovereto. This was the all impor- of it … in company of the those all friends: Mary, Jesus, tant passage, bridge…highway over which all the princi- Barbara and Giustina. palities of Europe traveled to get to Rome safely to get the sine qua non endorsement of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. The importance of this role and function of the Principati rendered them quasi important as the Pope himself. The strategic importance of this territoriality became the reason why Providence, the Church situated the all important Counter Reformation Ecumenical Council in Trento rather than Rome, Paris or London.

As you read, enjoy and learn these 10 years from the 23 issues of the Filo`, please be aware and grateful since the funding and support for the Filo` came from none other than the Crosina family. Indeed 10 years ago, when the Trentino showed its indifference to our community, when after pursuing its governance with Giorgio to no avail, Giorgio continued a Crosina tradition of generosity and said in our dialect…Pago mi…I will pay…the rest How Antonio Crosina emerged from such a humble vil- became history, a history that smacked of an O`Henry lage to the status of a Prince Bishop of world impor- story and a Capra production. tance and significance is fascinating. Since the Filo` is a work constantly in progress, I will keep pursuing his extraordinary ascendency by searching and searching.

The Crosina family intervened historically in the restoration of the church of San Giustina in Balbido of the Val delle Giudicarie where there is displayed the coat of arms of the Crosina family. In 1617, they also commi-

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Family Story:Martello-Pinter

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My nona, Maria centuries. Next came the salad. I Lanner was born in was allowed to pour olive oil and 1892 in the Val vinegar on top of the lettuce. One Rendena of the time I spilled some olive oil on the Tyrol. She married John Pinter, table. She said, “Oh no, that’s bad stone mason also from the same luck!” I thought to myself, “bad Val Rendena. She had three luck,” I am too young to have bad children, Aurelia( my mom), Eric, luck. She told me she could fix it. and Frank. They all lived on She said, put a dab of oil on your Biddle Street in Baltimore, the finger and pat some behind each very same Biddle Street where the ear. So, that’s what I did, and then famed Wallis Simpson lived with she said, “Now you’re good.” her mother in 1908 and who There were so many other maried the Duke of Windsor, superstitions I had to learn. Some Edward VIII thereby abdicating that I remember are: never turn a The Pinters his right to the throne. The loaf of bread on its top, never cross Back Row: Frank, Nono John & Eric Front Row: Aurelia & Nona Maria extended Pinter family that a knife and fork, the number seven included my mother and father, Cornelio Martello and is good, but 13 is bad, and six is even worse. Never Aurelia Pinter Martello moved to Lafayette Ave in sweep over someone's shoes. I almost forgot when you Baltimore where nona, a strong and energetic woman cook with love, you also sing. As my grandmother was singlehandingly managed the household, a veriable stirring, she would sing and sing, and all I could do was boarding house, where she prepared meals, cleaned stand there with a smile on my face. After the meal, my house and did the laundry for 11 persons which then uncle Frank would get his accordion, and my mother included as well as a German woman with son Klaus… would sing until it was time for me to go to bed. My and subsequently me and my sister Theresa who were uncle Frank played the accordion for most of his life. born there in 1947 and 1948. Nono Pinter plied his He carried his accordion on the troopship during WWII, mason skills in the building of St Catherine’s Church in and during the invasion of Saipan, the accordion was Baltimore. struck by a bullet, which saved his life.

What I remember as a five-year-old in 1952 was my grandmothers kitchen. It was bright and warm place filled with lots of love. My grandmother would hold and hug me so tight I thought I would burst. I could smell the scent of cornmeal, tomato sauce, and some kind of spice on her apron. She would say, “Today, we are going to make polenta, and I want you to pay attention and learn because one day you will have to do this.” Seventy years later, I am still doing what she taught me. I learned so many things in the short time I had with her. I can still see that large copper pot she had to cook the polenta in. It could have been 100 years old. She would put it on the woodstove, and after the water started to boil, she would add the cornmeal and would stir and stir with a wooden stick whose end was wider and called canna in our dialet. I still have that wooden canna.

My grandmother would always tell me to listen to your parents and be a good boy. I had this feeling years later that she knew her time was short with me, and I believe that is where those long hugs came from. It was like she never wanted to let me go. The next year was 1953, and she was gone. To lose such a strong and loving woman was hard on the family. She never lost her Austrian roots. I loved every second I spent with her, and she taught me so many things.

I miss her very much. I want to thank my cousin Robert Martello and Chris Pierorazio for their help in remembering. Written by Cornelio “Neil” Martello, The old-world customs came into play, the copper pot Kelso, Washington and only using a wooden spoon, and only cutting the Chris Pinter, Nona Maria Pinter & polenta with a string. She told me polenta goes back for Cornelio “Neil” Martello 19

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Geneology Corner #12

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he COVID pandemic has brought special challenges to genealogists, as the LDS Family History Centers around the world, where so many people do their research, have all been closed. And although the Diocesan Archives in Trento are finally open again, travel restrictions have prevented many of us from going to Trento to do research. But ‘lockdown’ does NOT mean our genealogical progress needs to stop. Here are a few ideas for how you can start or improve your family tree, even amidst these challenges.

