The Piedmontese group of German dialects occurs in small settlements distributed on the southern slopes of Monte Rosa. The most noteworthy localities of Teutonic speech are Gressoney, Saint Jean, Gressoney-La Trinité and Issime. Dialects belonging to the same group occur in the Alagna and Rima S. Giuseppe villages, in Valsesia as well as in the Agaro, Formazza, Macugnaga and Salecchio localities of the Ossola valley. Altogether these settlements contain about 5,000 German-speaking inhabitants. Occupation of the region by Germans dates from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries when emigration into upper Valais took place. The language once extended as far south as the Ornavasso. Its progress during the past half century has been insignificant.
Val Formazza comprises the entire upper valley of the Toce, north of Foppiano. The region is locally known as Val d’Antigorio in its southern stretch. To the north, from Domodossola onward, it acquires the name of Val d’Ossola. It has seven settlements scattered along the banks of the river and contains a population of about 800 inhabitants engaged chiefly in cattle-raising. La Chiesa is its most important village. The region is noted in the list of scenic spots of northern Italy on account of the Toce falls, which attract a large number of tourists. The dual character of its human institutions is reflected in the names of its villages, which are both Italian and German. Foppiano is also known as Unterwald; La Chiesa as Andermatten; San Michele as Pommat; Canza as Fruttwald. German names are gradually being dropped, however, concurrently with the steady replacement of the Teutonic language by Italian.
All these valleys are bridges which connect the areas of Italian and German. Travelers are struck by the transitional character of every human manifestation within their boundaries. As one proceeds northwards from the main Italian area, the type of stone habitation characteristic of Italian villages gives way to the wooden house of German villages. Examples of both styles are in evidence throughout the settlements of German speech on Italian soil. The native costume of the women also recalls the intermediary character of the region. Black skirts as well as high and tight waists, of the same color, are characteristic of the canton of Valais. The headdress—an ample foulard of black interspersed with green and red—worn close, is of unmistakable Italian origin. The style in which middle-aged native women comb their hair is also Italian. They part it into a number of small plaits held together by metallic combs after a fashion seen among elderly dames in Lombardy.
The eastern borderland of Italian language contains German-speaking inhabitants in the provinces of Verona, Vicenza, Belluno and Udine, who are living witnesses of the early German settlements founded as trading posts on the way to the Adriatic coast. Bavaria provided many of these emigrants in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The language spoken by their descendants is known locally as Cimbro. It has practically disappeared from the Veronese district, where its survival is traced in the forested areas of the “commune” of Progno through some 50 inhabitants. The inhabitants of the communes of Sappada and Sauris and of the Timau district in the Paluzza commune also employ German. It is estimated that 1,170 families, representing about 5,500 inhabitants, speak Teutonic dialects in these Venetian districts of Italy.
Fig. 25—The localities of German speech in the Sette Communi districts of Italy are underlined. The broken line indicates the Austro-Italian frontier.
South of the Dolomite Alps the tableland of the Sette Communi is also inhabited by German-speaking subjects of the king of Italy. Teutonic dialects have survived in seven villages scattered in the adjoining valleys of the Upper Astico and the middle Brenta. These communities formed the regency of the Sette Communi, which from 1259 to 1807 was an independent state. Rotzo, the westernmost and oldest, has a splendid location in the wooded area at the outlet of Val Martello. In Roana to the east over five hundred families still employ the German dialect as their vernacular. At Asiago, however, the German element has almost disappeared, although during the Middle Ages the town was an important center of Teutonism, as is testified by the historical collections deposited in its museums. Gallio is known in history as a trading center of local magnitude. Enego, the last settlement towards the east, was founded before its Teutonization, for it was a Roman colony. San Giacomo di Lusiana is the only settlement of German speech beyond the plateau borders. Its situation on the southern slope brought it within the sphere of Venetian influence to a degree never felt by its sister communities.
Past the Italian frontier, traveling towards Trent, every town and village of the valley of the Adige bears an Italian name and is peopled by Italians. Ala, Mori, Rovereto and Calliano are types of these Italian communities within Austrian territory. These small towns, scattered along the banks of the river which brought life to the region, are peopled mainly by farmers. The valley in which they are found has played an important part in Italian history. In ancient times barbarian invaders marched to the conquest of the peninsula through its conveniently situated gap. During three centuries the armor-clad troops sent by German emperors to crush revolts in Cisalpine cities crossed the Alps at the Brenner Pass and followed the channel of the Adige as it broadened towards the south. Down the same valley Austrian regiments poured into Lombardy in 1860, when the plainsmen gave signs of readiness to revolt from foreign rule. Modern changes have failed to detract from the importance of this ancient highway, for the shortest railroad route connecting Italy with central Germany is constructed along the natural groove carved by the southward flowing waters of the Adige, and the transit trade between the two countries follows its channel.
The most important Germanic invasion of the Trentino in historical times began in 375 A.D. and lasted two centuries. This movement was repeated in the last half of the tenth century. Under the rule of the bishop-prince Frederick of Vanga, a considerable number of German settlers established themselves on his territory between the years 1207 and 1218. The actual Germanization of the highlanders of the southern Tyrol had its start in this period, the records of the time showing changes from Italian to German in the names of localities as lands and estates were acquired by Germans. But throughout medieval times and to the end of the eighteenth century, historical records make mention of the Florentine character of its industrial and commercial life.