GERMAN, A FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE
by HANS KITZMÜLLER
There were great expectations that the various initiatives planned for 2025, the year Nova Gorica and Gorizia will be European Capitals of Culture, would contribute to spreading and further deepening knowledge of the unique cultural and historical character of both cities.
The territories of the two Gorizias were once unique in European history: in their shared past as a unified territory (that of the ancient county), they were the environment in which different languages coexisted for centuries, because its population consisted of Slovenes, Germans (Austro-Germans), Friulians, and Italians, all inhabitants of the city and its territory, albeit belonging to the three lineages representing the continent’s different linguistic areas: Romance, Germanic, and Slavic. Geography therefore determined the area of their coexistence and interpenetration in this region in the early Middle Ages. A clear expression of this territory was its historical capital: for this reason, over the course of many centuries, Gorizia has become a truly unique city in Europe, not for nothing defined as a Vielvölkerstadt, the most exemplary of that Vielvölkerstaat that was Old Austria, because until 1915 its city population was multilingual, as has always been regularly documented by the frequent periodic language censuses carried out since 1848 throughout the last 60 years of the city’s Austrian rule. These censuses have always recorded a clear majority of Italian speakers in the urban area.
The case of Gorizia is unique in the so-called Old Continent. Other cities in Central Europe have in the past witnessed the coexistence of different languages and ethnic groups, without, of course, ever being able to include a Latin component. The extreme case on the eastern periphery of the Habsburg Empire was represented by Czernowitz, with as many as five languages in common use: Polish, German, Yiddish, Romanian, and Ruthenian (Ukrainian). For administrative, mercantile, and military reasons, cities like Trieste and Fiume also saw a non-native presence of German elements, but no city could ultimately boast like Gorizia since the Middle Ages a population composed of Germans, Friulians or Venetians, and Slovenians, thus representing the three great European families—I repeat, the Germanic, the Latin, and the Slavic—in a centuries-old and natural coexistence favored by the geographical position and therefore innate in the historical-cultural identity of the Gorizia area, as it is found throughout history starting from the settlement at Gorica of the Counts of Gorizia and the construction of their castle.
Much has been discussed and written about this aspect in the past, but much less so in the first half of the twentieth century, to the point of forgetting, ignoring, or even contesting its veracity.
For Go2025, it would have been enough to mention at least Carl von Czoernig, the most important historian of Gorizia and its surrounding area until 1870, as well as his translator Ervino Pocar, recognized as one of the most important translators into Italian of hundreds of German literary masterpieces, in addition to having become a director of Mondadori. Or perhaps, among so many initiatives, have we overlooked a few mentions?
In this regard, we propose the observations of the most accredited old or, if you like, ancient Gorizian (by choice) Carl von Czoernig, with the precise aim of arousing curiosity on the topic relating to the linguistic character of historical Gorizia.
The Görzer Zeitung , A German-language periodical printed in the second half of the nineteenth century records only one controversy, albeit a calm and civil one: the debate over Gorizia’s nationality. An article published on February 26, 1872, documents the attitude of German-speaking Gorizians to the climate that was developing among intellectuals of various nationalities in Gorizia at the time.
What was – and what is therefore truly the national character of the city of Gorizia – and what has been, considered from a national point of view, the historical development of our city? In any case, answering these questions depends very much on the point of view from which one looks at them. One can look at the subject matter, or choose to look at it, and therefore it will not be surprising if one party or another adapts the facts to their own visions and, through a more or less skillful combination, makes them appear in a false light or one that obscures the truth. However, the fact that, as has already happened here, such colossal ignorance of the historical and current circumstances of our city is displayed with a conviction bordering on naiveté, and the culture of the absolutely responsible public is so little valued, to even hope that such a frightening fib will be believed, is, thank God, something that still rarely happens today. Let us then take a close look at the national development of the city of Gorizia and its territory, as history shows it.
Just as the entire territory of the county of Gorizia in its original extension was inhabited by Slavic people since the early Middle Ages, also the place mentioned for the first time in the year 1001 “Gorz” ( sic ) was originally a Slavic settlement and remained so until the German counts of Gorizia built the castle, where they established their residence, surrounding themselves with German ministers. Thus, the castle walls (today’s upper town) became German and retained that nationality even when Count Henry II granted it city rights. Throughout the Middle Ages, Gorizia remained a German city with a predominantly German population, German customs and habits, a German nobility and bourgeoisie, and a German administration of justice.
The Friulian-Italian element was added only starting from the mid-15th century through the influence of the cities of Udine and Cividale, then culturally very advanced, and then from the beginning of the 16th century with the annexation of the Friulian territory of Gradisca and Aquileia to the County of Gorizia. The fact that this element gradually assumed preponderance in the population is explained above all by the push for education, the whose beginnings were then affirmed, fueled by the flourishing Italian universities, also due to the fact that the connection with the The culturally backward German countries, due to the almost total lack of means of communication, were extremely weak, while the city was in multiple and uninterrupted contact with the neighboring Italian provinces, which were then very advanced. However, this Italian preponderance never completely suffocated the other elements of German nationality: and in fact we see them still existing today, not only with unchanged energy, but we even find – to use this expression – a story of reflux given that nowadays the The results of German research and German knowledge exert approximately the same fruitful influence on the highly intelligent Italian nation that we received from it in the Middle Ages. And we are pleased to say here that this cultural influence is accepted by our neighbors with the same genuine benevolence with which Germany offers it.
