Thirteen Communities


The Thirteen Communities were a group of municipalities in the Veneto region that spoke the Cimbrian language, a dialect of Upper German, as their native tongue. The municipalities are located on a high plateau northeast of Verona.

List

  1. Vellje
  2. Roveràit
  3. gen Wiese
  4. Brunghe and Ljetzan
  5. Nuagankirchen
  6. kam' Àbato
  7. kame Cire
  8. Salàin
  9. Asarin, a part of Vellje
  10. Bòrtolom, a frazione of Brunghe
  11. Porrental, frazione of Nuagankirchen
  12. Tavernole, a frazione of San Mauro di Saline
  13. Kampsilvan, a frazione of Vellje

    History

The thirteen communities formed together into a loose commonwealth around 1280. They were historically under the suzerainty of the Milanese House of Visconti and then under the Republic of Venice. Under both they enjoyed wide cultural and political autonomy in exchange for their loyalty. The autonomous status came to an end with the Napoleonic Wars and the demise of the Serenìssima in 1797.
Due to the high pressure from the Italianization from fascists such as Ettore Tolomei and the government of Benito Mussolini did the Cimbrian language eventually almost completely disappear and become extinct. Only in Ljetzan has Cimbrian partly survived.
Ljetzan has the cultural institute "Tautsche Püachar Haus" and ethnological museum which is a repository of the Cimbrian culture and cooperates with other linguistic enclaves in Luserna and the Seven Communities. Vestiges of the once dominant language can be found in some place names.

Example

The Cimbrian that was spoken in the Thirteen Communities was a slightly different dialect from Cimbrian spoken elsewhere.
CimbrianGermanEnglish

Vatar usar

ta Do pist ime Himmel,

gaholagat sait Dai name.

Kime Daine Raich.

Vater unser

der Du bist im Himmel,

geheiligt werde Dein Name.

Dein Reich komme.
Our Father

who are in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,