ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses two communities on the Austrian-Slovenian border: Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla – which comprises a substantive Slovenian speaking minority – on the Austrian side and Jezersko on the Slovenian side. The communities are located on either side of the Karawanken/Karavanke, the mountain range that forms today's border between Austria and Slovenia. Both communities are proud of the beautiful landscape that surrounds them. Their high reputation as health resorts in the past and the current efforts to foster tourism are mainly based on the picturesque mountainous scenery and healthy climate they have been able to promote. Hiking is a common leisure activity of the population of the region and many mountain hikes end in one of the two pubs at the border crossing. The social and political practices which develop, maintain or restructure specific boundaries are embedded in power-relations and result in specific social outcomes for the people affected by them.
