Apostles of the Alps [eBook - Biblioboard] : Mountaineering and Nation Building in Germany and Austria, 1860-1939

Though the Alps may appear to be a peaceful place, the famed mountains once provided the backdrop for a political, environmental, and cultural battle as Germany and Austria struggled to modernize. Tait Keller examines the mountains' threefold role in transforming the two countries, as people sought respite in the mountains, transformed and shaped them according to their needs, and over time began to view them as national symbols and icons of individualism. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Alps were regarded as a place of solace from industrial development and the stresses of urban life. Soon, however, mountaineers, or the so-called apostles of the Alps, began carving the crags to suit their whims, altering the natural landscape with trails and lodges, and seeking to modernize and nationalize the high frontier. Disagreements over the meaning of modernization opened the mountains to competing agendas and hostile ambitions. Keller examines the ways in which these opposing approaches corresponded to the political battles, social conflicts, culture wars, and environmental crusades that shaped modern Germany and Austria, placing the Alpine borderlands at the heart of the German question of nationhood. This book explores the paradox that Europe’s seemingly peaceful “playgrounds” were battlegrounds where competing visions of Germany and Austria clashed. Using newly available archival materials from state and private collections throughout Germany, Austria, as well as Switzerland, and Italy, Apostles of the Alps shows how recreational pursuits in the Eastern Alps, Alpinism, placed distant mountains at the heart of German nationhood questions. The book explores how Alpinism changed the borderlands both physically and discursively and analyzes what these Alpine intersections meant for Germans and Austrians. The Alps staged the struggles that fundamentally shaped Germany and Austria, and yet the mountains get overlooked as places of meaningful historical change. Apostles of the Alps takes an original approach that incorporates environmental, social, and cultural history and situates tourism and environmental change on borderlands as central to nation building projects. Unlike other studies, this book emphasizes Austria’s pivotal place in Germany’s troubled modernization. The emotionally charged relationship that Germans and Austrians shared with the Alps reveals the importance of the periphery for both states. Their mountaineering clubs opened the Alpine frontier to the masses in hopes of bonding patriotic loyalties to a landscape that united Germany and Austria. But tourists carried their prejudices with them to mountains, politicizing the Alps. Now pressures that had formed the contours of the modern state—political fights, social conflicts, culture wars, and environmental crusades—shaped the peaks. These borderlands did not reflect the struggles occurring at the center; they were the center of nationhood struggles Though The Alps May Appear To Be A Peaceful Place, The Famed Mountains Once Provided The Backdrop For A Political, Environmental, And Cultural Battle As Germany And Austria Struggled To Modernize. Tait Keller Examines The Mountains' Threefold Role In Transforming The Two Countries, As People Sought Respite In The Mountains, Transformed And Shaped Them According To Their Needs, And Over Time Began To View Them As National Symbols And Icons Of Individualism -- Introduction: Disenchanted Mountains -- Civilizing The Crags: Urban Adventurers Modernize The Mountains -- Peaks And Progress: Alpine Reveries, Bourgeois Dreams, And National Fantasies -- Young People And Old Mountains: Commercialism And Conservationism Tangle In The Alps -- The High Alps In The Great War: Soldiers And Summits On The Alpine Front -- Forbidden Heights: Lost Mountains And The Violence Of Alpine Anti-semitism -- Mechanical Mountains: Movies And Motors Remake The Alps -- Fascist Landscapes: Nature Lovers And Nazi Desperadoes On The Alpine Frontier -- Conclusion: The Retreat Of Nations. Tait Keller. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 249-276) And Index. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Note on Citations and Translation Abbreviations Used in the Text Introduction: Disenchanted Mountains PART ONE: Opening the Alps, 1860–1918 1 Civilizing the Crags Urban Adventurers Modernize the Mountains 2 Peaks and Progress Alpine Reveries, Bourgeois Dreams, and National Fantasies 3 Young People and Old Mountains Commercialism and Conservationism Tangle in the Alps 4 The High Alps in the Great War Soldiers and Summits on the Alpine Front PART TWO: Dominating the Alps, 1919–1939 5 Forbidden Heights Lost Mountains and the Violence of Alpine Anti-Semitism 6 Mechanical Mountains Movies and Motors Remake the Alps 7 Fascist Landscapes Nature Lovers and Nazi Desperadoes on the Alpine Frontier Conclusion: The Retreat of Nations Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P R S T V W Y Z "Though the Alps may appear to be a peaceful place, the famed mountains once provided the backdrop for a political, environmental, and cultural battle as Germany and Austria struggled to modernize. Tait Keller examines the mountains' threefold role in transforming the two countries, as people sought respite in the mountains, transformed and shaped them according to their needs, and over time began to view them as national symbols and icons of individualism" -- Provided by publisher