It was in the twelfth century that the Counts of the Tyrol first began to be noticed, and Meinhard, who ruled at the end of the thirteenth century, consolidated the country, and held all the land within the limits as at present known. He held at the same time Carinthia and Styria. His grand-daughter Margaret, known through the ages as “Pocket-mouth,” the equivalent of the “Muckle-moued” Meg of Scottish history, inherited the country on the death of her father, Henry of Carinthia, in 1335. But on the death of her only son, ten years later, she ceased to take any interest in public affairs, and made over all her possessions to the House of Hapsburg, and the land has been since held as the personal property of that house; and the people have displayed astonishing loyalty to their rulers, so much so, that, on account of this and its position and impregnable hills the Tyrol has been called “The Shield of Austria.” But there was an interregnum in the rule of the Hapsburgs in the time of Buonaparte. The name of Andreas Hofer stands out in the Tyrol as that of the supreme patriot which national history seldom lacks. He was one of the few men who dared to defy the Colossus who bestrode Europe and terrified men into submission by his invincibility even before they had met him. Andreas was the son of an innkeeper in the Passeir valley, and innkeepers in those days, especially in country places, played an important part. It was the innkeeper who collected and disseminated all the news from the surrounding district; his house was a focus for any common cause, and he himself, by reason of his position and authority, was looked up to and respected. In these circumstances an innkeeper must be a strong man, mentally and physically, to succeed, for if he cannot rule his own passions, and is too weak to enforce his authority, he will soon go under. The Passeir or Pusterthal valley, in which young Hofer was brought up, is one of the most important in the country, extending from Lienz to Mulbach, a distance of nearly ten miles. It is best known in these days under the name of Pusterthal. Margaret Maultasch, or Pocket-mouth, peculiarly favoured this valley, and only a very short time before the country became subject to Austria, gave to the inhabitants the privilege of pasture on both sides of the river Etsch as far as Eisach, and also the right to carry salt, venison, and wine over the Gaufen. A large trade in horses was the consequence, and Hofer senior took part in it, bringing up his son to it. Andreas was born in 1767, and thus was twenty-nine when the war broke out with the French in 1796, but it was many years later before he came prominently to the front. He is described as having been of Herculean make, with black eyes and brown hair; he stooped considerably from having been accustomed to carry heavy burdens over the hills before he had come to his full strength. His voice was soft and pleasing and his smile good-natured. His long black beard was a very noticeable feature of his appearance reaching to his waist. He had been one of the representatives of Pusterthal to the Diet of 1790, which shows that he had travelled a little and was educated. The traffic he had carried on in wine and horses had led to his meeting people of many races, and he spoke Italian fluently though in the Venetian dialect. He wore the dress of his country, a large black hat with a broad brim, adorned with black ribbons and a black curling feather, a short green coat, red waistcoat, over which were green braces, a broad black girdle with a border, short black breeches with red or black stockings, and occasionally boots. Such are the details which have come down to us from his contemporaries.
INNSBRUCK (TYROL)
In 1797 Buonaparte, having frightened Italy into submission, crossed the Alps and advanced on Vienna. The Austrian monarch thereupon sued for peace, and for the moment gained it, but as is invariably the case, weakness defeats its own end, and he was made to yield more and more as he gave way. The whole map of Europe was disorganised and remade to suit the conqueror’s will without regard to justice or right, and in the beginning of the new century worse followed, for Buonaparte, having meantime been over into Egypt, returned to Europe and marched upon Vienna, entering it as a victor. This time he snatched away again the Venetian territory he had previously granted to Austria as payment for her compliance, and handed over the whole of the Tyrol to Bavaria.
