Thirteen Communities

The Thirteen communities (Italian Tredici Comuni ) was a German -speaking enclave of Cimbri, located on the southern slope of the Alps Lessin ( Lessinia ) between the Adige and the Agno in the Italian province of Verona in the Veneto region.

Capital is Badia Calavena with nearly 2,400 inhabitants.

In the thirteen municipalities concerned are:

History and Language

In the 11-12. Century, the area of the Thirteen communities of immigrants from the Bavarian- Alemannic region was settled.

To 1797 were the thirteen municipalities - similar to the Seven Churches - a small Free State with its own law and tradition, its own jurisdiction and military organization under the protection of the Republic of Venice, under whose rule they had come early 15th century. The dissolution of the Republic of Venice in 1797 by Napoleon and the integration into the Austrian Habsburg Empire ( Congress of Vienna in 1815 ) meant for the thirteen communities the end of centuries of self-government and the loss of a parent protection. 1866 Veneto was annexed to the newly established Kingdom of Italy.

The Cimbrian the Thirteen communities remained until the nineteenth century and was supplanted by the inclusion in Italy by the Italian. Around the year 1900 it was already on two villages, Campo - Fontana and Giazza ( Glätzen or dialect Ljetzan ) limited, and it spoke in the former only old people. Today it is virtually extinct, except for a few ancient inhabitants of Glätzen.

Samples

So the teacher Antonio Fabbri wrote a poem about his hometown Ljetzan ( Giazza ):

Ka Ljetzan sainda schuane sooner,

Schuane Bisen un schuane Täljar,

Schuane Stelj un schuane Perge.

Pa schuan is Ljetzan for mi!

In Ljetzan are beautiful forests,

Beautiful meadows and beautiful valleys,

Nice places ( Stölln ) and beautiful mountains,

How beautiful Ljetzan is for me!

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