THE PEOPLE. 



19 



established at Innsbruck for tbe purpose of supporting German schools in all the 

 frontier villages, which are now threatened by an invasion of Italians. 



In the Eastern Alps a similar struggle has been carried on between German 

 and Slav, and the linguistic boundary has changed frequently in the course of 

 centuries. Formerly the whole of Southern Austria was held by the Slavs, who 

 in the seventh and eighth centuries advanced to the Inn and the sources of the 

 Drave. In several instances the Slavs had even crossed the Alps and descended 

 into Friuli and the Italian Tyrol. These Slavs were generally known as Wends, 

 although in reality they were Slovenes or Corutani, a name preserved in Carinthia, 

 or Kârnthen. Pushed back by the Germans, the Slavs retreated to the eastward, 

 but they left behind them several colonies which preserved their nationality 



Fig. 10. — The Terglou and the Linguistic Boundaky. 

 Scale 1 : 575,000. 



10 MUes. 



during the Middle Ages. Many valleys and villages, the latter frequently pre- 

 ceded by the adjective Windisch, were held by them, nor have they been com- 

 pletely absorbed. The Austrian- Germans betray their double parentage in 

 features, traditions, customs, and more especially in character. They are Germans, 

 no doubt, but they differ much from their kinsmen in Western Germany, 



The actual frontier between the two races begins at the small town of Pontafel 

 (Pontebba), close to the north-eastern corner of Italy, where Italian, German, 

 and Slovene are spoken. It thence runs to the east, passing within a short 

 distance of the Terglou and Mount Luscharl, with its "miraculous" chapel, both 

 of which lie upon Slovene soil. It then passes to the east of Klagenfurt, a 

 German town, separating the German district of Gratz from that of Marburg, 