For example:

Create a System for Naming Images

Run Error Reports

The more digital images you have, the more difficult it will be to locate them unless you have a system for naming them. If you have been haphazard with your labelling, now is the perfect time to relabel your images so they are easily findable. The system I use is, date, surname, first name, event. For example:

If you use a program like Family Tree Maker, this is a great time to run error reports to identify any missing or duplicate information in your tree. You might also want to run an ‘undocumented facts’ report, to see where you have not yet linked any sources.

Hazleton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, USA Revò, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

Standardize Spellings of Names Prior to the 20th century, there was no concept of standardized spelling for names in Trentino documents.

Moreover, the names in older documents were written in Latin, even though they would have been known by their Italianate versions. I believe our trees are much more understandable if we choose and use one spelling for Getting Started – Ideas for Beginners names and surnames in our trees. This can help identify If you are just beginning, start by recording everything family connections more quickly, as well as help avoid you can about your family AFTER they arrived in the accidental duplicate entries. The exception, of course, is US. Once that is done, and you can then begin searching when names changed after immigration. for your ancestors on Nati in Trentino, a database of Cite Your Sources! births in Trentino between 1815-1923. I wrote about this website in a previous issue of Filò, and you can also find ‘Sources’ are the documents that provide evidence of a fact. Many people enter facts into their family trees a video tutorial on how to use it on my website. without saying where they obtained the information.

Scan Documents and Photos Thus, they have no way of proving the information is If you have a boxful of documents and family photos correct, nor any easy way of finding the document again. gathering dust, now is the perfect time to scan them into If you have not cited or linked your sources in your digital format using a flatbed scanner. There are many family tree, you might use this time to do so. I explain economical ones on the market, and many printers also how to cite sources in an article called ‘Genealogical Breadcrumbs’ on my Trentino Genealogy website. have flatbed scanners.

I hope this article has helped inspire you to work on your family tree, even during these challenging times. I feel 1930_SerafiniLuigi_USCensus blessed to have been able to continue research for most 1919_SerafiniRomeoFedele_baptism of my clients during the pandemic, as I have many parish Fix and Standardize Place Names records in my home library. But I really cannot wait until Many people end up with a mishmash of place names in I can get back to Trento again. their trees. I have seen trees where the same place is LYNN SERAFINN is an author and genealogist entered five or six different ways. This can easily happen specializing in Trentino, where her father was born. Her if you have merged a lot of sources from different online website is TrentinoGenealogy.com. Come join her websites. I recommend going through all your place Trentino Genealogy group on Facebook. names and make sure the same place is entered only ONE way. This is easiest to do in a program like Family Tree Maker. Be sure to include the county/province, state/region, and the name of the country.

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Quel Mazzolin di Fiori...

For the past 23 issues, the Filo` has presented, analyzed the lyrics and music of our traditional Alpine songs sung by trained choirs and choral masters.

However, there is the principle regarding singing and our people…Due Tirolesi…un coro! Two Tyroleans…one choir. We loved to sing in groups where ever we gathered on festive occasions, in the village piazza, in our homes and at the evening Filo` gatherings. The themes were the inspiring mountains, the loving relationships with friends and family, courtships, the battles for their homeland, and their daily lives. The Filo` now goes no further than YOU…your families, your gatherings, your relatives. The Filo` celebrates these mini choirs of two or three or more without a conductor but simply sought to relive the memories of their villages and recapture the feelings. I have a memory of our family and of our family gatherings where the choral singing…inexplicitly and naturally singing a capella. In particular, I Maria and Joseph picking edelweiss in the Brenta Dolomites fondly recall in the New York area, on Sunday after mass, where as many as 10 families found their way via subways to gather at a remote park. After eating their polentas, they sang and sang together fascinating the passerby’s who bumped in to us…and stopped and listened and were fascinated as they listened. Hence, the Filo` salutes and celebrates these mini choirs who on so many occasions and in so many places throughout the USA recaptured the sounds of our Alpine origins. So… close your eyes and listen with your memory…Quel mazzolin di fiori….

Quel mazzolin di fiori Che vien dalla montagna E guarda ben che non `l se bagna Che la voglio regalar.

That bouquet of flowers The comes from the mountain Watch well that is get wet Since I want to give as a gift.

Lo voglio regalare Perchè l è un bel mazzetto Lo voglio dare al mio moretto Questa sera quando `l vien.

I want to give it as a gift Because it is a beautiful posey I want to give to my boy friend This evening when he will come.

Stassera quando `l viene gli fò `na brutta sera e perchè sabato de sera e no l è vegnu da me.

This evening when he comes I will make an awful evening and becasue is Saturday evening and he did not come to visit.

No l`e vegnu da me l è andà dalla Rosina perchè mi son poverina mi fa pianger e sospirar.

No he did not come to me He went to Rosina Because I am need It makes me cry and sigh.

Mi fa pianger e sospirar sul letto dei lamenti E cosa mai diran le genti cosa mai diran di me?

It makes me cry and sigh on the bed of my grievances And what will people say What will they say of me.

Diran che son tradita Tradita nell`amore: E a me mi piange il cuore

They will say that I was betrayed Betrayed in love E for my heart cries and will always cry.

