Alpenverein Südtirol
Encyclopedia
The South Tyrol Alpine Club , abbreviated AVS, is an association of German and Ladin
Ladin
Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...

-speaking mountain climbers in South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

, northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Founded in 1946, it is sub-divided into 32 sections and 59 local divisions. The AVS is based in Bolzano and has more than 42,000 members.

History

Originally, the South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

ean alpine club sections were members of the German and Austrian Alpine Club
German and Austrian Alpine Club
The German and Austrian Alpine Club was a merger of the German, Austrian and Bohemian branches of the Alpine Club that existed from 1873 to 1938.- External links :*...

 (Deutscher und Österreichischer Alpenverein). In 1869 the first sections were founded in Bozen and Niederdorf, Puster Valley. By 1910, 15 more sections had been established in South Tyrol. They initiated the construction of 19 mountain huts, an extensive network of paths through the mountains and training for mountain guides. After the end of the First World War, the annexation of South Tyrol by Italy
History of South Tyrol
The modern-day South Tyrol, an autonomous Italian province created in 1948, was originally part of the Austro-Hungarian County of Tyrol until 1918 . Its area was annexed by Italy following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I...

 and the coming into power of the fascists
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

, the South Tyrolean sections were disappropriated and banned in 1923 (see Italianization of South Tyrol
Italianization of South Tyrol
In 1919, at the time of its annexation, the southern part of Tyrol was inhabited by almost 90% German speakers. Under the 1939 South Tyrol Option Agreement, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini determined the status of the German people living in the province...

). After the end of the Second World War, on December 31, 1945, the military administration of the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 permitted the foundation of the South Tyrol Alpine Club. Its inaugural meeting took place in Bolzano on 14 June 1946.

Nowadays, the AVS takes care of more than 9,500 km of hiking trails and is involved in nature conservancy and South Tyrolean cultural issues as well. The club is a member of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme
Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme
The UIAA or Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme, is the organization that represents several million mountaineers and climbers, world-wide, on international issues. Formed in 1932 in Chamonix, France, it now has over 88 members associations from some 76 countries, all of national...

 and the Club Arc Alpin. In 2007, the AVS finished its project to digitalise all hiking trails in South Tyrol.

External links

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