Vorarlberg

... More >

of almost Italian appearance, in the Rhine valley, on the shores of Lake Constance and in the lower parts of the Bregenzer Wald through a forest-covered upland region to the peaks and glaciers of the Silvretta group, rising to more than 3,000m/9,800ft. With its deeply slashed and steep-sided valleys, strikingly shaped peaks, fertile fields and great expanses of meadowland, beautiful mountain lakes, clear rivers and mountain streams, flower-spangled pastures, quiet bays on Lake Constance and attractive old towns and villages, Vorarlberg has a charm all of its own.

Vorarlberg is, after Vienna, the most highly industrialized province of Austria and the one with the highest income per head. Since the establishment of the cotton working industry in Bregenz in the middle of the 18th C. Dornbirn has developed into Austria's principal textile town and Lustenau into a focal point in the production of embroidery. Also of great importance to the economy of the region are the hydroelectric installations in the mountains, which are linked to the European grid.

Tourism also makes an important contribution to Vorarlberg's revenue. The principal tourist regions are the Arlberg (Lech and Zürs), Lake Constance and the Rhine valley (Bregenz, Dornbirn and Hohenems), Brandnertal/Walgau (Bludenz, Brand), the Bregenzer Wald (Bezau, Damüls, Egg), the Grosswalsertal (Fontanella/Faschina), the Kleinwalsertal (Mittelberg, Riezlern), the Klostertal (Klösterle), the Montafon (Gargellen, Gaschurn, Schruns/Tschagguns, Vandans) and the Oberland (Feldkirch, Frastanz).

History

Finds in various parts of the region have shown that Vorarlberg was inhabited in Stone Age times. It was later occupied by the Raetians, probably of Celtic origin, who worked minerals here and farmed the land as high as the upper slopes of the hills. Place names such as Schruns, Tschagguns, Gaschurn and Vandans are of Raeto-Romanic origin.

In 13 B.C. the Romans sent an army, led by Augustus' son Claudius Drusus, against the Raetians, who were defeated in a battle at Calliano (now in South Tirol), while another force commanded by Claudius Tiberius marched up the Rhine and almost annihilated the Raetians in a battle at Nüziders. The Romans then occupied the region, built roads and established garrisons.

In 114 A.D. the Alamanni made their first incursion into Vorarlberg. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, about 500, the region came under the control of the Franks. In subsequent centuries it was held successively by Carolingian, Ottonian and Hohenstaufen rulers and was frequently rent by strife between various noble families.

At the beginning of the 15th C. large areas of Vorarlberg were devastated during the "Appenzell War" with the Swiss Confederates, which spread as far as Lake Constance and the Allgäu. The Thirty Years' War also wrought havoc in Bregenz and the surrounding area; and in 1635 Vorarlberg was ravaged by a virulent epidemic of plague.

During the War of Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th C. the people of Vorarlberg valiantly defended their land against France, and during the Napoleonic wars the Vorarlberg militia defeated the French at Feldkirch in 1799. After the peace of 1805 Vorarlberg was incorporated in Bavaria; but in 1813 the Bavarians were driven out and the province reunited with Austria.

The revolutionary events of 1848 passed lightly over Vorarlberg, and the region enjoyed a measure of economic revival.

The First World War did not directly affect Vorarlberg, and in 1918 it was separated from Tirol and given its own provincial government.

In 1939, under the Nazi régime, Vorarlberg became part of the "Reichsgau" of Tirol. Although the region saw practically no military activity during the Second World War, its economy suffered severely. In the spring of 1945 it was occupied by French forces.

During the post war period Vorarlberg has shared the fortunes of the rest of Austria, with a notable development of industry and tourism.

Art

The architectural record of Vorarlberg is relatively modest. Little influenced by the artistic trends which spread from Vienna after the unification of the Habsburg empire, it lacks the sumptuous Baroque creations found elsewhere in Austria.

There was, however, a Vorarlberg school of architects, emanating from the little town of Au in the Bregenzer Wald, which between the end of the Thirty Years' War and the closing years of absolutist rule made a notable contribution to the development of Baroque architecture in the Pre-Alpine region. Many churches and religious houses were built by Vorarlberg architects in southwestern Germany and Switzerland, such as Weingarten and Einsiedeln by Kaspar Moosbrugger, Birnau and St Gallen by Peter Thumb, etc.

Since Vorarlberg was spared the devastation suffered by the eastern provinces of Austria, the various architectural styles succeeded one another harmoniously, existing structures being retained and new ones added, so that many buildings both religious and secular show a steady development of styles from the Early Medieval period to modern times. Of special interest, too, are the castles of Vorarlberg, which have retained their medieval character and dignity.

An outstanding artistic figure of her time was the painter Angelika Kaufmann (1741-1807), who can be considered a Vorarlberger (though she was born in Chur and died in Rome) since her family home was at Schwarzenberg in the Bregenzer Wald. Paintings by her can be seen in the Vorarlberg Provincial Museum.

The folk poetry and folk music of Vorarlberg, which have produced a substantial body of tales, legends and songs, show a certain dependence on Switzerland and other neighboring Alemannic territories.