Tiroler Volksblatt

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The Tiroler Volksblatt (in the early years Südtiroler Volksblatt ) was a Catholic-conservative weekly newspaper that appeared in Bolzano from 1862 to 1923 . It was one of the most important mouthpieces and one of the earliest representatives of political Catholicism in Tyrol.

history

The Tiroler Volksblatt was founded in response to the liberal forces in Bolzano. Especially the liberal-minded mayor Joseph Streiter was a thorn in the side of some conservative circles in Bolzano. The already established Bozner Zeitung , which worked closely with the mayor, was to be juxtaposed with a conservative press organ. After the Bolzano Festival of Lights , an event against the Catholic-conservative forces in the city, on November 10, 1861 , the printer Johann Wohlgemuth, the priest Anton Oberkofler, the state parliament member Ignaz von Giovanelli , the bookbinder Heinrich Kirchlechner and the businessman Josef Dallago the Südtiroler Volksblatt. In its reporting, the Südtiroler Volksblatt leaned heavily on the nationwide " Das Vaterland ". In 1868 the name was changed. The Südtiroler Volksblatt became the Tiroler Volksblatt. The name change had two causes. On the one hand, this enabled an impending confiscation to be avoided and, on the other hand, the area of ​​influence of the paper had expanded. In the same year an alliance was formed with the "Neue Tirolerimmen", a newspaper from Innsbruck. The editors of the Tiroler Volksblatt received several praise from the papal side for their work in the 1860s and 1870s. The reason for this were fundraising campaigns organized by the newspaper for the Holy See in Rome , which was threatened by the Risorgimento . After political Catholicism in Austria split into the camp of "mild pragmatists" and "keen fundamentalists" during the Taaffe government , the Tiroler Volksblatt followed suit. This also broke the alliance with the "New Tyrolean Voices" in Innsbruck. The supporters of the mild key gathered around the New Tyrolean Voices in Innsbruck and the supporters of the sharp key gathered around the Tiroler Volksblatt in Bozen. This situation persisted until the late 1890s. When the Christian Social Party was founded in 1894 with the appearance of modern mass parties , and political Catholicism was divided into three parts, so to speak, the slow decline of the Tiroler Volksblatt began. Around 1900 the newspaper tried to position itself between the Christian Socials and the sharp tone that was now called the Catholic People's Party. Ultimately, however, the Tiroler Volksblatt remained a mouthpiece for the Catholic People's Party. When the Christian Socials increasingly prevailed over the Catholic People's Party, this also meant the decline of the Tiroler Volksblatt. In addition, three rival newspapers (Brixner Chronik, Burggräfler, der Tiroler) were founded within the Catholic-Conservative and Christian Social Camp in the 1880s and 1890s, which affected the Tiroler Volksblatt enormously. Mutual alliances with these papers had repeatedly come about and attempts had even been made to appear as a daily newspaper instead of a weekly paper. Ultimately, the loss of importance between 1900 and 1914 could no longer be stopped. After the end of the First World War, the paper was no longer relevant. It was merged with the "Burggräfler" in 1923.

Economic

The financial situation of the Tiroler Volksblatt was initially very tense. The advertising section was extremely meager and there were no money-rich investors. That is why the editorial staff could not afford a well-developed network of correspondents. Much has therefore been taken from other newspapers. Basically, money was pumped into the company through the founding members. For the early days, the Tiroler Volksblatt applied what was true of the majority of the opinion press of the time: 

"Sie verstießen gegen alle Regeln der Rentabilität, oft Verlußtgeschäfte von Anbeginn. Der pädagogische, später zunehmend der politische Impuls, ließ sich sozusagen durch Konkurs finanzieren."

However, a reading casino was set up relatively early in Bolzano, which served as a kind of meeting place for politically conservative circles in the city. This is where local councils, members of the state parliament met and networked. The newspaper's editorial office was also located in these premises. The editors were also able to subscribe to other newspapers thanks to the income from the reading casino. Through this exchange of information, the disadvantage of the lack of a correspondence network could be compensated somewhat.

Editors-in-chief

  • Anton Oberkofler (1862-1893)
  • Johann Steck (1893-1894)
  • Anton Oberkofler (1894-1897)
  • Hieronymus Mayrhofer (1897–1898)
  • Vinzenz Prangner (1899)
  • Balthasar Rimbl (1899–1902)
  • Franz Tschulik (1902)
  • Alois Lintner (1902)
  • Josef Felderer (1902–1908)
  • Josef Burger (1908 -?)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: The national press. S. 1838, S. 1857. In: The Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1912, Volume 8, second part. Edited by Rumpler / Urbanitsch, Vienna 2006
  2. ↑ Christine Mumelter: Joseph Streiter 1804-1873. A forgotten mayor. Bolzano 1998.
  3. ↑ Bernhard Orgler: Das Tiroler Volksblatt (1862-1900). The story of a Catholic-Conservative weekly newspaper. With a comparison to the North Bohemian Volksblatt. Innsbruck 2015, pp. 23–26.
  4. ↑ Orgler, Das Tiroler Volksblatt, pp. 49–52.
  5. ^ Schober Richard, The Tyrolean Conservatives in the Taaffe era, in: Communications of the Austrian State Archives, ed. from the Austrian State Archives, Volume 29, Vienna 1976, pp. 258–272.
  6. ↑ Orgler, Das Tiroler Volksblatt, pp. 56–95.
  7. ↑ Jürgen Habermas, Structural Change in the Public. Studies on a category of civil society, Frankfurt 2013, p. 276.
  8. ↑ Orgler, Das Tiroler Volksblatt, pp. 28–31.
  9. ↑ Volksblatt of April 6, 1912