Asiago (Veneto)

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Asiago
coat of arms
Asiago (Italy)
Asiago
Country Italy
region Veneto
province Vicenza  (VI)
Local name Axiago /
Sleghe / Sleeghe / Schlège ( zimb. )
Coordinates 45 ° 52 '  N , 11 ° 31'  E Coordinates: 45 ° 52 '0 "  N , 11 ° 31' 0"  E
height 1001  m slm
surface 162 km²
Residents 6,470 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density 40 inhabitants / km²
Factions Sasso di Asiago
Post Code 36012
prefix 0424
ISTAT number 024009
Popular name Asiaghesi / Slegar
Patron saint San Matteo
Website Asiago

Asiago (German: Schlege, punches or blows , Cimbrian Sleghe or Sleeghe ) is a city in northern Italy , Vicenza , region Veneto with 6470 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019).

geography

Asiago is located in the Vicentine Alps at about 1000 m above sea level. The up to 2,341 meters high mountains surrounded town is the center of the plateau about Vicenza and Bassano del Grappa settled seven municipalities (Italian Sette Comuni ).

history

The vast Asiago plateau in the southern foothills of the Alps was populated and arable for German farmers from the neighboring Bavarian-Tyrolean region around the year 1000. The seven emerging German towns united in the League of Seven Communities. After the neighboring rulers had recognized these rights and self-administration, the seven municipalities formed a largely independent German peasant republic from 1310 to 1807 . By subordinating themselves to the recognition of the special rights, the seven communities found protection with powerful neighbors, first with the Scaligians of Verona, then with the Visconti of Milan.

The written on 29 June 1310 Statutes of the seven municipalities bear the title: "Dise saint Siben, Old Komeun, Prudere Liben" ( Dear brothers, these are the seven old municipalities ) in 1405 they rose to the Republic of Venice , which the statute and Special rights (e.g. the right to freely carry arms) recognized.

In 1796 the seven municipalities with Veneto became part of Austria. Ownership changed several times during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1807 Napoleon lifted the special statute of the seven municipalities and thus their independence. Until the end of the Napoleonic era, the newly elected pastors had to give a trial sermon in Italian and in Cimbrian .

In 1815 the area came back to Austria and became part of the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. Unaware of the situation on the plateau, the Austrian administration introduced the Italian school and official language, thereby initiating the Italianization of the entire plateau.

In 1866 the plateau was attached to the Kingdom of Italy in the course of the Italian Risorgimento with Veneto . Although German folklorists also began to be interested in the German language island, Italianization was pushed forward quickly after Italian unification. At that time most place names were Italianized. The first ethnologists who visited the island of language tried to explain its existence under the influence of Romanticism by resorting to early Germanic traits to Italy. They said that the Germans of the seven communities were descendants of the Germanic Cimbri who lived in the late 2nd century BC. Moved to Italy and were defeated by the Romans. The self-designation " Zimbern " , which is often used today in the small German-speaking islands of northern Italy, is derived from this erroneous assumption .

The Leiten Memorial, built after the First World War

In 1910 a rack railway from Rocchette to Asiago was put into operation. This gave the place a connection to the transport system.

When the Italian-Austrian front ran through the middle of the plateau of the seven municipalities during the First World War , the inhabitants were resettled in the Po Valley, where they were forbidden to use their German dialect. Many did not even return to their destroyed homeland, so that the German tradition was under severe pressure. The fascism (1922-1943) dealt the death blow to the last remnants of the German language and cultural life by forbidding the use of German dialect in the private and family use.

Today only modest remnants of the German language and tradition can be found on the plateau. In rural life in particular, many expressions have been preserved that the well-known writer and native Schlegener Mario Rigoni Stern used in his literary work. In Roana , dialect German: Robaan (there is the well-equipped cultural institute “Agustin Prunner” there), and in its Mezzaselva district the German dialect is sometimes still spoken, while in Asiago and the other communities the language has died out and only through field names and inscriptions is documented.

In Lusern , about 30 km to the north-west and easily accessible from Asiago via the Vezzena Pass , on the other hand, Cimbrian has been preserved very well to this day.

Asiago was almost completely destroyed in the First World War. In the 1930s, the memorial of the same name with an ossuary was built on a small elevation called Leiten just outside the village . Almost 54,300 soldiers from different nations rest there. There are several Italian and Austro-Hungarian barriers in the Asiago area , which were particularly hard fought over in the first half of the war.

In 2007, a large majority of 94 percent of the population of all seven municipalities (Conco, Enego, Foza, Gallio, Lusiana, Roana and Rotzo) decided in a referendum to separate from the Veneto region and join the Autonomous Province of Trento . The institutional path to realizing this shift is lengthy. There is strong opposition to the change in Veneto.

Administrative division

In addition to the municipality of Asiago, the municipality also includes the Sasso fraction and twelve other hamlets or scattered houses, also known as contrade : Ave, Klama, Longhini, Campomezzavia, Pènnar, Stocke, Laiten, Valdorco (formerly Orkentaal), Ebene, Untargeicke, Podestà, Rodeghieri (formerly Prüdegar), Bosco (formerly Balde), Büscar, Tulle, Bortoni (formerly Bortune), Làmara, Schacher, Oba, Valle (formerly Taal), Vescovi (formerly Bischofarn), Höllar, Rützer, Mosele, Mörar, Coda (formerly Schbanz), Kaberlaba. The contrade belonging to Sasso are: Lobba, Chiesa, Mori, Grulli, Sprunch, Gianesoni, Colli, Cotti, Ecchelen, Ruggi, Caporai.

traffic

From 1910 to 1958, Asiago was served by the Rocchette – Asiago rack railway .

tourism

Today Asiago is a destination all year round and a popular holiday resort at a high level. Celebrities (for example Adriano Celentano ) have also settled in Asiago.

In summer, the tranquility of nature (it is an ideal area for walking and cycling) attracts mostly Italian tourists. In winter it turns into a valued winter sports area. Asiago has a sports airfield , which is mainly used by glider pilots, a golf course and an ice rink , which is home to one of the most successful ice hockey clubs in Italy - Asiago Hockey  .

specialty

Asiago is also famous for the hard cheese of the same name ( Asiago ) with a Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) , which used to be made from sheep's milk, but is now made from cow's milk.

Daughters and sons of the city

Web links

Commons : Asiago  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
  2. ↑ Ivana Pederzani: Un ministero per il culto: Giovanni Bovara e la riforma della Chiesa in età napoleonica. Milan 2002, p. 82.
  3. ↑ Municipal statute in Italian (PDF; 143 kB), accessed on February 23, 2018.