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Vezzena of the Highlands

Levico Terme, a town nestled in the heart of Valsugana (Eastern Trentino), is a place rich in history and traditions. Alongside the renowned spa tourism, the city offers a pearl linked to peasant culture: Vezzena cheese, coming from its magnificent mountain huts(malghe). On the side of the Valsugana which borders with Asiago there is in fact the Vezzena Plateau, reachable by a narrow road that climbs between the limestone rocks. This road is called "Kaiserjägerstrasse" or "menador" for the locals, as it was built in the late nineteenth century by Hapsburg alpine hunters and over time became a strategic supply shortcut for troops during the Great War of 1915-1918. The Vezzena

Highlands of Levico

Plateau has an altitude between 4600 ft and 5577 ft above sea level and looks like a large basin characterized by boundless and flat expanses of pastures, which have been exploited since time immemorial for the summer grazing of animals and the production of excellent malga cheeses Vezzena cheese, which has always been considered the most typical and ancient cheese of Tyrolean origin, can probably be traced back to the 15th century: in the "Report to the Doge on the state of pastoralism of the

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Altopiano dei Sette Comuni" of 1598, the Inspector of the Republic of Venice for the border areas, Count Caldogno, reported that "the famous mountain of Vezzena is the most excellent of all the others for the quality of pasture producing gentle and nutritious herbs.

In its pastures the Livegani (people of Levico)put their own animals to the sum from 5 to 600 cows, 3,000 sheep and 1,500 goats with many horses yet it still remained a place to graze a greater number of animals ".

The pastures of the Vezzena plateau were considered of particular value for the quality of the grass and the cheeses that were born from them. In the nineteenth century, the scholar A. Perini wrote in his work "Statistics of Trentino": "the pastures and meadows of Monte Vezzena are famous in Trentino for their production of butters and cheeses". Tradition has it that Vezzena was extremely appreciated also by the rich Austrian families of the Empire, so much so that the emperor Franz Joseph of Austria always liked to have it on his table at the court of Vienna.

The territory was also described with wonder by other observers of that century: "the Municipality of Levico can rightly be proud of its Vezzena huts(malghe) ... The Vezzena mountain is made up of sixteen grandiose malghe where thousands of cows graze in the summer ", reported an anonymous chronicler of the Rovereto newspaper" Il Raccoglitore "in a report dedicated to Levico. From these testimonies it is clear how important Vezzena cheese was for the city of Levico and for the livelihood of local breeders and herdsmen. The tradition of Vezzena cheese production continues to this day. Of the 16 malghe historically present on the plateau, 10 remain active, almost all with the presence of dairy cows

Levico themselves as “formài da polenta” (cheese for polenta). It can be grated as a seasoning on soups, minestrone soups and traditional Trentino dumplings (Canederli)A. Until the arrival of the more famous Grana cheese or Parmigiano Reggiano, Vezzena was in fact the only cheese in Trentino used for grating. Also

As in the past, evening milk is still skimmed by natural surfacing and added to that of the morning as soon as it is milked. The processing is done manually in large copper pots heated over a fire, according to recipes handed down from father to son. Each hut, depending on the quantity of milk available, produces from 5 to 10 or more cheeses per day, weighing about 22 pounds.

About 27 gallons of milk are needed to make a form of Vezzena.

The secret of Vezzena lies not only in the richness of the mountain pastures and the skill of the dairy farmers, but also in the aging. In fact, it is a cheese that is not consumed fresh but only after several months, because only thanks to time it acquires the typical and peculiar characteristics that make it unique. In fact, we speak of different types of Vezzena according to the degree of maturation: “mezzano” (minimum 4 months of maturation), “old” (8-12 months) and “very old” (18-24 months). It is therefore a very intense cheese, which offers the dual possibility of using it as a table cheese or grated.On a wood trivet, Vezzena is a pair to hot polenta.For the table accompanied, for example, with a hot polenta, with which it goes perfectly thanks to its savory and slightly spicy flavor. It is no coincidence that in the longer seasoning, it is defined by the inhabitants of

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really interesting is the pairing of Vezzena with Trentino wines. Younger, it goes well with a Trentino DOC Lagrein or a Trentino DOC Marzemino, while for the "very old" forms a Teroldego Rotaliano DOC is recommended. If it is really very seasoned, over 24 months, it tends to be quite spicy: try pairing it with a Vino Santo Trentino! Written by Francisco Gubert, Val di Ledro, Agronomist, Agricultural Consultant, Author

Bread Baking in the Sudtirol

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Baking bread on the farm took almost a whole week and involved a lot of work. That's why bread was baked only two to four times a year, but in large quantities. The joy of all family members was even greater when finally fresh bread came on the table!

Preparing the bread dough

The farmer's wife started the preparations a few days before the actual baking day. She prepared the sourdough in a wooden container. The farmer's wife mixed rye flour with water for several days. This porridge fermented and then tasted slightly sour. The sourdough

Kneading the dough itself was exhausting work, so it was mostly done by men. Finally, the farmers drew a cross in the bread dough.

This enabled them to recognize whether the dough had been sufficiently kneaded, they thanked God for the ingredients and at the same time asked him for a good baking day.

The dough still had to rise a little. Then the farmer's wife took a handful of dough and skillfully formed one loaf of bread after the other. She put the loaves of bread on wooden boards covered with a cloth made of linen and dusted with flour. As soon as the whole dough was formed into loaves of bread, the socalled "Preatlan", the actual bread baking could finally start!

