High school graduates honored

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History Association Director Wilhelm Wadl awarded Julia Ferlitsch, Selina Schwager and Philipp Sucher (from left to right in the front row) for their Matura theses.

(Bild: Geschichtsverein/Heidi Rogy)

History as the "teacher of life" accompanies three young people who dedicated their pre-scientific work on the way to their A-levels to historical topics, researched subjects and were honored by the History Association.

VWA - Pre-scientific work: sounds a bit bland, but can be highly interesting; so interesting that there is even a prize for it from the Carinthian History Association. This year, two outstanding Matura theses were honored: Selina Schwager from Micheldorf and Julia Ferlitsch from Vorderberg worked together at the HLW Hermagor on the Gailtal church days through the ages. The second prize winner is Philipp Sucher from Feistritz im Rosental, who researched the Carinthian partisans.

Selina Schwager with Luca Robin at Micheldorfer Kirchtag: The pupil from HLW Hermagor researched the Gailtal church days with a colleague - and received a prize from the history association for her work.

(Bild: Tamara Jarnig)

Selina and Julia wear their traditional costumes, the "Gailtaler Ras", with enthusiasm and interviewed young and old people in the valley for their VWA. "The result was that customs are still relevant today and that it is also very important for the younger generation to keep them alive and pass them on," they say. The core of the church days in the Gailtal valley are the Kufenstechen and the Lindentanz, which the winner of the Kufenstechen is allowed to open with his Dirndl. "The core of these customs has never been changed, but small adaptations have been made in every fraternity," say Ferlitsch, who is a member of the Vorderberg fraternity, and Schwager, who belongs to the Micheldorf cultural association. They have both proudly reported that they were once allowed to open the Lindentanz.

When Maria Theresa's skirts were too short...
In their VWA, the two compared the church days in Hohenthurn, Micheldorf, Egg and Vorderberg. They also go into the history of the sour church day soup and the Gailtal traditional costume. The latter was a thorn in the side of ruler Maria Theresa: in the 18th century, she banned women from the Gailtal valley from wearing skirts that she considered far too short, as the two young researchers write in their work.

Ferlitsch began studying to become a teacher in Klagenfurt after completing her A-levels, while Schwager is studying to become a qualified health and nursing professional in Lienz.

Julia Ferlitsch, pictured with Sebastian Kassin at the Vorderberger Kirchtag, researched the Gailtal Kirchtage with her school colleague Selina Schwager.

(Bild: Tamara Jarnig)

More objectivity
Philipp Sucher, who attended the Europagymnasium in Klagenfurt, came across his VWA topic through conversations with his grandfather, who has since passed away. "My grandfather came from a mountain farm on the Singerberg, where he was confronted with both the GESTAPO and the Carinthian partisans. Because of these experiences, he always held on to the idea of a free and democratic Austria. He gave me a very objective view of the events of that time," says Sucher.

Nevertheless, some questions remained unanswered for the young researcher, which he tried to clarify with his research. In doing so, he noticed how little objectivity many authors and books have in their approach to the topic. "In some, the war crimes committed by the partisans against the civilian population are deliberately concealed, while in others the resistance fighters are collectively labeled as murderers," says Sucher. It is therefore important to him to encourage other interested parties to conduct objective research into the Carinthian partisans - also in the interests of the victims of that time.

Philipp Sucher at the Peršmanhof memorial in Bad Eisenkappel.

(Bild: zVg)

Like the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, he would like to see history as a "teacher of life". "Unfortunately, some people deliberately suppress this learning process and want to push through populist self-interests," remarks Sucher, who wants to study law after completing his civilian service. "Although my love of history means I'm not entirely averse to studying history as well," says the prizewinner.

The prize for pre-scientific work will also be awarded for the current school year. Information also available at https://geschichtsverein.ktn.gv.at/