This infamous transaction was endorsed by the Treaty of Pressburg. The Tyrolese, however, had not been idle during the quiet years, but had organised and trained their forces and were not in the least disposed to acquiesce. Austria had treated them shamefully, but they, for their part, were willing to fight for the rights so iniquitously reft away. Terrible fighting ensued between the Bavarians and their allies the French, who entered the Tyrol, and the natives under the leadership of Hofer and his comrade Speckbacher, with the support of Haspinger the Capuchin, who did not fight but inspired others to do so. The Tyrolese began by inflicting an overwhelming defeat on the invaders at Sterzing, where they made every use of narrow passes and their knowledge of the country. When the battle raged in the passes, the peasants, who had stationed themselves on the heights, hurled down masses of rock, tree-trunks, and stones upon their enemies beneath, and speedily disorganised them.
Innsbruck was next the scene of a wild fight, where, with tremendous bravery, the natives repulsed the foe, though many of them had no better weapons than axes and pitchforks and other implements of agriculture. But without arms, money, or support, it was impossible to keep up such an unequal contest, the Tyrolese were inevitably beaten at Worgl, and afterwards the Bavarians occupied Innsbruck. The persistence and tenacity of the mountaineers were never shown to better advantage, for even while the enemy occupied their capital with a force it would have been foolhardy to attack, they posted themselves all round on the heights, and with eye and finger skilled by the chase of the native chamois, picked off every enemy who ventured within range of their unerring rifles. Fortune once more favoured the weaker side, and at Berg-Isel in May, and again in the autumn, the mountaineers defeated the Bavarians with great loss. After this Hofer became the head of the government of his native land. He took up his quarters at the imperial castle in Innsbruck, and on October 4 a great festival was held in his honour, when he was formally invested with a medal at the foot of the tomb of the Emperor Maximilian. The Austrians, who by this time were once more at war with France, supported the Tyrol. The Bavarians only waited to gather up fresh forces before again hurling themselves on their foe, insignificant in numbers but formidable in courage. The Tyrolese were driven in from the frontiers, and had the worst of it whenever they met the tide of advancing soldiers. In the midst of these calamities they heard that peace had been finally concluded between France and Austria, and that their own monarch had handed them over definitely to the Bavarians. After this hundreds of the peasants threw down their arms and submitted, and Eugène Beauharnais, Buonaparte’s stepson, was sent to take command. Hofer did not give in but made a despairing attempt to renew his defence, though he was forced to evacuate Innsbruck. He retired to the mountains and a price was set on his head. It was now the end of November, and snow lay thick in the passes; in his solitary hut far up on the mountain-side he was dependent for supplies on his friends, and one of them, a treacherous priest named Douay, gave away his whereabouts to the enemy, who marched upon him with a large force, and with every precaution. They took him and his wife, as well as his son—who was only twelve—and his daughter, prisoners to Botzen, and carried them afterwards on to Mantua, where Hofer was accorded the farce of a trial by court-martial, and was by Buonaparte’s orders executed twenty-four hours after.
On the broad bastion, at a little distance from the Porta Ceresa, the commanding officer halted his men. The grenadiers formed a square open in the rear; twelve men and a corporal stepped forward, while Hofer remained standing in the centre. The drummer then offered him a white handkerchief to bind his eyes, and told him that it was necessary to kneel down, but Hofer declined the handkerchief, and peremptorily refused to kneel, observing that he was used to stand upright before his Creator, and in that posture he would deliver up his spirit to Him. He cautioned the corporal to perform his duty well, at the same time presenting him with a piece of twenty kreuzers, and having uttered a few words by way of farewell, expressive of his unshaken attachment to his native country, he pronounced the word Fire! with an unshaken voice. His death was not instantaneous, for at the first shot he sank only to his knees; a merciful shot, however, at last despatched him. The spot on which he fell is still considered sacred by his countrymen and companions in arms (Memoirs from the German, 1820).
His wife and children were allowed to return to Austria, and Buonaparte gave them a pension and afterwards permitted the widow, at her earnest wish, to go back to the valley where she had lived. The conqueror behaved generously enough, now that the man who had given him so much trouble was out of the way.
In 1823 Hofer’s body was brought back to the Tyrol, and now a marble monument in Innsbruck commemorates this brave and upright man. It was after the fall of Buonaparte that the Tyrol reverted to its ancient rulers, the House of Hapsburg.