The oven and the bread baking

Outdoor bread oven on display- Teodone Museum replaced the yeast and made the bread dough rise. On the evening before the baking day, the farmer's wife added rye flour and warm water again and left this dough in the warm room, the Stube, overnight. Then she added salt and spices to the bread dough. The bread spices were: common caraway, coriander, fennel and bread clover. The spices improved the taste of the bread and helped digest the rye flour.

Grain milling machines

Almost every farm had its own oven. It was either attached to the farmhouse or a little apart from it. The oven was heated up about one to two hours before the bread was baked. The farmer made a fire in the oven that slowly burned down. He had to spread the glowing pieces of coal evenly over the entire oven floor so that the whole plate became hot. Before he began to put the bread in the oven, he removed all the coal and ash residue from the oven. To do this, he used a device called the "Ofenzuise". Then he cleaned the stove plate with the a wet cloth. Then the oven was ready and the bread could be “shot in”! This was the name given to the activity when the individual loaves of bread were pushed into the oven. It had to be done very quickly so that the heat wasn't lost. The farmer's wife took one loaf of bread after the other from the breadboard and placed it on the farmer's oven shovel or bowl.

Loaves being formed

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Fragrant delicious bread!

Wooden bread frame The bread is ready With the oven shovel, the farmer wooden bread stands or frames. These could push the loaf of bread into the oven. When all the were hung in a dry and well-ventilated room so that the loafs were in the oven, he closed the oven hatch to keep bread would not get moldy. The bread frames were the heat in the oven. After about 30-60 minutes the bread mostly hung from the ceiling so that the bread was safe was ready and the farmer took it out of the oven with the from the mice. The bread got harder and harder over same device, the oven shovel. time. The farming family therefore used a device called „Brotgrammel“ to cut the bread into small pieces. This Storing the bread was a wooden box with a heavy knife in the middlet At The large amount of bread had to be stored in such a least twice a day, the family ate milk with chunks bread in way that the farming family could eat from it for several it, in the morning and in the afternoon. Written by months. That is why the farmer's wife put the bread in Barbara Taferner, collaborator, South Tyrolean Folklore Museum in Teodone/Dietenheim Ingredients 200 g rye flour 200 ml lukewarm water (30 °F) 20 g fresh yeast 500 g rye flour & 300 g wheat flour 20 g fresh yeast dissolved in 900 ml warm water (104 °F) 20 g salt &5 g fennel&5 g cumin &5 g coriander 10 g bread clover

Brotgrammel-Bread cuter

Preparation Sourdough starter:Dissolve the yeast in warm water, mix all ingredients well, cover with a moist cloth and leave to rest in a warm place (86°F) for 1 hour. Knead the sourdough with all ingredients to form soft dough. Place in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 15−20 min. Dust the dough with rye flour, divide into 10 pieces of similar size, form small or medium size rolls and arrange on an oven tray covered with baking paper, allow to rise for 30−40 min, then bake in a preheated oven at 450 ° for approx. 45 minutes.

The Stube- the Gathering Room

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N OS D IALET...O UR D IALECT #24

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Putting aside for this issue grammar and syntax, let me present, boast and celebrate the multispinous sounds of the Tyrol . The mountains of our people created natural enclaves where there were cultivated different sounds and customs. There is a reflection or a replication seen and heard in the Polyglot Austrian Hungarian Empire consisting a variety of nations and populations making different language sounds and words. There are approximately 18 vallies in the Welchtirol (now the Trentino) each once spoke a dialect. For example, in the Val Rendena, they spoke dialects named il Pinzoler and il Rendener; In the Val di Non, they spoke Nones; In the Val delle Giudicarie, they spoke il Giudicarese and et cetera for the rest of the valleys. Geopolitics intruded so that Napoleon changes the name of the Sudtirol to Alto Adige while the Tyrol historically referred to the Trentino as the Welchtirol since it did not speak German nor did it speak Italian as opposed to italic linked dialects.

Beginning in 1774, the Empress Maria Teresa obliged the children of the Tyrol attend school until they were 12 years old thereby enabling their literacy and providing them with a certain bilinguality into their emigrant tool kit.

Nestled in both the Welchtirol and the Sudtirol were several very distinct languages (as opposed to individual dialects). They were the Mochen of the Val dei Mocheni, the Cimbro of Lucerna and the Ladino spoken in several communites of several valleys. Then, of course and significantly, there was Deutsch, German spoken primarily in the Sudtirol. Dr David Tomasi, a special friend of the Filo`and quite the scholar, taught me that within the Sudtirol itself, there were dialects as well such as Badiot(Val Badia), Nortades(,Kurtatsch, Kurtinig, Laag, and Salurn), Gherdener(Val Gardena). You are invited to tune in to his movie channel and hear him provide a narrative in the Ladino language. In future issues, we will offer more and diverse sounds of our Tyrolean ancestry. https://youtu.be/vIy-2IBWKrU

LISTEN TO THE DIALECT: Consider making the effort to go the website to hear the sounds and nuances of how our people communicated. Website: http://www.museosanmichele.it/alfabeto-delle-cose/

