Living as a minority in the autonomy of South Tyrol

By

Albert Pfattner	Alex Valentini

Minorities live in South Tyrol just in one country, but quite separately. German children go to German schools, Italian children go to Italian schools.

Three ethnic groups live in South Tyrol: the German, the Italian and the Ladin. German is spoken by two-thirds of the 429.000 residents of the region. Italian is the other significant language, spoken mostly in Meran and Bozen, the two largest cities. Approximately 118.000 people speak Italian. Ladin is spoken by 17.700 people of two valleys.

With help from the autonomy statute it is now possible for the three ethnic groups to live together "peacefully".

At the end of the First World War, in September 1919, with the treaty of St. Germain, South Tyrol was annexed to Italy and the border was extended until Brennero. After a few years of unsuccessful negotiations between Rom and the newly formed South Tyrolean political parties, "Fascism" came into full power in South Tyrol with specific problems to Italianise every segment of this region, from the administrative sector (public offices, school) to the economic, relational (press) and cultural sectors. Thousand of Italians moved to Bozen each year, new areas were created; the Fascist government fostered the settlement of industrial groups. A few months after Hitler's coming into power, the first repercussions occurred also in South Tyrol. During his first state visit at Rom assured that the Brennero border was untouchable. Thanks to an agreement between Germany and Italy, people had the possibility to decide whether they wanted to remain Italian citizens or become German citizens and emigrate in Germany. 86% of the people of South Tyrol decided to leave and 14% to stay. On 2 May 1945 the allies occupied the territory and the II World War came to an end. The future of South Tyrol was decided. In September 1945, during the peace conference of Paris, the German speaking people of South Tyrol assured complete equality of rights with the rest of the Italian population. In 1969 the regulation called "pacchetto" were approved. In 1972 the relating constitutional law came into force by giving South Tyrol its new self-government.

The begin of this autonomy statute have laid the foundations for a peaceful cohabitation between very different ethnic realities.

The effect of the autonomy statute is still noticeable in present times, but still problems keep arising.

Only in 1989 after long years of drawn-out negotiations was promulgated. The parification of the German language with Italian in the public administration the courts and the police etc. is laid down on the principle of the parity.

Instructors that come with medicines are, for the largest part, still written in Italian. Which causes big problems for elderly people who hardly speak any Italian.

Since the establishment of the autonomy statute in 1972 and its consequent enacting of laws, the teaching of the second language (Italian and German) has become obligatory throughout the entire school curriculum. Schools in the Ladin areas an exception: in nursery schools learning is in Ladin. The schools are based on the so-called principle of " teaching parity" with the same number of hours being given in Italian and in German.

There are two cultures living-together and they try to collaborate by mutual understanding thought in different ways in the schools.

Although they have many characteristics in common the cultural origins and forms of culture expression they are nevertheless very different. The three linguistic groups in South Tyrol should necessarily be seen to be different. Different historical and social traditions mean that depending on the characteristics of the ethnic group in question cultural forms of expression will also be different. In order to ensure the independent cultural development of each linguistic group each has its own administrative and organizational domain. The Italian ethnic group cooperates closely with other Italian provinces and regions while the German and Ladin ethnic groups maintain active contacts with the German and Ladin cultural worlds. Nevertheless there are a number of areas for example in music and art where close cooperation between all three linguistic groups results in mutual enrichment.

The future will bring a closer cooperation between the three ethnic groups, but the cultures will never be as one.