Tyrol Commemorative Medal (Tiroler Landesdenkmünze), 1914-1918

DAS LAND TIROL DEN VERTEIDIGERN DES VATERLANDES 1914-1918, MEDAL

Circular gilt bronze medal with laterally-pierced cylinder for ribbon suspension; the face with the crowned Tyrolean eagle surmounted by a laurel wreath; the reverse inscribed ‘DAS LAND TIROL DEN VERTEIDIGERN DES VATERLANDES’ (The Province of Tyrol to the Defenders of the Fatherland), dated ‘1914-1918’ and signed ‘TJ’ (just below the 1914-1918) within a circular oak wreath; on original ribbon. The medal was instituted on 7 February 1928 and awarded to all Tyroleans who served with Austro-Hungarian forces during World War I and to those who fought for the Austrians on Tyrolean soil during that war. The medal was awarded until March 1940. The fighting on the border between south Tyrol and Italy during World War I was some of the most difficult and spectacular, since it ran through some of the highest peaks of the Alps and the mountain terrain, cold, snow, avalanches and inaccessibility all made warfare extremely taxing. At the end of the war, South Tyrol was ceded to Italy, despite the majority of the population in the north of the area being of German origin. This issue rumbled on and gave rise to terrorist acts from the late 1950s until the late 1980s when the Italian Republic finally granted the area a degree of autonomy. The accession of Austria (and thus the rest of Tyrol) to the European Union in 1995 has served to strengthen cross-border relations and reduce the impact of the issue. A very good example.