DIALECT SHOW & TELL #1 La Cosina-the Kitchen Let’s look to the illustrations on the opposite page, observe their labels of the items. Starting from the top and going left to right…We will cite the dialectal word in the illustration and literally translate it into English. The Italian equivalent will not be cited. These words and nomenclatures are derived from the dialect around Tione Fogolar/the fire place Parol (over the fire)/pot Banca del foch/bench flanking the fire Moi/pinchers Paleta, pala dal foch, dale brase-ash shovel Sopion/fire stoker Cadena dal frogar/ dal foch/fire chain Anel/chain link Rampin/pot holder Gradela/grate Marmita /pot Lavec/Bronze pot with 3 “feet” Cavra dal Foch-goat of the fire (andirons) Brusin/brustolin/coffee & orzo toasters Manecia/.handle Scandia/ Credenza Pomol/knob caset/drawer

Cogoma/coffee pot Quert/coert/pot cover Cop/cup/piat x Padela….ladle Padela (parts- font.fond- interior..

Cul (bottom)ass Cogome/coffee pots Manach/handle Cochirol/coffee pot spout Manecia-coffee pot handle Pila/pilota….granite pestle used to grind coffee, toasted orzo and other grains Pugnata/pot Trpe`….3 feet Raspet/scraper Pala/oven peel Pomol/knob caset/drawer Cazdrel/crazdel/XXXXX 28

The illustrations opposite this page are those of Helene Lageder; they appear in the Dizionario del Dialetto di Montagne di Trento of Corrado Grassi, produced and distributed by the Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina, San Michele all`Adige

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Legends: The Nörggen...

The Passeier Valley is rich in traditional legends and stories that are populated by all sorts of strange characters, devils, punished criminals and treacherous witches. However, a striking number of legends deal with "Norggen" and "Nörggelen", which correspond to the dwarfs and goblins in other areas. These dwarves who can be helpful as well as bad. Probably due to the proximity to the Monteneve mine, the dwarves of the Val Passiria bear a striking resemblance to the miners of the Middle Ages.

Most of the time they show themselves to be lovable and helpful characters who even help the farmers with their work. Ambivalent to this, however, they can also show a completely different face, in which a very malicious side comes to the fore and in which they feel like all sorts of

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disapproving jokes The "Nörggen" appear to be made of old leather, wear a white cloak down to their feet and are no taller than a meter. The Nörggen were once very well known in Val Passiria where, arriving from the Aurine Alps, they stayed for a long time. Interestingly, their external appearance is similar to that of the miners of the early Middle Ages. They are depicted as little men and they wear the typical work clothing that once served as protection in the low and damp tunnels. It seems reasonable to assume that the image of the Norggen was influenced by the miners who were formerly active in the nearby Schneeberg mine.

They were treacherous and played tricks on the peasants, but above all they teased the peasants while they were working. For example, they took off their stools while they were milking or gave them slaps. But no one ever managed to catch them. They were only noticed by their giggling. When the Nörggelen were in a good mood, they were helpful: often in the morning the farmers found the work in the stable already done. But even then the Nörggelen's presence was noticeable only because of

their giggling, because they enjoyed seeing the peasant women who had got up early in vain. Over time, the Nörggen started playing tricks and moved to the Picco della Croce and to the lake on the Gansöhr alp, which is still called "Norggensee" in their memory, meaning "Lake of the Nörggen".

The “Norggensteig” themed trail is dedicated to them, the Path of the Dwarves to be discovered in S. Leonardo.

The Norggensteig Trail in Val Passiria/Passeiertal Valley leads to a storybook world. The theme trail starts from the Sandhof farmstead (inn and Museum.Passeier), following the Gandöllenweg Trail along the Passer River and through a biotope to Auerbrücke bridge. Across the bridge and past a water wheel there’s an uphill hike to the Auerhof inn. En route, it’s worth stopping to take a look at the roadside shrine. After passing the farm, the trail leads through the woods where a lookout point yields magnificent views of San Leonardo and its surroundings.

The forest trail continues into a small clearing with depictions of local fables and legends, as well as a gaming table, swings and a wooden picnic table. Passing a cave and a forest hut on the ascent through the Norggental Valley, the trail leads through a tangled forest road to the Waldfrüchte Station. Ahead lies a downhill stretch over the grass down to the water station.

Continuing downhill on the tar road then on a narrow path, until the Enerpass electric power station where one can pause and contemplate the nearby apiculture and fishing theme trail. The return to the starting point is along the Passer River towards San Leonardo or on the Gandöllenweg trail.Written by Verena Depaoli, Terlago, Trentino

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My Father: Alessandro Facinelli

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Revó due to the war. Therefore he My father, Alessandro was born in Revó (Val spent World War II in New York City. di Non) on Feb. 8, Due to the war, in those years my 1896. His life was one mother only received one letter. That of sacrifice. Alessandro grew up with letter from my father was delivered his older brother Peter, younger through the Red Cross. brother Rico and sister Maria. At the For those 5 years my mother Clorinda age of 18 he was recruited by the was the sole provider for our family.

