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Despite
the close proximity of the Kingdom of Italy, the Swiss
Confederation and "church lands" [i.e. the
Papal States], and the fact that Bolzano is on the main
road between Innsbruck, Austria and Trento, Italy through
the Brenner Pass, I have thus far been unable to find
solid evidence that Bolzano/Bozen was in an area of
repeated strife or if Castel Mareccio was the site of
battles or seiges. Following the conquests of Napoleon I,
Bolzano/Bozen was briefly in the Kingdom of Italy [part
of the Confederation of the Rhein], but by 1815 was back
in the Germanic Confederation in the waning Austrian
branch of the Dominions of the Habsburgs. In 1919,
following World War I, the area became part of Italy.
While the area is undoubtedly bilingual, I am told the
residents still favor speaking German in their Tirolean
town.
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