Map of Tyrol taken from Giovanni Marieni’s rare work *Atlas of Modern Geography*, published in Milan in 1833 by the Imperial and Royal Printing Office.
The map depicts the vast Alpine territory of historic Tyrol and the Vorarlberg region, then an integral part of the Austrian Empire. The drawing effectively highlights the mountainous structure of the Alps, rendered through refined orographic hatching that lends depth and relief to the landscape. The main valleys, river courses, Alpine passes, and strategic cities—Innsbruck, Bolzano, Trento, Bressanone, and Feldkirch—stand out with great clarity, reflecting a cartographic approach that combines educational purposes with administrative precision.
In the lower right corner, a legend summarizes the political division of the territory, subdivided into seven administrative districts, indicated by Roman numerals and accompanied by their Italian and German names. This division reflects the bureaucratic organization of the Habsburg Empire and attests to the multilingual and multicultural nature of the Tyrolean territory:
I. Upper Inn District (Ober Innthal)
II. Lower Inn (Unter Innthal)
III. Puster Valley
IV. Bolzano (Botzen)
V. Trento
VI. Roveredo
VII. Vorarlberg or Bregenz
This administrative structure highlights Tyrol’s strategic role as a bridge between the German-speaking world and the Italian peninsula. The southern areas of Bolzano, Trento, and Rovereto were, in fact, closely integrated into the Austrian political system while retaining a strong Italian linguistic identity, whereas the northern regions gravitated culturally toward the German-speaking area of the German Confederation. From a historical perspective, the Princely County of Tyrol was one of the oldest and most prestigious territories of the Habsburg Monarchy. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Tyrol returned permanently to Austrian control and became a key region for the defense of the Alpine routes and the connections between Vienna, Bavaria, and northern Italy.
The history of the Imperial Royal Printing House of Milan is closely linked to the Austrian presence in Lombardy. Founded in 1761 by order of Maria Theresa of Austria, the Imperial Royal Printing House of Milan represented the state’s typographical excellence for nearly a century. During the Habsburg period, the printing house served as the official body responsible for publishing laws, edicts, and school textbooks approved by the Austrian government. Thanks to its collaboration with technicians, engravers, and geographers affiliated with imperial scientific institutions, the printing house contributed to the dissemination of publications of high typographical and scientific quality. With the Five Days of Milan and the subsequent Risorgimento uprisings, the printing house lost its “imperial” character, gradually transforming into the Royal Printing House after the unification of Italy.