Austrian army as Kaiserjäger and he My mother had to be the breadwinner. was sent to fight in the mountains of She was responsible for milking the Col di Lana in the front lines. He was cows, working our land, cooking, never instructed how to shoot a rifle cleaning, as well as washing clothes by but they placed him with an experihand in the village fountain. Our enced soldier. This soldier taught how home in Revó had no running water Clorinda and Alessandro Facinelli to shoot. My dad’s first job was to so our mother also had to go to the Wedding photo: April 17, 1926 supply ammunition and he learned village fountain everyday to get the very fast how to handle the rifle. So at 18 years old, he water to use for drinking and for cooking food. She had became a sharpshooter. The war was difficult, with very a very tough time raising all 5 children all by herself with little food, proper clothing and supplies. When the no help and very little money. My father finally was able enemy stopped shooting Alessandro and his partner had to return to Italy in 1946. I met my father for the first to search through the dead bodies for food and even time when I was 6 years old. My father taught me the boots when needed. Alessandro and his partner even meaning of hard work as we worked the fields of remembered coming across two chocolate bars that last- Northern Italy. We would leave at six o’clock n the ed 15 days. This was the unpleasant reality of war. After morning and return in the evening. It was slow steady 2 years of fighting my father was captured and impris- work that brightened with our lunch. We were lucky to oned. They sent him to Russia where he spent the rest of have my mother bring us hot meals which usually conthe war there as a prisoner. After the war ended, he start- sisted of polenta and krauti and/or gnocchi. I only ed the long trip home, mostly walking and hitchhiking. spent 12 years with my father because in 1958 I went to More than a month later, Alessandro finally reached America to join my 2 sisters and my brother, Cornelio. I Revó. was able to come to the United States with an American After a year in Revó, he went to America to join his older brother Peter who was in America since 1914. Peter resided in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Alessandro started working in the coal mine at the side of his brother. In the year 1925 Peter died, at the age of 33, from black lung disease. After his brother’s death, my father (who was now 30) came home to Revó where he met my mother Clorinda who was 19. They married, but after only 3 months together, he left again for America. However he returned to Revó in 1929 and they had their first child, Anna, who was born in 1930. Altogether, Alessandro and Clorinda had 5 children; Anna 1930, Memi 1932, Beppina 1934, Cornelio 1935, and me (Peter) 1940. My father’s last trip to America was in 1939, when he left for America and he did not know that my mom was pregnant with me. My father was unable to travel back to

passport because I had dual citizenship due to my father.

In 1959 my father died at the age of 63 from black lung disease, just like his brother. After my father’s passing, we decided to bring mamma to America. My mother Clorinda stayed with me in an apartment in Brooklyn.

She got a job at a factory as a seamstress and she loved her work. When I married my wife Bruna, my mother moved in with us into the new home I bought in Ozone Park. In this home was where she spent the rest of her years with us until she died at the age of 97 years old.

My family would not be here today without the hard work, perseverance and sacrifices of my father and mother.Written by Peter Facinelli, Sr son of Alessandro Facinelli, Bellmore, New York

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I

Contadini Civil Engineering

In some valleys of the Alps it did not rain enough to produce a good harvest or the amount of hay needed for breeding. The fields and meadows were then irrigated. Irrigation made it possible to increase production by up to a third. To bring water to the fields and meadows, canali (translated channels, pipes) were built that could be several kilometers long. The canali were often built by communities.

The communities also took care of the maintenance of the structure and the distribution of water.

Building a canale was difficult and took time.

The canale in fact, often had to overcome Typical Channel steep rock walls, ravines, woods and very uneven terrain. Moreover, the tools available were very simple: hammers, spikes, axes, saws, picks and shovels. Construction of a canale could take more than ten years.

The canale took water from a stream, sometimes at high altitudes, even over 2,500 meters above sea level. The flow rate ranged from 200 to 300 liters per second, based on the amount of water available, the needs of irrigation and the nature of the route. A short distance from the beginning of the canale, a tank was dug in which the water could slow down the run; materials such as sand or soil were deposited in the tank, which could clog the canal. The tub also had a drain. In fact, the stream could swell due to a storm or because the snow melted quickly so that too much water could enter the channel and this could cause damage. The drain allowed the excess water to return to the stream. The drain also made it possible to stop the flow of water in the canale, when repairs or maintenance work had to be done.

The canale had a gentle and steady slope. Often the canal was dug into the ground and lined with stone slabs. When the ground was sandy and absorbed too much water, hollowed out trunks were used and

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stuck into each other. The logs were resting on the ground or slightly raised, so that they did not rot. The trunks were made of larch, because larch wood lasts a very long time, even more than fifty years. If necessary, some sections of the canale could be carved into the rock; sometimes there were also underground sections; these were closed by grates that held branches and leaves that the water carried with it. When the canale had to overcome a depression, stone pillars were built and the hollow trunks in which the water flowed were placed on them. If the channel was to follow a vertical rock wall, a long furrow was made in the wall; the groove could be high and deep enough for a man to pass through; at the base of the furrow the channel where the water flowed was dug.

The rock, however, could be too hard and then the hollowed logs are used again. The logs were supported by poles driven into the rock. The poles were fixed to the rock with an ingenious system. A man, tied to a rope, was lowered from above to the point where the canale was to pass. Here with a bit and a hammer he dug a fairly deep hole in the rock. Then he took a pole the size of the hole.

