Richard Heuberger - Written in the landscape

The war at high altitude required considerable logistical and material effort for the care of the wounded and sick. In the high mountains there were only first aid structures, while intermediate structures, more spacious and organized, were located in the valley floor. For the most serious cases, transfer to military hospitals in territories even farther away from the front was organized. In addition to historical photographs, there remain recollections of the health infrastructure and biographies of doctors who worked at the front or who visited it.
For many, religiosity played an important role in making the harshness of war bearable. The private one, of the individual soldiers, can be reconstructed with extreme difficulty through some objects or personal diaries. The rites of official religiosity, on the other hand, are well documented by photographs, drawings and written sources. These sources show that religiosity itself was often exploited for propaganda purposes and to support the war effort. Parish priests and chaplains, such as Feldkurat Josef Hosp on the Austrian side and Don Pietro Zangrando on the Italian side, supported with conviction the causes of their respective staffs, to the extent that they intervened at times: on the front, faith and patriotism were closely intertwined.
The general staff prepared numerous cemeteries for the fallen. At high altitude, there were emergency cemeteries, in some cases located near the front lines. Time has left barely visible traces of these places. On the Austro-Hungarian front, the cemetery of Toblingerdörfl and that of Zirbenboden are known, both well documented by photographs of the time. Between the two wars, the remains of the soldiers were exhumed and moved to the large cemeteries dedicated to the fallen, in ossuaries or in village tombs, partly for ideological and political reasons. (GF, SK)

The landscape that characterizes the area on which the research of the Written on the Landscape project focused is the Dolomite medium and high mountains, upon which military structures and infrastructures were grafted. From a naturalistic point of view, a monographic report of the Italian I Army Corps of 1917 proves to be particularly revealing, in which we read: “The region in question is part of the Dolomite Alps, of which it forms the extreme eastern edge, and, in this region, the characters of the Triassic formation are very marked, with local tectonic disturbances […]. The phenomena of erosion have acted intensely on dolomite, a constituent element of these rocks, so as to form irregular and steep slopes, furrowed by deep gullies. The typical example of the intensity of this erosion is given by the Tre Cime di Lavaredo; and where erosion has manifested itself most, shales and sandstones have been laid bare.”
The report is very detailed and also focuses on the intricate situation of water: “From the orographic complexity of the region results, by natural consequence, a corresponding hydrographic complexity, and it is noteworthy that in a relatively small area there are watercourses unfolding in different and opposite directions. Thus, while the Rio Marzon, the Rio Cengia and the Rio Giralba all have the general north-south direction, the Bacher Bach goes from south to north; and while the Boden Bach runs from west to east, the Schwarze Rienz [Rienza Nera] descends from east to west.” This is followed by climatic considerations, in which the minimum winter temperatures that have been recorded can drop to -30° C, and insights on the vegetation, ranging from coniferous forest, to mountain forest, to rhododendron.1Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, Monografie del I Corpo d’Armata – Genio – Sistemazione difensiva, AUSSME_B1_110D_23A.
A complex natural landscape, therefore, that did not make life at high altitude easy for the hundreds of men who faced each other for twenty-nine months, summer and winter, in the Dolomites. (GF)

For the soldiers who found themselves fighting on the Three Peaks Plateau, winters were long and snowy. The snow fell from October to April and could last until late June in the shaded areas of the highest peaks. The minimum temperature often dropped to -30°C at night, hovering around 0°C during the day.
Frostbite and avalanches soon became familiar dangers. To help the soldiers survive in such conditions, both staffs provided detailed equipment and instructions. Each Italian soldier, for example, received two sets of woolen garments and three heavy blankets. The troops in the trenches also received coats and shoes lined with fur, clogs, balaclavas, leg wraps, socks, waterproof clothing and sleeping bags. To avoid frostbite, antioxidant fat was distributed to spread on the feet. To limit the damage caused by avalanches, officers from both armies had maps at their disposal showing the points most likely to cause snow loss. Despite this, the winter at high altitude resulted in hundreds of victims.
As time went on, the general staffs began to take advantage of winter conditions. The attack on Sasso di Sesto/Sextenstein on 21 April 1917 is a clear example of this. The approach of members of the Austro-Hungarian army to the Italian lines took place through a tunnel dug hundreds of meters in the snow. This tunnel made it possible to catch the sentinels by surprise and temporarily conquer the position. It also required the training of departments specialized in the use of winter equipment, including skis used for stealth and surprise attacks as well as sleds for the transport of materials. (GF)

