The German Question, Part Fourteen

Edited and updated a little on July 23, 2015. 

Going back about 1500 years, Germanic elements (later, in this case, called Germans) had settled in part of the area of the southern Alps. The area became heavily German in terms of population (likely absorbing many Celtic and Latin elements there), and the cities and towns came to be known by their German names in those times. Probably unknown to most Americans, this area, known as the South Tirol (Italian: Alto Adige), later became quite contested between the Germans (usually represented by the Austrians) and the Italians, who claimed the territory based upon geography, and not by majority ethnic background. The area in question, now part of Italy, has the cities of Bolzano (Bozen, in German), Merano (Meran, in German) and Bressanone (Brixen, in German). The people who later came to be known as "Italians," also had a minority in the region, but with some areas actually having an Italian majority. More on this later.

So, now in the last several parts, I have laid out the areas of Europe where people who were known as "Germans" came to live, albeit at times either with many non-Germans nearby, or mixed in with non-Germans. We are now ready to move on to the rise of two dominant German states, one in the south, and one in the north. The struggle between these two states for the rule of Germany will bring us to more modern times, and to historical events and names undoubtedly more recognizable to many readers.

WORD HISTORY:
Sour-This seems to go back to the Indo European root "suro," which had to do with "cheese." Of course, cheese can have a sour taste (after all it's soured milk). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "suraz," which just meant "sour." This then gave Old English "sur," which then became "sour." The other Germanic languages have: German "sauer," Low German "suur," Dutch "zuur," West Frisian "soer" (apparently archaic),  Swedish, Danish and Norwegian "sur," and Icelandic "súr," all of these forms meaning "sour." Latin-based French has the adjective "sur" (acidic, sour) absorbed from Germanic Frankish "sur."