A cut had been made at one end of the post and the tip of a wedge was inserted into the cut. The man inserted this end of the pole into the hole he had dug in the rock; then with a club he hit the other end several times. Thus the wedge was pushed against the rock and penetrated the cut, the head of the pole widened and remained well stuck. A very simple and practical system! Alongside the canale there was always a path that was used by the water keeper to check that everything was in order. In the most difficult sections the path was very narrow, sometimes an exposed and dangerous boardwalk. When the water reached the fields and meadows, the water guardian provided the distribution.With a movable bulkhead, it barred the canale and diverted the water to the land to be

After the established time had elapsed, he removed the bulkhead and the water resumed flowing in the channel towards the next ground. The irrigation shifts were precisely established. Often the system was very complicated, because a canale could carry water to more than three hundred fields and meadows. When the water reaches his land, the farmer had to distribute it over the entire surface in the best way. To do this he had to know very well the variations in slope and the hollows of the field or meadow; he had to know the composition of the soil, because a sandy soil absorbs more water than a clayey soil; had to evaluate sun exposure and therefore the need for more or less irrigation. It also had to prevent the ground from collapsing by absorbing too much water.

To obtain a good result, the farmer did not let the water flow freely; instead, it dug a series of small channels so that the water reached all the points where it was needed; then he closed the channels, placing wooden planks or

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stone slabs in the right places; so the water came out of the canals and wet the ground where and when the farmer saw fit. Written by Luca Faoro, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina

The village fontana was another target of the irrigation channels. The fontana had two sections. The first section was potable water for people and their cattle. The second section was for washing clothers as seen...my mom Adele, my Zia Rita and my dad returning from mushroom picking in the woods.

The Filò Goes South!

Normally, such an expression would suggest a finality…a conclusion of the Filo`. Nothing could be further from the truth. The South direction is accurate but it is a positive development, a direction, a renewal.

The South is none other than South America. It is over 4 years that I have been collaborating with friends in the Trentino to establish or import the Filo` in two versions: one in Portuguese and another in Spanish to serve Brazil and Argentina. Here are some details.

The Filo` has had ten years of circulation, 24 issues and a total of 864 pages replete with articles and images. My role and function will be a behind the scenes active partner sharing all my files of articles and images. They will accomplish the translation into the two languages. I will share my knowledge and experiences in the production of the Filo` manuscripts as regards software and editing tasks. Over these years, I have also created the website, the registration module and the storage of the issues on the site. Here too, we can collaborate either following the USA model or combing the two Filo’s on one and same website. I have attended to the distribution of the Filo` via US postal service following their requirements and specifications. While totally unfamiliar with such postal issues in South America, the mailing or distributions experiences of the USA Filo` will be a very important guide in negotiating the postal service requirements of another country. Finally, fund raising for the USA

Finally, fund raising for the USA Filo` has had a unique history. I will share how we succeeded these last years in keeping the Filo` free of charge to the subscribers I will share how we succeeded these last years in keeping the Filo` free of charge to the subscribers.

Associated with all those beloved ancestors of ours who have passed from us to the al di la`,the beyond, I call upon them to bless and support this worthy initiative. The lesson of the Filo` is to enhance the cultual literacy of our heritage and our very identity. Hence, it is wonderful to embrace our South American sisters and brothers in our historic fellowship…or in the words of Psalm 133..

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Stay tuned.

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Pinot Grigio

One of the three classic Burgundy varieties. Pinot Grigio was selected from a mutation of Pinot Noir. The unstable, grayish-redcolor of the grapes is due to a periclinal chimera, with the skin of the berry containing types of tissue that are genetically different from each other and layered over each other. The ease of mutation is maintained in this way, & thus differences in color with blue or white bunches, including individual grapes, are to be observed. Cistercian monks supposedly brought the variety in 1375 from Burgundy to Lake Balaton in Hungary, where it got its name Szürkebarát (“gray monk”) as an allusion to those who brought it. In Germany as Grauburgunder (“gray Burgundy”), while in Austria it has a slightly different name: Grauer Burgunder. It may also be found as Roter Burgunder (“red Burgundy”) in the older specialized literature. The synonym in German Ruländer arose in the middle of the eighteenth century.

In Germany,the name depends upon the type of wine: Grauburgunder describes the dry variant, while Ruländer refers to the semisweet one. Pinot Grigio represents the last development in the dance of names. In the Sudtirol, the grape variety was Ruländer since its introduction.The first planting in Tyrol took place in 1848 at the initiative of Archduke Johann in Appiano-Monte. Up through the end of the nineteenth century, additional vineyards of it were established in Terlano, Appiano, Caldaro, Ora, Nalles, Marlengo, Postal, and Scena. In this early phase, the cultivation took place together with the Pinot Blanc variety, with the wine then being sold as Burgunder (“Burgundy”) or Strahler (“radiant”). The variety spread above all else in Hungary, but also to a small extent in Champagne, Burgundy, and Germany. Because of the high fluctuations in yields, though, it gradually fell into disfavor, & by 1930, it hardly had any importance any more. Only after 1960 did the variety experience a Renaissance, at first primarily in Northern Italy. Under the name Pinot Grigio that is common there, it also made the leap to countries overseas. Today, it is represented in nearly all of the winegrowing countries in the world,with the worldwide area of cultivation at around 130,966 acres, mostly in Italy. The regional strongholds of Pinot Grigio are the Veneto , Friuli , Trentino & and Sicily. then the USA. In Europe, significant cultivations are found in Germany, France , of which 90% is in Alsace) and Moldova , followed by Hungary, Austria and Romania. But in other countries overseas, such as Australia and New Zealand Pinot Grigio), the variety has also firmly established itself. In Alto Adige, there are

