Return and reconstruction of Sesto/Sexten

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)

The Italian troops withdrew from the Three Peaks area in the autumn of 1917, but by August and September some farmers and families from Sesto/Sexten had returned to their homes. In November 1917, the Austrian army opened Sesto/Sexten and Moso/Moos for the return of civilians, but with the warning not to approach the former front-line positions, drawing attention to the danger of unexploded grenades.1Gemeindearchiv Sexten, 1916/17, Mappe B, k.u.k. Rayonskommando V, Nr. 507, Sextner Flüchtlinge, Feldpost 392, am 17. November 1917 (Abschrift). In the spring of 1918, a large number of Sesto/Sexten inhabitants returned to their homes, which had been destroyed by the fire of August 1915, and faced the enormous task of rebuilding their homes. However, many Sesto/Sexten inhabitants were initially living at the bare limits of survival, since refugees returning home received subsidies for only sixty days. An unbearable circumstance for many Sesto/Sexten inhabitants who, given their conditions, filed appeals. The governor of Tyrol, Josef Schraffl, a native of Sillia, Austria, successfully pressured the Viennese Interior Ministry to continue to support the inhabitants of Sesto/Sexten with state aid even after their return.2Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv, Ministerium des Inneren, Allgemeine Reihe 1918, Aktenbetreff 601176, 14. Oktober 1918. In 1919, however, state support for refugees was finally discontinued. Some inhabitants of Sesto/Sexten demanded further payments, because otherwise they would not have been able to rebuild their houses on their own. This is demonstrated by the case of Georg Innerkofler, who was unable to travel to his town of origin due to the lack of housing available for him and his wife, because his house and all his possessions had been destroyed by a bomb.3Gemeindearchiv Innichen, Schachtel 448, Faszikel b, Anmeldung für Flüchtlings-Unterstützungen Georg Innerkofler.
Based on the emergency conditions, the returnees of Sesto/Sexten used the remains of the barracks and warehouses that had been abandoned by the military for reconstruction. However, the population of Sesto/Sexten could also count on generous help from Vienna. A special aid campaign was launched for the reconstruction of Sesto/Sexten, and, in April 1918, a “Tyrolean Concert and Poetry Evening” was organized as a charity event to collect donations for the aid committee. The evening was attended by numerous guests from the high nobility and political circle. The evening was summarized as follows: “The evening, very well attended, will be very valuable for the aid campaign for the reconstruction of Sexten [Sesto]”.4Der Tiroler Konzert- und Dichterabend.
In 1918, the Austrian state started the first rehabilitation and reconstruction plans, but payments and work were interrupted at the end of the war. Already during the war, the same inhabitants of Sesto/Sexten had basic plans for the reconstruction of their village, which they communicated to their Viennese acquaintances. The parish priest of Sexten, Heinrich Schwaighofer, for example, dreamed of hiring architects from Munich for the reconstruction, because “they know so well how to build real Tyrolean farmer houses according to our native sense and feeling […].”5von Singer, Feuilleton. Pustertaler Volk und Priester im Kriege.
Karl Stemberger, hotelier of the hotel “Zur Post”, expressed his wish in a similar way: “My commitment is to ensure that Sexten [Sesto], which will hopefully be rebuilt, remains a typical Tyrolean village in terms of layout and construction of the houses, which at first glance stands out from the nearby Italian villages as an authentic German village. The village should also fit well into the beautiful landscape, as it has done so far. I always fear that, when the happy moment comes and we can start building again, the eagerness to produce housing quickly will take too little account of the architectural and individual character of the old rural villages, and then buildings will be erected that will not be able to enhance the landscape.”6von Singer, Die Mütter von Sexten.
The hotelier’s fears turned out to be unfounded. After the annexation of Sesto/Sexten to the Italian State in 1919, reconstruction work began under Italian direction and funding. In October 1923, the completion of the reconstruction was celebrated.

(SK)

Holzer, Rudolf (2002). Sexten. Vom Bergbauerndorf zur Tourismusgemeinde. Sesto/Sexten: Tappeiner Verlag.

Gemeindearchiv Sexten, 1916/17, Mappe B, k.u.k. Rayonskommando V, Nr. 507, Sextner Flüchtlinge, Feldpost 392, am 17. November 1917 (Abschrift).

Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv, Ministerium des Inneren, Allgemeine Reihe 1918, Aktenbetreff 601176, 14. Oktober 1918.

Gemeindearchiv Innichen, Schachtel 448, Faszikel b, Anmeldung für Flüchtlings-Unterstützungen Georg Innerkofler.

Der Tiroler Konzert- und Dichterabend, Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 24. April 1918.

von Singer, Emanuel (1916). Feuilleton. Pustertaler Volk und Priester im Kriege, Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 30. Mai.

von Singer, Emanuel (1916). Die Mütter von Sexten, Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 23. April.

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