Читать книгу The Adlerweg. The Eagle's Way across the Austrian Tyrol онлайн

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Austria is a federal republic of nine states. The majority of the population lives in four lowland states, including the capital Vienna, to the north and east of the country. Population density in the alpine states of the south and west, including Tyrol, is much lower.

Tyrol

Tyrol sits southwest of the bulk of Austria, between the states of Salzburg (east) and Voralberg (west). Its dominant feature is the deep west-to-east gash of the Inn valley between the north limestone Alps (Nordlichen Kalkalpen) and the central high Alps, with most of the 700,000 population living along this axis. Tyrol’s northern border, with Germany, runs through the N Kalkalpen, and its southern, Italian, border through the central Alps.

Tyrol’s emergence as an identifiable state began in the 11th century when the Counts of Tirol from Meran (today Merano in northern Italy) gradually extended their control over the whole region. When the last Count (or rather Countess) died heirless, control passed to the Austrian Hapsburgs with Tyrol becoming part of Austria in 1363. Apart from a brief period of Bavarian rule during the Napoleonic wars it has remained Austrian ever since. However, Tyrol today is much smaller than Hapsburg Tyrol, as the peace treaties that concluded WW1 transferred sovereignty over Sud Tirol and Triente to Italy.