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New Signs – Old Scratchworks

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New Signs – Old Scratchworks
The graffitied town sign of Gluhi les/Lauchenholz.Credit: NSKS | All rights reserved

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) will install new bilingual signs in recognized bilingual areas of Burgenland and Carinthia by the end of 2024 to promote cultural diversity. Recent graffiti against Slovenian place names in Carinthia reflects ongoing challenges to peaceful cohabitation.

New Signs – old scratchworks

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) wants to install new bilingual signs in the municipalities highlighted as bilingual in the Ethnic Group Act. Seven of these station signs are to be replaced and a new one is to be installed before the end of 2024 in the areas of Burgenland with a Croation speaking minority as well as in the areas of Carinthia with a Slovenian speaking minority. This has already been implemented as part of a modernising effort in Šmihel pri Pliberku/St. Michael ob Bleiburg in Carinthia.

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“The bilingual signage is another important acknowledgment of the Slovenian ethnic group in Carinthia,” said Carinthia's Governor Peter Kaiser at a press event in Pliberk/Bleiburg. “The fact that ÖBB is committed to this, even without a legal obligation, underscores peaceful coexistence and respect for cultural diversity not only in our region but throughout Austria.”

Posing with the new, bilingual sign: (from left) Carinthian Governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ), Federal Minister for Climate Protection Leonore Gewessler (Greens) and Johann Pluy, CEO of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG.Credit: ÖBB/evmedia.at | All rights reserved

The Council of Carinthian Slovenes (Der Rat der Kärntner Slowenen/Narodni svet koroških Slovencev, NSKS) welcomed the initiative with a press release, but pointed out other areas in which the implementation of Article 7 of the 1955 Austrian State Treaty are lacking. In addition, the Council emphasised that it is not enough to have "Bahnhof Bleiburg/Pliberk“ written, but the word “Bahnhof” (station) should also be translated into Slovenian, therefore "Bahnhof Bleiburg/Kolodvor Pliberk”. The Council posed the question of whether the bilingual sign posting would be present inside the stations and it is already aware of many bus stations in bilingual municipalities which only display German language signs.

Graffiti against peaceful cohabitation

The ÖBB's noteworthy intention to increase bilingual signs in public spaces is counteracted by graffitiing in Škocjan v Podjuni/St. Kanzian am Klopeiner See. While in Gluhi les/Lauchenholz like in Šentprimož/St. Primus before it, the Slovenian place names on signs have been painted over.

“Acts of graffiti, like the one in the municipality of Gemeinde St. Kanzian/ Škocjan where Slovenian has been spoken since time immemorial, are an attempt to undermine the improved climate in these regions. Besides such acts damage Carinthia’s global image”, the Council of Carinthian Slovenes wrote in a press release. After the violent 1972 protests against bilingual placenames in Carinthia, an adequate solution for all parties involved for decades while implementing the treaty. The 2011 Place name compromise did ease tension, however it also cemented injustice and a multitude of different regulations that make it impossible to speak of a satisfactory solution.

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Only some of the municipalities in the bilingual area of Carinthia also have a Slovenian inscription on their place name signs. The place-name sign regulations are a wild jumble of different regulations: In many municipalities, only certain districts have bilingual signs, others do not, and only in certain municipalities can Slovene also be used to communicate with authorities.Credit: Hatto Schmidt | All rights reserved
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Sign at the district court in Železna Kapla/Bad Eisenkappel: There are only two other district courts in Southern Carinthia where proceedings may be held in Slovene - which is usually not the case. Article 7, para. 3 of the State Treaty clearly states: ‘In the administrative and judicial districts of Carinthia, Burgenland and Styria with a Slovene, Croatian or mixed population, the Slovene or Croatian language shall be authorised as an official language in addition to German.Credit: Hatto Schmidt | All rights reserved
Hatto Schmidt

Hatto Schmidt

Born and raised in Baden-Württemberg (Germany), studied history and political science in Freiburg and Tübingen, then spent 33 years as a journalist for the daily newspaper “Dolomiten” published in Bolzano. For many years he has dealt with questions and problems of national minorities.

Citation

https://doi.org/10.57708/bjghr6rhkrmmwwnwymtdfig
Schmidt, H. New Signs – Old Scratchworks. https://doi.org/10.57708/BJGHR6RHKRMMWWNWYMTDFIG
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This blog is supported by the European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages (MIDAS). MIDAS was founded in 2001 to provide assistance to minority language newspapers and nowadays has members all over Europe. MIDAS serves as a platform for exchange, uniting minority language newspapers to present a collective voice to the European institutions.

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