Where is the Tschögglberg located?
The geographical definition of the Tschögglberg is relatively simple. The Tschögglberg is an elongated mountain ridge on the orographic left bank of the Etsch river between Bozen and Meran in South Tyrol, which initially slopes gently and then steeply to the south. It is bordered to the west by the Etschtal Valley and to the north by the summit of the Ifinger. In the east, the line along the ridge is considered the border, which extends over the Maiser Rast, the Kreuz- and Auener Joch, the "Stoanernen Mandln", the Jenesier Jöchl and the Schwarzeck along the Marterbach down to the Talfer in the city of Bozen. On the southern spur lies the lowest-lying municipality of
Jenesien (1089 m) with its hamlets of Afing, Flaas, Nobls and Glaning. The village of
Mölten (1158 m) is nestled in a hollow and includes the hamlets of Verschneid, Versein and Schlaneid in its municipal area. To the north is the municipality of
Vöran (1204 m) with the hamlet of Aschl. In the far north, the Tschögglberg is completed by the municipality of
Hafling (1290 m) with the districts of Hafling Dorf, Oberdorf and St. Kathrein.
Alpine Romansh word stem
To find out more about the root of the word and its origins, we turned to South Tyrol's field name expert Johannes Ortner from Merano, who explained the etymology of the word: "In modern usage, the word Tschöggl means 'ruffian' or 'clumsy person'. The word itself is a loan word from the Alpine Romansh tschukk, which means 'tree stump'". Ortner draws a comparison with the Italian word ciocco “log” and the Trentino zok “tree trunk”. According to Ortner, this also fits as an epithet for a “clumsy”, “chunky" man”.
No official denomination
Now we go one step further and search the archives for the “Tschögglberg”. However, we don't find anything there, because the name “Tschögglberg” does not appear in historical sources. First and foremost, this means that the name “Tschögglberg” has no significance in terms of administrative history, either at municipal or district level. But the name is also not to be found in other historical contexts. The toponymy expert Karl Finsterwalder wrote in 1973:
"Today's landscape name “Tschögglberg” has no historical evidence. The language of the documents (...) never uses it. But even the so reliable historical-statistical topographer of Tyrol, Joh. Jak. Staffler, does not use it in his standard work on Tyrol and Vorarlberg (1846); nor does Beda Weber, author of "Das Land Tirol" (1835-37), who is just as knowledgeable about the region (...) From this officially obviously unrecognised name Tschöggl, even from the diminutive form, one could assume it to be a nickname".
Conclusion: formerly a hillbilly - today with a twinkle in the eye
It is therefore reasonable to assume that the word “Tschöggl” was first used for the people from this mountain region and later found its way into the language with the word “Tschögglberg” as a designation for their place of origin. Ortner also says: “Tschöggl was and is a joking nickname that Beda Weber and Johann Jakob Staffler knew, but did not allow to pass as official.” Ortner thus agrees with Finsterwalder's assumption, who theorises that it is “a kind of local teasing, namely by townspeople of Bozen and Meran towards the inhabitants of mountain communities (...). In Bolzano, the word Tschögg was understood to mean “a backwoodsman of not exactly refined behaviour”. Cleverly, the people of Tschögglberg have now adopted the once disparaging term “Tschöggl” and reinterpreted it in a positive way.