Many tyroleans see themselves as an own nation. With „Tirol isch lei oans“, „Zu Mantua in Banden“ and „Dem Land Tirol die Treue", the federal state has three more or less official anthems. There are historical reasons for this pronounced local patriotism. Tyrolean freedom and independence are often invoked as a local shrine to underpin this. It is often referred to as the first democracy in mainland Europe, which is probably a gross exaggeration when you consider the feudal and hierarchical history of the country up until well into the 19th century. However, the country cannot be denied a certain peculiarity in its development, even if it was less about the participation of broad sections of the population and more about curtailing the power of the sovereign.

After the marriage of the Bavarian Ludwig von Wittelsbach to the Tyrolean princess Margarete von Tirol-Görz, the Bavarian Wittelsbachs were rulers of Tyrol for a short time. In order to win over the Tyrolean population to his side, Ludwig decided to offer the provincial estates a treat in the 14th century. In the "Großen Freiheitsbrief" of 1342, Louis promised the Tyroleans that he would not enact any laws or tax increases without first consulting the provincial estates. This Große Freiheitsbrief was henceforth consulted by the representatives of the Tyrolean population in all negotiations with the sovereigns. However, there can be no question of a democratic constitution as understood in the 21st century, as these provincial estates were primarily the aristocratic, landowning classes, who represented their interests accordingly

As the towns and bourgeoisie slowly became more important in the 15th century, a counterweight to the nobility developed within these estates. At the Diet of 1423 under Frederick IV, 18 members of the nobility met 18 members of the towns and peasantry for the first time. Gradually, a fixed composition developed in the provincial diets of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Tyrolean bishops of Brixen and Trento, the abbots of the Tyrolean monasteries, the nobility, representatives of the towns and the peasantry were all represented. The provincial governor presided over the meeting. Of course, the resolutions and wishes of the provincial parliament were not binding for the prince, but it was probably a reassuring feeling for the ruler to know that the representatives of the population were on his side or that difficult decisions were supported. 

Another important document for the country was the Tiroler Landlibell. In 1511, Maximilian stipulated, among other things, that Tyrolean soldiers should only be called up for military service in defence of their own country. The reason for Maximilian's generosity was less his love for the Tyroleans than the need to keep the Tyrolean mines running instead of burning out the precious labourers and the peasantry that supplied them on the battlefields of Europe. This special right of the Tyroleans was one of the reasons for the 1809 uprising, when young Tyroleans were conscripted in the mobilisation of the armed forces as part of general conscription. 

The Napoleonic Wars were a milestone for the Tyrolean self-image when the Catholic crown land was threatened by the "godless French" and the revolutionary social order of 1792. Before a decisive battle against Napoleon's armies in June 1796, the Tyrolean marksmen entrusted their fate to the heart of Jesus and made a covenant with God personally that would guarantee their Heiliges Land Tirol from Napoleon. Another legend from 1796 centres on a young woman from the village of Spinges. Katharina Lanz, who was known as the Jungfrau von Spinges in die Landesgeschichte als identitätsstiftende Nationalheldin einging, soll die beinahe geschlagenen Truppen mit ihrem herrischen Auftreten in der Schlacht solcherart motiviert haben, dass sie schlussendlich den Sieg über die französische Übermacht davontragen konnten. Je nach Darstellung soll sie mit einer Mistgabel, einem Dreschflegel oder einer Sense ähnlich der französischen Jungfrau von Orleans den Truppen Napoleons das Fürchten gelehrt haben. Teile des Tiroler Selbstverständnisses rund um die Schützen und das Nationalgefühl, eine selbstständige und von Gott auserwählte Nation zu sein, die zufällig der Republik Österreich angehängt wurde, geht auf diese Legenden zurück. Nationalisten zu beiden Seiten des Brenners bedienen sich noch heute der Jungfrau von Spingesthe heart of Jesus and Andreas Hofer, to publicise their concerns. The Säcularfeier des Bundes Tirols mit dem göttlichen Herzen Jesu was still celebrated in the 20th century with great participation from the political elite.

The historical Tyrolean nationalism is based on this independent political history of the region and the aversion to everything that comes from Vienna or Brussels that persists to this day, which finds its highest expression in bon mots such as "bisch a Tiroler bisch a Mensch, bisch koana, bisch a Oasch" celebrates. The more centralisation progressed since Maria Theresa, the more Vienna was keen to minimise special rights in the historical crown lands such as Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria. The subjects' sense of belonging should not be to the province of Tyrol, but to the House of Habsburg. In the 19th century, the aim was to strengthen identification with the monarchy. The press, visits by the ruling family, monuments such as the Rudolfsbrunnen or the opening of Mount Isel with Hofer as a Tyrolean loyal to the emperor were intended to help turn the population into subjects loyal to the emperor.

When the Habsburg Empire collapsed after the First World War, the crown land of Tyrol also broke up. What had been known as South Tyrol until 1918, the Italian-speaking part of the province between Riva on Lake Garda and Salurn in the Adige Valley, became Trentino with Trento as its capital. The German-speaking part of the province between Neumarkt and the Brenner Pass is now South Tyrol / Alto Adige, an autonomous region of the Republic of Italy with the capital Bolzano. In the Tyrolean part north of the Brenner Pass, as in many former crown lands, there was an intention to break away from the newly constituted Republic of German-Austria after the lost World War. The small rump of the vanished Habsburg Empire with its oversized capital Vienna was not seen as viable by the majority of people. Throughout the centuries, Innsbruckers felt themselves to be Innsbruckers, Tyroleans, Germans, Catholics and subjects of the Emperor. Before 1945, however, hardly anyone felt Austrian. In a referendum, 99% of Tyroleans voted in favour of annexation to Germany.

It was only after the Second World War that a sense of belonging to Austria began to develop. To this day, however, many Tyroleans are proud of their local identity and like to distinguish themselves from the inhabitants of other federal states and countries. For many Tyroleans, after more than 100 years, the Brenner Pass still represents a Injustice limit even if the Europa der Regionen cooperates politically across borders at EU level. The legend of the Holy Landthe independent Tyrolean nation and first mainland democracy persists to this day. The fact that the historic crown land of Tyrol was a multi-ethnic construct with Italians, Ladins, Cimbri and Rhaeto-Romans is often overlooked in right-wing circles.