Two Hundred years ago today......

On the 19th Ocober, 1809, in the Gasthof Sollerer…..

But first, to understand the background. Napoleon had conquered much of Europe, the German princedoms of Bavaria and Saxony, together with Italy were under his control. Austria had held out, partly on a political basis, given that Bavaria and Austria had been allies. Austria had come under increasing pressure from Baviaria to secularise, and in 1805/06, Tyrol was ceded to Bavaria, (ie came under Napoleon's control). Tirolean Catholics were oppressed, and this led to the beginnings of a revolt, lead largely by Tirol farmers and peasants.

In South Tyrol, lived an innkeeper, named Andreas Hofer, a big-bearded, barrel chested man, a Tyrol patriot. In January 1809, he attended a meeting in Vienna, along with other civic leaders, where the key issue was how to fight back against Napoleonic control. Hence, all over Tyrol, farmers, peasants, workers organised themselves into groups. The method of communication, was a meeting in the local stuble, after church on a Sunday. So, my Niederau locals, the Bichlwirt and Simmelwirt were party to this weekly scene. This happened in valleys and villages all over the land, remembering that South Tyrol, now part of Italy, then was joined as Tyrol.

On April 10, 1809, Andreas Hofer gave the signal by the lighting of fires on the mountain tops, so by that night, the whole of Tyrol knew. Two days later, at 5.00am, 15,000 Tyrolese poured down from the mountains into Innsbruck, and in one day, General Bisson surrendered the town to Hofer. A few days later, the Austrian army arrived, and took control, releasing the farmers back to their lands. However, within a few weeks the army had been routed by the returning French. All went calm, and the Emporer again gave Tyrol back to the French.

On the 25th May, Hofer struck again, this known as the First Bergisel battle, and there was no conclusion, as a violent thunderstorm had an effect. More Austrian rifle brigades were involved, and several local commanders emerged, including Josef Speckbacher, from Hall, near Innsbruck. The Wildschonau Sturmloden, (rifle brigade, made up of farmers, and other workers) was lead by Major Jacob Margreiter, from Oberau.

Four days later, the Second Bergisel battle was launched at Innsbruck. The Bavarians retreated, regrouped and by 12 July there was an armistice. Again, to protect Austria, Emporer Franz ceded Tyrol.

On 13th August, the Third Bergisel battle commenced. There were 15,000 Tyroleans, and 15,000 Bavarians, Saxons and French. On each occasion, the Tyroleans fought from the mountain heights. By evening, Tyrol had won, and the Napoleonic troops were retreating down the Inn valley. Within five days, the French and their allies had been chased from Tyrolean soil by the weary but passionate farmers. Hofer was elected Oberkommandent of Tyrol, and took up office in the Hofburg, in Innsbruck.

But there had been huge financial and social problems. The fighters had farms to run, and undoubtedly has lost out on a personal and family level. Tyrol had been weakened, and thus the events of 19th October took place, in the Wildschonau.

By the end of October, Napoleons troops were back in Innsbruck, this time with heavy artillery. On 11 November, the Fourth, and final Bergisel battle was launched, and the Tyroleans were heavily defeated. Over 40 battles had been fought along the Inn valley, between Kufstein castle and Innsbruck in the seven month period in 1809. Andreas Hofer was caught and on the direct orders of Napoleon, shot in Feb 1810.

Many of the areas we now ski in, Niederau and Auffach in the Wildsconau, Alpbachtal, Mayrhofen in Zillertal, Waidring, and many others, had involvement in the patriotic uprising to free Tyrol. The fighters were able to use their knowledge of mountain terrain and pathways to good effect. They could watch the French troops moving through the Inn Valley below them.


And on this day, 200 years ago……
And on this day, 200 years ago, Josef Spechbacher, Major Jacob Margreiter, and Bathasar Bletzacher, a horseman, probably from Alpbach, gathered with other riflemen, in the front stuble of the Gasthof Sollerer, in Thierbach, high above the meandering Wildsconau valley. The front room has old wood panelled walls, is furnished with rough wooden trestle table and benches, an ancient single hand clock, heat emitting from the green Kachleoven. Light emerges from smoky yellow oil lights, hung round the room walls. The snow softly fell in the darkness outside.
In the corner of the room, to the left of the door, as you enter from the hallway, is a drop-down table, hinged at the wall, and with a single fold-down leg. It is painted black, contrasting with the darkened pine walls. Joseph Spechbacher sat at the table, with Margreiter, and he wrote a letter, addressed to all Tyroleans, in the name of Jesu and Maria, die Mutter Gottes, Andreas Hofer, that the Emporer might grant perpetual freedom to all his subjects, and imploring Tyroleans to continue the fight.

The document has passed into folklore, and is called "Die Freiheitkamf". The handwritten original is in the war museum in Munich.Of course it is written in "Old Deutsch", and I have a copy of it. I was grateful to be given a typewritten modern translation, (into German) by a historian in Oberau.

Obviously, the Freiheit did not achieve it's intended effect. But locally, and throughout Tyrol, all the characters remain folk heroes. The klaptisch remains in the Gasthof Sollerer.

And when I sit in the front room of the Bichlwirt, or in the Gasthof Sollerer, I can imagine those farmers gathering together, sipping their beers, smoking their pipes, and chatting about the coming battles. A few had hunting guns, but most were armed with no more than flails, scythes, and pitchforks.

Can I have my five pounds now please Admin?

thanks for the history lesson Dave, very interesting.

Hopefully, not a lesson Freezy, I am fascinated by history of that period, especially when it relates to where I ski.

In one of the Austrian research papers, there is a comparison of the 1809 treatment of the Tyroleans with the much earlier treatment of the Jacobites in Scotland.

What brings it alive, is that wherever you go in France and Italy, the locations are still there.

dave,
wonderful! as a history teacher, having studied europe 1763-1841, i knew a little about napoleon's campaigns in the tirol, but have never related the history to my second home!
see you, L.

Thanks Dave.

The summer Talfest in Niederau this past summer focussed on this. The parades were a great day out.

Well, it is two hundred and one years, but thought it was worth repeating once. It is a big part of the history of Tirol, when the Tirol was used as a bargaining tool with Napoleon.

I imagine that many ski valleys throughout Europe have their own treasured history.

Hofer is now a supermarket (like our Lidls/Aldi) in Austria. I wonder if its named after Andreas?

NellyPS wrote:Hofer is now a supermarket (like our Lidls/Aldi) in Austria. I wonder if its named after Andreas?

Quite possibly, since Hofer is the Austrian Aldi company, operating autonomously. There are two other non-Aldi name variations, and the reason the name for the three companies was varied was to give regional identity.
Slightly ironic since the Bavarians fought for Napoleon, although the Albrect family came from Essen.
There are still strong patriotic pro-Hofer feelings in Tirol, and Sturmloders retain a presence in many villages. Bavarians, on the other hand, take a rather different view of Hofer, and I once had a "heated debate" with a Bavarian, in a hotel in the Highlands!