Custody of the tradition.

By Anton Heinz Spielmann.

After November 4^th 1918, the four regiments of the Tiroler Kaiserjäger, decimated by the collapse of the Monarchy, were undefeated but due to misunderstanding on the ambiguous timing of the beginning of the armistice, they were captured by the Italians. They wondered then what would have happened to the Bergisel, which was not only a rifle range, but was also a place for reflection and remembrance.

The donation of the ground, agreed with the Collegiate of Wilten on 14.11.1917 in favour of the Tyrolean regiments of the Kaiserjäger, had not been able to become operational, because of the absence of the necessary records.

The shooting test of the archduke Karl Ludwig, Regent Deputy of the Tirol, in the rifle range of the Kaiserjägers 29/09/1855. Inscription on wood painted. (Tiroler Landesmuseum, W6504/95).

The First “premonstrotense” Chapter, presided over by the abbot Adrian Zacher, had decreed, with the document of 23.08.1918, to transfer the ownership of the fund, abandoned by the Bergisel, exclusively to the four regiments. This was their first expression of explicit gratitude in memory of the rescue of the Emperor Charles during the trip in the war zone of the Isonzo (he was saved from drowning in a flooded stream by his companions from the Kaiserjäger).

The problem remained who he would have nominated as his successor by law: the corps of troop in winding-up, the ex official, the new Austrian army, the State, the Tirol or the city of Innsbruck?

The definitive decision was pending for a long time.

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