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4: CASE STUDY 1: THE ITALIAN/SLOVENIAN BORDER
their 30s to their 80s and seven men ranging in age from their 40s to their
80s (see discussion in Chapter 1). I got in contact with most of the people
before and during my trip by contacting museums or organisations that
may be of help (such as the Swedish-Slovenian Friendship Association in
Stockholm) and these in turn referred me on to other contacts. The
interviewees were from different backgrounds both ethnically and socially
and consisted of people who were working in the heritage and museums
industry as well as people living, or having previously lived, in the area.
One distinctive feature of the study area, as with many other border
areas, is the duality in language which is reflected also in place names as
often both the Italian and Slovenian names are used. Where this is the case I
will refer to these places first in Italian and then Slovenian. For the town of
Gorizia/Gorica I am using both until the Second World War as after that
the situation changed and the one town became two.
Background
The borders between Italy, Slovenia and Austria have had a turbulent
history and the borders of the changing regimes have shifted dramatically
over the last centuries.
The town on the hill
Gorizia/Gorica was first mentioned in 1001 together with the village of
Solkan (Vecchiet 2008). The word is believed to derive from the Slavic word
for hill (Jacob Marušič, 2008, pers. comm. 2 nd September). The original
town also centred on the hilltop castle from which it expanded. The town
and surrounding areas have a fortunate position benefiting from the
surrounding areas’ different types of terrains such as the Alps, the karst
plateaus and alluvial plains, all with very different types of economy. As a
central point the town therefore became the meeting point and an important
market between these different economies which led to a development
of road networks and later also railways (Moodie 1950:89). The Habsburg
Empire saw the significance of the location of Gorizia/Gorica, or Görz in
German, and in the early 16 th century, when they took control of the area,
established administrative and military functions here (Moodie, 1950:89).
When the Transalpine Railway was constructed at the turn of the 20 th
century Gorizia’s position as part of a network was strengthened as it was
now located on the route that connected Vienna with Trieste, the Habsburg
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