Tales and legends
The Tyrol is rich in legends and tales, which often have their source in rural life, the natural elements and the surrounding mountains. For example, the expression "little man still lives" is still sometimes used to indicate that a person has escaped death. This expression is found in a song sung in the mountains by the elders. The character of "Jean de l'Ours" is also still represented, this hero of a widespread tale (which echoes the legend of Romulus and Remus) is common to several countries and regions including France and the Italian Tyrol.
The place of religion today
The Counter-Reformation and the Catholic orders, especially the Jesuits, but also the Benedictines and the Augustinians, deeply shaped the religious character of the region. Even today, Tyrol has many monasteries that remain active and significant in local life. One example is the Fiecht Abbey, the oldest monastic foundation in Tyrol. In general, religious celebrations are very popular in Tyrol and certain events (processions, outdoor masses) take over the territory far beyond the churches. The Christmas holidays, for example, are a highlight of the year with many traditions. Among these, the renowned Christmas markets or Weihnachtsmärkte, during the entire Advent period, are multiplied in villages and large cities. As Austria and Italy are lands of immigration due to their geography, several other religions have appeared over the years. A large part of the present-day Muslims in Austria are the descendants of foreign guest workers from the 1960s and refugees from the wars in Yugoslavia (1991-2001).
Catholicism remains the majority
Today, a large majority of Austrian Tyroleans and Italian South Tyroleans are Christians, the vast majority of whom are Catholics. The Catholic presence is manifested in the numerous monasteries and abbeys. The processions in the cities also mark the strength of the Catholic presence. In the Austrian Tyrol, the Catholic religion is in the majority (about 75% of the population). If one refers to the data for Austria, then there are the Protestants, the Muslims, who today are mainly of Turkish origin, then the Orthodox, the Buddhists and the Jews, whose population was largely exterminated during the Second World War. On both sides of the Brennerpass (the pass that has separated Austria from Italy since the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye came into force in 1919), the Catholic religion is still in the majority and massively followed, even if its weight tends to diminish considerably in the larger towns. In the Italian Tyrol, especially in the valleys of the South Tyrol and their mountain slopes, there are monasteries that are more than ten centuries old. The history of these splendid monuments, with their cloisters, libraries, courtyards, gardens and parish churches, is marked by political disputes, but also by conflicts between the nobility, the clergy, the peasants and the bourgeoisie.
