WORDS STEFFI MARTH PHOTOGRAPHY NATHAN HUGHES
1915, The Stelvio Pass, Italy.
The First World War saw two armies, the Imperial Austro- Hungarian Kaiserjäger and the Italian Alpini, pitched into combat with the mission to protect their land whatever the costs. After the declaration of war on 23rd May 1915, both armies made their way up to the war lines of the highest pass in the European Alps, ready to face each other on the mountain. ‘Conquer the peaks and you conquer the valleys below,’ the commanders of both sides were convinced. Even this stunning and serene high-alpine landscape in excess of a staggering 3,000m would not be so lucky as to escape the cruelty of those times.