MenuThe passes in the Alps that used to be border passes….and those that have become so
A pass is defined by its geographical location on the continental divide. This divide is often an administrative limit. If it is a frontier between 2 states, the pass will enjoy a ‘top-of-the-range’ status as a border pass… and it will be in the Club catalogues of each country.
This status may not be permanent as treaties have shifted frontiers over the course of history.
Here are some examples :
France and Italy:
With the Treaty of Turin (1860) and the attachment of the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, several Alpine passes lost their border pass status (as for instance, the Cols of Galibier and la Bonette) while other passes gained this status (like le Mont-Cenis and Vescavo. But they would keep this status only until 1946 with the Treaty of Paris).
Austria and Italy:
In 1919, with the Treaty of Saint-Germain, Austria ceded Trentino (Wesch Tirol) and South Tyrol (Süd Tirol), known as Alto Adige, to Italy (Provinces of Trento and Bolzano).
The Stelvio ceased to be a border pass while the Brenner gained this status.
The border between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in red (before the Treaty of Saint-Germain) and the Italy/Austria, Italy/Yugoslavia and Austria/Yugoslavia borders are in blue.
Further east, between Italy and Yugoslavia:
With the 1919 Treaty of Saint Germain en Laye, the border is pushed further to the east, and as a consequence, several passes ceased to be border passes (as for instance, Passo di Solarie) to become border passes again in 1947 with the Treaty of Paris.
Other passes like Preval Vršič (or Passo di Moistrocca) would be border passes only from 1919 to 1947.
You’ll find in red the border before the Treaty of Saint Germain on the left and after the Treaty on the right.
The article (on the Cyclotouristes Grenoblois website) entitled: « Ces cols des Alpes qui furent frontaliers … et ceux qui le sont devenus » (‘The passes in the Alps that used to be border passes….and those that have become so’) goes meticulously through all the changes that have taken place along the Alpine arc since 1860.