Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement

The Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement signed by the foreign minister of Austria, Karl Gruber and the prime minister of Italy, Alcide De Gasperi in September 5, 1946 was a bilateral treaty between Italy and Austria, recognized by international law, which grants the German speaking population of the nowadays Province of Alto Adige/Südtirol to preserve their cultural identity and customs through an autonomy and the recognition of German in the local area as official language in equivalence with Italian. Furthermore was stated the right to reassume the personal original name, which many abandoned during the rule of the fascistic regime, which put forward an oppressive assimilation programme.