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St. Christina in Val Gardena

St. Christina in Valgardena (Santa Cristina i Gherdëina; Italian: Santa Cristina Valgardena) is a municipality in South Tyrol (Italy) with 2,015 inhabitants (as of 31. December 2019). Together with St. Ulrich and Wolkenstein, it is one of the three municipalities in Val Gardena in which Ladin is an official language in addition to German and Italian.

The vast majority of St. Christina's residents declared themselves to belong to the Ladin language group in the 2011 census.

The main economic sector, with 2,800 guest beds and around 312,000 overnight stays per year, is tourism, which also shapes the village image with numerous accommodation providers. The ski areas of Col Raiser and Seceda in the north and Monte Pana in the south, where there is a cross-country skiing center, attract numerous winter sports enthusiasts.

Story

The first years up to the 19th century century

The place was first mentioned in 1277 as Sankt Kristein and in 1323 as St. Christina. Before 1923 the place was called Santa Cristina in Val Gardena and from 1923 to 1955 Santa Cristina.

Today's Uleta farm above St. Christina is probably the oldest farm in the town. It goes back to a sheep dam that Burckhard von Völs supposedly gave to the Neustift monastery in 1166.

As a market cooperative, St. Christina covered a larger area than today's municipality, because Wolkenstein also belonged to the Malgrei, ie quarter (from 1320 onwards, Val Gardena was divided into quarters). Other Malgreien that still belong to St. Christina today are: St. Jakob-Innerriedl, Plesdinaz and St. Christina. St. Christina is mentioned as early as 1277 (a farm in Sankt Kristein). The oldest farms in St. Christina also included Pescosta, Puntea, Coi and Prascuel, all of which date back to the 13th century. They go back to the 12th century and are mentioned in the land register of the Counts of Tyrol from 1288.

In the 14th In the 19th century there was only a minor expansion of settlements, as this century was marked by disasters such as the plague and famine. On the other hand, from the 14th to the 15th. In the 19th century there was an increase in the number of existing farms from nine to 30. In 1840, Johann Jakob Staffler, who was traveling through town, reported that St. Christina had around 800 inhabitants; it counted 112 houses and 200 families. According to information, only 9 new houses were built in the next few years. The houses began to condense around the church. The old messner's house, the Widum (built in 1550), the schoolhouse and the inn in Deur were located here. At 3. In November 1809 the French troops marched through the Val Gardena. In fact, men from St. Christina also took part in the Battle of Berg Isel and the campaign against Napoleon. Around 127 people from Val Gardena also fought in the Landsturm in northern Italy in 1848. St. Christina belonged to the Gufidaun court until 1828. The court days for the residents of St. Christina supposedly took place in Laion in the Ingramhof.

Disasters and diseases

St. Christina has been hit by various disasters over the centuries. In the 14th century, for example, huge swarms of locusts are said to have destroyed the crops, resulting in famine. It is not known to what extent the settlers in St. Christina were affected by the Europe-wide plague epidemic in the middle of the 14th century. What is certain, however, is that hardly any new farms were added to the existing ones in the 14th century. When the plague broke out again in 1636, which the population also called Gran Moria, 85 deaths were documented. Most of the victims were in St. Jakob (Inner-St. Jakob belonged to the Malgrei St. Christina). The timing was unfavorable; the Thirty Years' War was raging. It is documented that the plague was first found in the Alpine region in a war camp in Graubünden, so it is assumed that the disease was brought into the valley itself by cattle traders who traded with the supply headquarters in Glurns and the Val Gardena. Today's place name Col da Messa (literally: Mass Hill) goes back to this time: people attended the service at a safe distance in order to be spared from the disease. Also worth mentioning in this context are the terrible flood disasters of the 19th century, especially those of September 1882. After days of rain, the Val Gardena stream (Derjon) swelled so much that it swept away all 19 bridges as well as some mills and houses, killing two people. In Wolkenstein, a mudslide caused the death of another six people. Child mortality in the 19th century was high, which can be attributed to inadequate hygienic measures and medical knowledge. Many young children died of pneumonia, smallpox and cholera. In 1882 alone, 32 children died in Val Gardena.

Establishment of the school in St. Christina

It was not until 1835, 60 years after Maria Theresa introduced compulsory education, that real classes were housed on the ground floor of the old community. Before that, from 1779 onwards, there were already smaller schoolrooms that were mandatory by law. The long-time teacher in St. Christina at the end of the 19th century Century was Franz Insam. He received an annual salary of 200 guilders and was also the organist and director of the music band. In 1907 Franz Insam was made an honorary citizen of the village. Before the First World War (1912), construction began on the new elementary school, for which the then pastor Andrea Pramstrahler made outstanding contributions. The first kindergarten was also built during these years.

The children's common language, Ladin, served as a medium for learning German and Italian, especially in the first years of school. However, the timetable had more German than Italian lessons per week. At the turn of the century, Italian was pushed back so far and German influence was so overwhelming that the former mayor of St. Ulrich, Franz Moroder, felt compelled to distribute leaflets in which he called on the population to “learn Italian from a young age and preserve their native language “.

