Project - 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)

The project

The research project “Written in the landscape. Places, traces and memories of the First World War in the Sesto Dolomites”, financed by the “Research Südtirol/Alto Adige 2019” fund, investigated with a multidisciplinary approach the traces that the tragic events of the First World War have left in the landscape of the Three Peaks area and in the memories of the people. The complex and layered set of places, material traces and intergenerational oral memories of the First World War constitutes a “painful” and “dissonant” heritage for the inhabitants of a territory that is today predominantly perceived as a UNESCO natural heritage and attractive tourist region. The project aimed to unveil the complexity of the landscape of the Dolomites, going beyond the dichotomy of natural / cultural heritage to search and redeem the living memories of war embedded in sites and places, promoting awareness of the conflictual and often ideologized heritage inscribed in this territory, beyond regional and national borders.

Objectives

During the First World War, both the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies built a complex infrastructure system on the Three Peaks Plateau, traces of which are still visible in this iconic mountain landscape. Tracing, documenting and studying these signs offers the possibility of restoring the complex landscape stratification of this territory and its history, both deeply intertwined with the cultures of memory of the local populations and in particular with the local community of Sesto. The home front, which was badly affected by the events of the war in the high mountains, was often marginalized in official accounts and barely researched scientifically. The village of Sesto/Sexten, which was almost completely destroyed in 1915, saw its inhabitants forcibly evacuated, and was only rebuilt after the war, was also the subject of research.

Methodology

The project linked the documentation and study of the numerous material traces of the war – such as trenches, emplacements, caverns, paths, cableways, accommodation barracks, camps, inscriptions, supply structures, etc. – inscribed in the landscape but often difficult to identify and interpret, with the study of collective and individual memories of the war years, as part of the history of local families and communities. To do this, the project adopted different methodological approaches, such as conflict archaeology, historical-archival documentation, socio-cultural research and the participation of local communities in the dissemination and co-production of a common heritage.

Dissemination of the research results

The impact of the project and its innovative approach had strongly positive effects at local, national and international level, in academic circles as well as in civil society. The dissemination of research results has provided for heterogeneous formats for this purpose, including an exhibition (Former Monte Elmo Cable Car, Sesto/Sexten, 7.08–25.09.22) an international conference (Sesto/Sexten, 2-4.09.22), a scientific publication and a dedicated web page, which organized and collected a meaningful synthesis of research results in a format open to the public. There were also participatory events, guided tours and itineraries and an app designed to accompany visits to the places of the project. In doing so, the project allowed local people and visitors to take a new critical look at the dissonant and conflictual heritage of the war landscape, promoting shared knowledge and social participation.