„Klein-Europa“ vor dem Verschwinden? Das Kanaltal hundert Jahre bei Italien

This thesis-based study examines changing ethnic groups within the Valcanale region since its national affiliation to Italy after the end of World War I, focusing on German and Slovenian-speaking minorities (i.e., autochthonous Valcanale inhabitants) in relation to their various external and self-recognition. In addition, the study addresses the impact of spatial structures over a “longue durée” based on symbolic ethnicity within a cultural landscape heritage framework. It presents a theoretical outline followed by “contact persons-based research” and analysis of relevant persistent cultural landscape elements utilising on-site studies. Primarily, the autochthonous population – now numbering less than one hundred German speakers and just over three hundred Slovenian speakers in the Valcanale – has been affected by assimilation and the belated safeguarding of minorities (from 1999 onwards).