The First World War

During the First World War, all men in St. Christina who were subject to military service were called up for military service. As can be seen from the parish archives, many of the mostly very young men in Galicia died fighting against Russia. When Italy entered the war in May 1915, the southern front also had to be defended. The last years of the war claimed many victims on the Dolomite front. A total of 52 men from St. Christina died in the First World War.

The Gardena Railway in St. Christina

During the course of the war, the Army Field Railway was built by Russian prisoners over a period of four and a half months in 1915/16 during the First World War in order to be able to supply the units stationed on the Italian front there with material. This means of transport enabled St. Christina to expand trade in local goods later in the interwar period. St. Christina had its own train station near today's community square and post office. The construction of the railway was an aesthetic cut into the landscape of St. Christina: The route led over a bend up to the parish church where a 203 m long spiral tunnel was built directly under the village. Until 1960 the town was connected to Klausen by the Gardena Railway.

The second World War

After the First World War and the takeover of South Tyrol by Italy, through strategic Italianization and suppression of the old customs and Tyrolean or Ladin culture, the Alpine province fell into a generally difficult phase. According to the Lex Corbino (1921), lessons in schools were only taught in Italian. The entire local administrative system was reorganized, with one of the most important changes being the appointment of a non-local Podestà (mayor). After the last mayor, Martino Demetz, was provisionally elected to office in St. Christina in 1925, the first Podestà was set up a year later. This was Gilberto Gaiani (together with Ortisei). This was followed by Raimondo Buffa (1927–1929) and Ludovico Donati (1929–1934). From 1934, St. Christina received its own Podesta together with Wolkenstein, namely Giulio Broisie (1934–1935), Leone Delago (1935–1938), Vincenzo La Porta (1938–1939), Arturo Tanesini (1939), Emilio Comici (1940) , Ugo Silvestri (1940), Arturo Tanesini (1940–1942), Giovanni Schenck da Doss (1941–1943) and Primo Bidischini (1942–1943). Due to the strong Italianization policy, a strong demographic growth was noticeable in the village, not only because of Italian tourism, but also because of the numerous sporting events launched by the Italians in the valley.

After the general failure of the fascist assimilation policy, on March 31st December 1939, as in all of South Tyrol, there was an option between Italian or German citizenship. There had already been serious arguments in advance between the optants and the so-called Dabble. Society, even entire families, split over this issue. Of the 5,621 people from Val Gardena who were entitled to the option, 4,562 (81.2%) were in favor of emigrating to Germany. St. Christina had the highest optant rate in the valley at 84.8%. The reason for this was, among other things, the population's strong dependence on the timber industry and the associated trade connections to German-speaking countries. The local wood processing companies such as ANRI or SEVI, where most of them worked, enabled the mostly poor farming families to have financial stability. Ultimately, only 193 people left St. Christina in 1940, who settled in Innsbruck, Lienz, Kitzbühel, Landeck, Dornbirn, Linz, Munich, Augsburg, Stuttgart and Berlin. After the Optants were unable to build a closed Val Gardena settlement in the Drautal (Austria), most of them moved back to their homeland. After Italy on the 8th After the armistice was concluded in September 1943, the Podestà was replaced by a provisional administrator in all communities, including St. Christina. In St. Christina this was the wood carving association publisher and ADO representative Anton Riffeser. Since Optanten and Dableiber had now come together again, there was an extremely tense atmosphere in the village, with each other being insulted as "traitors" etc. A single major act of violence is known from these conflicts: on May 15, 1945, armed Belluno partisans came to Val Gardena to arrest alleged collaborators. The American secret service had given the green light for this. Informants from Val Gardena had given the partisans a list of those to be arrested. Some were still able to hide in the mountains, but the others were caught and taken to the headquarters in Corvara. During the transport to Belluno on May 17th, the prisoners were shot under circumstances that are still unclear today. These included Adolf Senoner (Mayor of Wolkenstein), Englbert Ploner, Gabriel Riffeser, Josef Pitscheider (Wolkenstein) and Kosman Demetz. Four murder victims were buried in the St. Christina cemetery. The Americans tried to cover up the incident, while the toxic political climate in St. Christina and throughout the valley continued for several years.

Economic milestones for St. Christina

For hundreds of years, the residents of St. Christina and those of the entire valley were active in mountain agriculture. In 1888 we know of the following professional groups from the municipality of St. Christina: a baker, six general merchandisers, a handicrafts publisher, a clothing maker, five millers (there were around 40 mills in Val Gardena at that time), three shoemakers, an upholsterer, a carpenter and five hosts. Eventually, wood carving became more and more important until tourism was added in the post-war period. Remember that there had been a surgeon named Tobias Burgauner since 1833. It was only in 1902 that an academically trained family doctor was recorded as providing medicine to the sick and, together with the midwife Clara Schenk, being responsible for obstetric care.