For anyone who really does not want to deny the obvious facts, there is no other choice than to recognize that the oldest inhabitants of Gorizia were the Slavs, the oldest citizens were Germans, while the Italians and the Friulians constitute the part of the population that arrived more recently., conferring, as we willingly concede, due to their number, their work, and their wealth, over time, on the city the character of an Italian island in a Slavic area. Furthermore, let us not forget that a good portion of the most prominent families, originally from Friuli or more southern Italian provinces, over time and through the many activities their members performed in the service of the state and the dynasty, actually became Germanized, so that they no longer have anything Italian at all, except their names.
According to a survey dating back to very recent times in 1868, the population of the city of Gorizia and its surroundings included 1,800 (mostly belonging to the upper social class) Germans, 3,500 Slavs and 10,700 Italians, of whom 9,000 individuals also spoke the Friulian dialect.
It has nothing to do with our national character – the German one – To respond to a kind offer with a rudeness, but to accept hospitality in one’s own home—that’s what our good nature is not capable of. We recognize the full right of the other nationalities living in Gorizia to operate in this beautiful corner of the earth to the extent their spiritual or other abilities allow, and we are willing to continue sharing their joys and sorrows as our fellow citizens, as has happened thus far, and indeed not to our mutual detriment.
The discussion on the national character of Gorizia continued in issue no. 16 of December 1872 with a timely response to the article entitled «German Gorizia?» which appeared in Goriziano of the first of the same month. The overall objectivity of the reply was recognized. Goriziano but did not accept the invitation to provide a more detailed demonstration of certain assertions. Görzer Zeitung He was keen to point out, however, that his arguments did not intend to make Gorizia a German city, but merely to underline the opinion that the German element of the city should not be considered a “guest” who had joined the other groups, as it had already been predominantly present since the city’s origins, claiming equal rights with the two other nationalities, despite its numerical decline. Before moving on to refute the historical observations contained in that article of the Goriziano, however, the editorialist agreed with the conclusion of the Italian newspaper, writing: “We willingly and with full conviction adhere to the concluding sentence of the “Goriziano”: the flourishing and well-being of the city requires the coexistence of us Italians, Slovenes and Germans in peace and harmony.” This demonstrates how the multinational or supranational ideal found particularly fertile ground in Gorizia, thanks to the centuries-old coexistence of different national groups. This was something that other cities, which had become a melting pot of peoples and races relatively late, like Trieste and Fiume, could not boast. This characteristic of the Gorizia area as a territory of natural coexistence of the three groups is frequently reflected, extolled precisely as the realization of that ideal, in German-language literature at the end of the century. .
The announcement of the cessation of publication of this Görzer Zeitung was sudden. made necessary not by a lack of moral support, as was pointed out, but by a lack of material support. In rejecting the insinuation that it had been an instrument of “Germanization” in Gorizia, the editorial staff of the Görzer Zeitung thus took its final leave, hoping for “ a unanimous and harmonious cooperation of the peoples who in their entirety call themselves Austria” .
In a chapter of the volume edited by the author, Austrian Gorizia, Published in 2023 in connection with the controversy sparked in the pages of the “Görzer Zeitung,” it also reports the detailed results of the 1869 nationality census in Gorizia. Carl Czoernig, in fact, offered a more detailed analysis of those data in his volume Görz als klimatischer Kurort :
In the year 1869 this [population] was composed of 12,259 (64.2%) natives present and 4,400 (35.8%) foreigners. In 1857 there were 10,494 (78.9%) natives and 2,803 (21.1%) foreigners. Therefore, immigration of foreigners increased by 14.7%,
These in turn are divided into:
2.773 belonging to other municipalities of the coast;
1,035 belonging to other countries of the monarchy and 592 foreigners.
In the second category, the distance from the town is what counts, but also its surface area and the mobility of its inhabitants, since among the foreigners staying in the city we find:
334 carniolini,
129 Bohemians,
115 Hungarians,
102 Carinthians,
86 Styrians,
81 of Lower Austria,
68 Moravians
50 Tyroleans,
32 Galicians,
15 of Upper Austria,
11 Dalmatians,
6 Transylvanians ,
3 Silesians,
3 citizens of the «Militärgrenze».
Among the foreigners in the city of Gorizia, only Italians constitute a significant number. The following were counted:
467 Italians,
51 Germans,
25 Swiss,
22 French,
9 Russians,
6 Africans,
4 British,
4 Spaniards,
4 Turks
Further on the author further noted: «The number of Germans resident amounts to approximately 1,800 units». It would not be far from the truth to assert that the majority of these are also made up of German-speaking families who have been resident in Gorizia for several generations, a minority, compared to a city population of 16,659 inhabitants at the time, which cannot be considered small and irrelevant (remember the increase in German immigration towards the mid-18th century recorded by Morelli Schönfeld, who in this regard also spoke of a renaissance “in our ancient national language”!