CARINTHIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25866, 9 June 1945, Page 8

CARINTHIA

MODERN PROBLEMS 'AND ANCIENT CUSTOMS POTENTIAL WEALTH OF ALPS Written for the Otago Daily Times. ByS. K. -Carinthia is a romantic country, even though the present political troubles make it appear less attractive than it really is. A thousand years ago it was ruled as an independent duchy by a family which later gave up its rights to the Habsburgs of Austria. Of the 400,000 people in Carinthia, about- 10 per cent, are Slovenes, yet they speak the German dialect of their Austrian countrymen, and have not expressed any consciousness of different nationality till recent weeks, if reports from Yugoslavia are correct. But then, Marshal Tito is an honourable man; his interest in Carinthia is surely due only to the few thousand Slovenes and not to the great riches of this Austrian province. In its mountain fastnesses exists enough waterpower for the most ambitious electrical schemes of Europe; coal, ironore, lead, all can be found in Carinthia; the valleys are fertile and rich with wheat, the mountain pastures carry large herds of cattle. The people were content and, as is the nature with mountaineers shut off for centuries from the world, very conservative. Carinthia, a stronghold of Austrian conservatism; is assuredly asking to be liberated by the Yugoslavs to become part of the Russian zone of influence. Mountains and Lakes

Carinthia is a country of mighty mountains and lovely lakes. The Alps shut it off from the raw north, chains of high peaks form the boundary to the neighbouring provinces of Styria, Salzburg, and the Tyrol:'. The monarch of them all is the -Grossglockner, with its huge Pastierz glacier, 'where ski races are held .in- spring. The Tauern chain, the- Karawanken, the Carnic Alps, and the Gailtaler Alps enclose the'rich valleys. Klagenfurt, the capital, 'lies r dlose by the vast Woerther lake. The small town looks rather like a box of toys that has been scattered on the ground. Low houses with richly carved beams, mellow bricks, flat gables; narrow paths crisscrossing past ancient courtyards; stone balustrades suddenly jutting outfiato a street; archways' and tiny garggns; and above the .whole jumble rises 'the baroque .tower of the parish church with its dark green copper globes piled on fragile columns. The lake is a real paradise for sport: swimming and sailing in summer;; and:) then in winter it freezes over its . entire 10mile stretch; skaters race on .the smooth ice or show off their fanciful turns and leaps; ice-yachts flash across it with colourful sails; and the fastest and most, exciting of all games, icehockey, keeps one warm even on the coldest day. Around the lake, .are villages ‘arid spas,' the; dark pmerweeds come:-td .the ,water’s 'edge;';tEe mohntains tower above it, ancient monasteries lie amidst rich fields, turreted castles threaten from the crags—no wonder that. in ? such - a. country : Old customs and allegiances are; not Jfor.gotten. ''i’JX In' additiori.:.to. .the, .Woerther:;,L?ike there are' many•; others; • higher,:u£r in the. moiintainS,; large .and small, ..rivalling the beauty of the great'.lqwland waters. The towns'■ dotted about the countryside, are all -in keeping with this ancient-land,, made habitable only too often In despite of'nature'. ;;'Millstatt has an eleventh century Salyator monastery; Villach, with its, timbered houses, is hidden- in a wooded valley. The ducal city -of St. Veit was once the seat of the Carinthian princes; the cathedral at Gurk rises in' fahtastic lines. The Grail. Castle, of Hochosterwitz, turret 'jostling .turret, is "taken right out of a -fairy-tale;- the mediaeval town of Friesach hag.;slept:, peacefully for centuries. ■ V*. : . t ■ " Old Customs . W-'.

When the snows blanket);: the: Carinthian mountains andvalleys,' then the..most colourful customs and pageantries enliven the long winter.; On, the Night of All Souls,' ifl the beginning of November, everyone treks out, to > the.;.churchyards to light th§. -Death candles. ' ' For days beforehand the graves have been decorated with flowers and small statues, deep colours splash the glittering snow, . rows of candles arranged as crosses or stars wait to be lit. Hidden under red and blue and green glass-cups, so that no wind can blow them out, .they make an eerie show in; the night, outlining the graves and the dark-clad people filing past, bowing and crossing themselves when they stop at - the resting place of dead friends, x". The souls come down from Heaven that night to walk through - their old villages, to look at their friends and relatives who will one. day follow them from this world. A grave here and there has been forgotten, the family has died out or moved away: soon the poor grave is 'noticed, and a few flowers, a candle or two are given it so that this soul need not feel lonely. Before Christmas, St. Nicholas and the Devil walk through the villages and towns. The Devil has a fearsome mask and carries a rod, schoolboys particularly hide behind the mask and give their fellows and, if at all possible, their schoolmasters, a few good whacks when they meet them in the streets. St. Nicholas is known to all, with his red robe, his long white beard, the bag full of toys and sweets over his back. The sweets are doled out to children he might meet on his way to the houses of. friends; there the toys go to the boys and girls, always accompanied by a long lecture on being good and obedient, and all those fine things children have been told since the time Cain and Abel ,! were born. A devil comes along after St. Nicholas and gives everyone within reach a good caning, just in case the saint did not put his points well enough. • The week after Christmas is needed to drive.out any evil spirits .that might try to' snuggle themselves A into the new year; .'Bovs rush through the streets at'night, shouting arfa- ringing hand bells, beating lids of iron pots together, rattling chains, making all the noise they can to frighten away the evil-ones from their villages. The noise must be really good, because there is always the horrible' possibility that in the village-further up the valley it was much louder, and then the bad spirits would take refuge where not enough vigour had been shown. , ■ . At Easter the may-poles are brought in from the woods to celebrate the coming of spring. The sun is powerful again, the farmer’s year begins, summer keeps him too busy for festivals except a few religious processions with banners and bands, statues of the Saints carried by white-clad girls, a long choral service in front of the village church, and then a good night’s dancing and singing and eating to wind up. The year ends again for the Carinthian mountain-farmers when the cattle return to the valleys from their alpine pastures. The best cow leads the procession of the;herd, decked- out with garlands of flowers, the horns polished and decorated with tassels, the finest bell of all in the herd around its neck : on a brassstudded collar. Down in the village a feast is prepared, the year has been good, no cows have strayed and been killed in a ravine; one can celebrate and be grateful. The local band has turned out, smart in their leather-shorts and white knee-stockings, their green and grey home-spun Austrian jackets, their green hats with a white feather. The Carinthian farmer can now take it easy during the coming winter: he can sit in the inn sucking his long carved pipe filled' with a tobacco that would kill an ordinary man; he can now watch with quiet and benevolent amusement the city-folk who take possession of his mountains for ski-ing and who bring money to his village. Carinthia has some industries, and large iron and coal deposits, but until lately it wa.s too difficult to penetrate the mountains. This Austrian province has immense potential water-power’, but only in recent year's could a start he. made-to use it. Now that railways have opened up the mountain fastnesses of South-western Europe, Carinthia has become valuable, and is it just possible that its newly accessible wealth is causing all the trouble over who shall control Carinthia?