Free Imperial City of Triest Bumper Sticker

Coat of arms of the Free Imperial City of Triest and small coat of arms of the Austrian Empire. After long-standing rivalry with Venice, Triest petitioned Leopold III of Habsburg, Duke of Austria, to make Triest part of his domains. The agreement of voluntary submission was signed at the castle of Graz in 1382, and so it remained part of the Habsburg empire until 1918. In the 18th century Vienna granted Triest a new liberty as a "free port" - with the capacity to set its own tariffs and taxes. This was a big promotion. It revolutionised the city's finances and position on European trade routes. In 1860 Trieste became the capital of the Austrian Littoral crown land (Österreichisches Küstenland). At the beginning of the 20th century Triest, that has always had a culturally diverse history, was a bustling cosmopolitan city frequented by artists and philosophers such as James Joyce, Italo Svevo, Sigmund Freud, Sir Richard Burton, Kveder, Dragotin Kette, Ivan Cankar, Scipio Slataper, and Umberto Saba. The city was the major port on the Austrian Riviera, and Viennese architecture and coffeehouses dominate the streets of Trieste to this day. Immediately after World War Two, Trieste, on the border with Yugoslavia, was recognised as a free state under international law (Free Territory of Trieste), though it remained under military occupation until 1954, when it was annexed by Italy. --------------------------------------------------- Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest Triest (ital. Trieste), an der oberen Adria gelegen, gelangte 1382 unter habsburgische Herrschaft und wurde nach der Erhebung zum Freihafen 1719 zum größten und bedeutendsten Hafen der habsburgischen Monarchie. Triest war eine der sprachlich und kulturell vielfältigsten Städte des Habsburgerreiches: neben Italienisch wurden hier Slowenisch, Serbokroatisch, Deutsch sowie weitere Sprachen des Mittelmeerraumes gesprochen. Am Höhepunkt ihrer Bedeutung um 1900 war die Stadt Triest mit ca. 200.000 Einwohnern nach Wien, Budapest und Prag die viertgrößte Stadt der Monarchie. --------------------------------------------------- Drawing by Hugo Gerard Ströhl (1851 – 1919).