The wood carving

As in the other towns of Val Gardena, carving became the most important industry in the valley from 1850 onwards. Via the Grödner Straße in 1856 and the Brenner Railway, which connected Verona in 1859 and Innsbruck in 1867, toys and church furnishings, mainly made of wood, could be exported from Val Gardena more easily and quickly.

After the war, two of the largest toy and wooden sculpture manufacturers in Val Gardena emerged in St. Christina. One of them was Anton Riffeser, who founded the company ANRI on Plan da Tieja in 1952. Due to the high demand, dotting machines emerged, which significantly increased the carving speed. In addition to the carvers, ANRI also employed numerous painters and employees. In 1965 a total of 400 workers worked in the company.

Josef Senoner's business is even older. As early as 1831 he employed some people at the Vastlé court. The business then passed to his son Vinzenz Senoner in 1876, who founded the SEVI company. Even during the wars, business continued and more and more toys were manufactured and exported. Due to high demand, the production facility was moved to nearby Pontives in 1967. In 1999, SEVI was taken over by the Trudi Group after sales difficulties.

The connection to the world

On the 1st The post office was opened in St. Christina in September 1874. This was located in today's listed house da la Posta (Pizzeria Bruno). With the introduction of the telegraph and telephone, the transmission of local news reached an unprecedented speed. St. Christina was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. It was connected to the power grid in the 19th century, which is why Anton Senoner had the first power station built in Dorives in 1905. The plant was expanded twice and finally bought by SAEV. Covering the community's electricity needs became increasingly difficult. Most of the time you still had to buy electricity from other providers. In 1990, the La Longia power station was built, which belongs to the community itself and uses the water of the Cisles stream to produce electricity.

Between 1952 and 1954 the water pipe was built from the Cislesalm below the Fermeda peaks and the Geisler peaks to the village.

Sightseeing features

Church of St. Christina

The town center of St. Christina, located near the prehistoric “Troi Paian” mountain path, is the oldest pastoral care in the valley. Already at the end of the 12th century A chapel dedicated to St. Christina of Bolsena may have stood here in the 19th century. From the Romanesque church - which is mentioned in a papal indulgence letter from 1342 - the bell tower up to the roof still remains. Later the character was largely changed through renovations and additions. The choir room dates from the Gothic period and was added in the 16th century. A polygonal ossuary was also added in the century. Worth seeing is the construction of the high altar, created around 1690 in the workshop of the well-known Vinazer sculptor dynasty, as well as the bronze statue of Saint Philomena in the ossuary, a classicist work by the sculptor Johann Dominik Mahlknecht.

The Fish Castle

The Fischburg, although located closer to St. Christina in the municipality of Wolkenstein, was built between 1622 and 1641 by Engelhard Dietrich von Wolkenstein-Trostburg. Fish ponds that were near the castle are said to have given it its name. The construction was completed in 1641. The Fischburg is a summer and hunting lodge in the Renaissance style, but its monumentality simulates medieval defensive strength. In 1863, Count Leopold von Wolkenstein-Trostburg donated the Fischburg to the community of St. Christina to set up a retirement and poor house. The event took place annually on the 13th in the castle chapel, which was dedicated to St. Kassien. A mass was held in August and the whole village celebrated with the count afterwards. Since 1926, however, the Fischburg has been owned by the Venetian Baron Carlo Franchetti and is therefore not open to the public.

Val Gardena, also known as Val Gardena called, (Ladin: Gherdëina, Italian: Val Gardena, Romansh: Gardeïna)

is a Dolomite valley in South Tyrol. Together with the Gader and Fassa valleys, as well as Buchenstein (Fodom) and Cortina d'Ampezzo (Anpezo), it is part of the refuge area for the Ladin language.

The side valley of the Isarco Valley begins at Waidbruck and leads east up to the Sellastock or to the Sella and Grödnerjoch passes, which connect to the Sellastock on the southern and eastern sides. The Grödnertal is traversed by the Grödnerbach (or Derjon or Dirschingbach), which, with a length of around 26 km and a catchment area of 199 km², forms the most important tributary of the Eisack after the Rienz.

Val Gardena

has around 10,000 inhabitants, divided into the three communities of St. Ulrich (Urtijëi/Ortisei) with 5,635, St. Christina with 1,805 and Wolkenstein (Sëlva/Selva) with 2,570 inhabitants, which belong to the Salten-Schlern district community. The most important economic sector is tourism (especially winter sports). The world-famous Val Gardena wood carvings are also known.

In the outer (“lower”) Val Gardena from Waidbruck in the Isarco Valley to the bottom of Pontives at an altitude of 1200 meters, only German is spoken; behind the valley of the Porta Ladina, German dominates in the main communities of St. Ulrich, St. Christina and Wolkenstein up to more than that Gardena Pass and Ladin. However, in addition to their native language, the Ladins also speak German fluently.

The valley was served by the Gardena Railway from 1916 until it was closed in 1960.

(from Wikipedia)