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currently 1,574 acres planted with Pinot Grigio. It has been the most planted white wine variety here for over three decades now. The majority of the Pinot Grigio vineyards are located in the southern Bassa Atesina, above all in Salorno , Magrè , and Cortina .However, the majority of the grapes are processed in the neighboring province of Trento (in Mezzocorona, but as a result, these wines do not come to the market with the designation of origin as Alto Adige.The second most important subregion for the variety is OltrAdige, with the winegrowing areas of Appiano and Caldaro. Planting has increased continuously, especially after the year 2000. By way of comparison, in 1966, Sudtirol had less than a third of today’s area planted with Pinot Grigio. Burgundy variety is the medium-sized bunches that are either cylindrical or else shouldered, with their nearly brown or grayish-red berries that To avoid rot, the former clones with tight berries have increasingly been replaced by clones that are more disposed to loose berries, which are also lower yielding. The variety flourishes under the most varied of conditions. In the Sudtirol, it is predominantly planted in warm locations on the valley floor.. Soils that are not too fertile yield wines that are better in quality.Depending upon the elevation, different wines will result. Those from the valley floor are mild, rather broad, and with regard to the aromatic quality, they are reminiscent of ripe apples, pears, or quince as well as tones of cantaloupe, but also hazel nuts and coconut.

The wines from higher locations (Appiano-Monte or the Isarco Valley), on the other hand, demonstrate aromas of limes, fresh stone fruit, white peaches, and hay blossoms.

Because of their more prominent acidity, they have a slimmer effect, but they are juicy when drunk.The German name Ruländer appears comparatively infrequently as a varietal wine with the corresponding indication on the label. . On the other hand, the Pinot Grigio Südtirol from the Santa Margherita winery in the Veneto is among the best-known Italian wine brands in the USA at the higher price level. The label in the Sudtirol is itself, the traditional name Ruländer. The name Pinot Grigio that is better recognized internationally has also increasingly been used. The actual type of wine – whether fullbodied and for the most part completely or at least partly vinified with wood,or else fresh and mineral-rich from higher elevations – has no influence upon the language that is chosen for the label. Submitted by Thomas Auscholl, IDM Sudtirol

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our Partners are . . .

Alberto Chini, Presidente of Father Eusebio Chini Museum, Segno Italy Alberto Folgheraiter- Author, journalist & specialist in Trentino culture, Trento Christian Brunelli. Teacher & Technical Consultant, Cornwall, NY Riccardo Decarli Biblioteca della Montagna-SAT- Trento Luca Faoro- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Verena DePaoli, author, Terlago Daniela-Finardi- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Vicenzo Fiore-Auriga Tomaso Iori, Museo della Scuola, Rango, Val delle Giudicarie Giorgio CrosinaAntonella Montanarella-Aurigaauriga David Tomasi, University of Vermont

Our Contributors are . . .

Thomas Auschöll-IDM Suditirol Judith Schwarz-MuseoPassiria Riccardo Decarli-Biblioteca della Montagna-SAT, Trento Alberto Folgheraiter-Author, Journalist Francesco Gubert- Agronomist, Agricultural Consultant, Author Alexander Holzknecht | Tourismusverein Passeiertal Lynn Serafinn- Author, marketing consultant, and geneiologist We remember... The celebrated Spider of the Dolomites, Cesare Maestri passed to the ali di la` at 91 years old. He was the foremost alpinist in the world tackling our Dolomites most difficult peaks as well as the Matterhorn in the winter on the difficult south side where he was suspended for three days and nights. He wrote many books about mountaineering and was a beloved figure. Dio dei Cieli..Signore delle Cime.Lascialo andare su per paradiso....

Photo Credits

Alessandro Facinelli 1915 as aTiroler Kaiserjaeger

Lou’s Scrap Book

The blossomt of our pandemic...

Isabella Brunelli..her nono’s #12 grandchild

Pages: 1, 4-5 Tourismusverein Passeiertal - St. Leonhard. Wikipedia, MuseoPassiria.

Pages: 6-7 Tourismusverein Passeiertal - St. Leonhard. Wikipedia Page 8: MuseoPassiria Page 9: Wikipedia Page 10: Tourismusverein Passeiertal; Wikipedia; Benjamin Pfitscher Page: 20-21 Tourismusverein Passeiertal Page: 24-25 Francesco Gubert Pages 26-27 Brotgrammel: Archive South Tyrolean Folklore Museum;Hermann M. Gasser; Gerd Eder Page: 30 Wikipedia Pages 32-33: Luca Faoro, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della gente Trentino Back cover Benjamin Pfitscher; Tourismusverein Passeiertal - St. Leonhard. Wikipedia, MuseoPassiria Attention Readers:Be aware of our website... filo.tiroles.com where you will find 24 of the past editions of the Filo` detailing the history, culture and customs of our valleys and people. It is our virtual library and resource for both new and old readers.Remember to recruit and prompt family members, relatives and paesani who are not yet registered to register for the Filo`. Direct them to the website to register so that they can discover who they are by learning who they were.

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