A historian at war

The one-sided and propagandistic image of jubilant crowds reacting enthusiastically to the outbreak of war and of young people voluntarily going en masse to military recruitment centers has long been revised and presented in a different way by historiography. From the research that has emerged, patriotic and nationalistic support for the war interested bourgeois and academic circles to a greater extent than, for example, the rural population.
The Innsbruck historian of antiquity Richard Heuberger (1884-1968) could not escape this enthusiasm for the outbreak of war. In 1914 he enlisted as a volunteer after the general mobilization, but was classified as “unfit” for active service in the armed forces due to a vision defect. The urgent desire to serve the country militarily led him in August 1914 to the Landsturm in Innsbruck as a recruit, where initially he was employed only for guard duties. But his enthusiasm for this deeply unsatisfactory and “useless” service soon faded and he decided to return to civilian life.
Only with Italy’s long-awaited entry into the war in the spring of 1915 did Heuberger re-enlist as a volunteer in the Standschützen. He joined the “Academic Legion” of the Standschützen Baon Innsbruck I, which included students and university professors. As platoon leader of the 3rd Company, he arrived in Sesto/Sexten on 23 May 1915, the day of Italy’s declaration of war, and remained there, in the barracks camp near the Baths of Moso/Bad Moos, until 10 June, when he was assigned to service in the fortress of Mitterberg. As he reported in a letter dated July 2, 1915, he could not wait to finally enter the trenches and the front: “I ardently envy the comrades who are at the front. They have contact with the enemy, have already been hit several times and are always on patrol. We, however, are now completely out of the front and hear only the roar of our troops in more advanced positions. One is ashamed to have such a comfortable life when one’s comrades fight openly.”1Feldpostbrief, 2.7.1915, in: Klub-Nachrichten des Akademischen Alpen-Klub Innsbruck, Nr. 65 (Kriegsnachrichten Nr. 13), p. 9.
After a period of service with the Alpine patrol in Val Travenanzes/Travenanzestal and on the Tofana di Rozes/Tofana di Ronzes, in February 1916 he returned to the Standschützen Baon Innsbruck I. The marching battalion of infantry regiment No. 59 “Erzherzog Rainer” was transferred to the combat section “Zinnenhochfläche” [Plateau of the Three Peaks]. Heuberger’s company took up positions at the foot and west of the Torre di Toblin/Toblinger Knoten, in the “Lungauer Hütte” (hut).
A few hundred meters from the Italian positions, Heuberger and his comrades were exposed to a daily bombardment. Heuberger himself often volunteered for dangerous and adventurous night patrols and reconnaissance missions, which earned him the recognition of his superiors and a promotion to Oberjäger. Heuberger was fully convinced of his war service, the idea of military heroism and the willingness to sacrifice, to the end, despite all the dangers experienced.
In October 1916, Heuberger was discharged from military service due to the steadily worsening of his health, including severe eye problems that led to almost complete blindness. For him the war was over, but he continued to remember this period for a long time with diary notes, sketches, medals and memorabilia.

(SK)

Kofler, Harald (2018). Richard Heuberger (1884 – 1968). Historiker zwischen Politik und Wissenschaft. (Schlern-Schriften 369). Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag Wagner.

Feldpostbrief, 2.7.1915, in: Klub-Nachrichten des Akademisches Alpen-Klub Innsbruck, Nr. 65 (Kriegsnachrichten Nr. 13), p. 9.

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