Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document havebeen preserved. Anglicized, archaic, or otherwise unusual spellingsof proper nouns were retained as printed. Examples include "Botzen","Kapuzingerberg", "Schonberg" and "Wencelaus". Inconsistent use ofdiacritics was also retained as printed. Obvious typographicalerrors were corrected.
A MAP TO ILLUSTRATE TYROLAND ITSPEOPLE
TYROL AND ITS PEOPLE
TYROL
AND ITS PEOPLE
BY
CLIVE HOLLAND
WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY
ADRIAN STOKES
THIRTY-ONE OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
AND A MAP
METHUEN AND CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
First Published in 1909
PREFACE
In the following pages, which in addition to being arecord of travel in a delightful and too little knownportion of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire, arealso an attempt to present within a reasonable compass anaccount of the national history of a singularly interestingpeople, the author has sought to deal more fully than isusually the case in books of the kind, with the romanceand legend which is closely interwoven with the past of"the land within the mountains," as Tyrol has not inaptlybeen described.
It is truly a land of mountains, valleys, lakes, andrushing torrents that may well have bred the race ofromance-loving, poetic, and hardy people who dwell in it.In the minds of those who know it there arises almostinevitably a comparison with the nowadays overcrowdedand over-exploited Switzerland—and the comparison is,both as regards scenery and general interest, greatly infavour of Tyrol. The tourist and holiday-maker whofrequent Pontresina or St. Moritz will find in this comparativelynew "playground for Europe" beautiful counterpartsof those places in Innsbruck, Meran, Botzen, Kitzbühel,and other delightful towns; whilst the more strenuouslyinclined who delight in mountain ascents will find theDolomite region especially attractive, and in many otherdistricts also interesting climbs. By the shores of theplacid, translucent lakes, and in many a happy, secludedvalley, those in search of rest and quietude will find theirdesire fully satisfied. And in such old-world towns asInnsbruck (of many historical memories), beautiful Salzburg,vicharming Bregenz, Botzen, and Meran the traveller withmore artistic, literary, or antiquarian tastes will delight.
That Tyrol deserves to be better known few who haveonce come under the spell of its charms of scenery, andthe frank hospitality and friendliness of its people, or havewandered amidst its lovely valleys and mountains, will deny.
The early history of this interesting country is shroudedin much mystery, and to place accurately