The Sacred Heart Fire

An old law passed by Emperor Maximilian I. said, that Tyroleans have to fight in war only if their own
land was threatened.But in April 1796 they were forced to send their young man into the war for the Emperor to fight  against the French (Tyrol wasn´t in danger this order was against the old law). After a training of only three
weeks 7000 men were send on the southern border.A small comitee (24 men from all over Tyrol) met in Bolzano to discuss this problem, when a priest said that they have to entrust their land the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
After this ceremonial oath a huge amount of volonteers followed Andreas Hofer(please get informed about him on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Hofer  THIS IS NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY).After they surpricely won the battle against the French and the Bavarians, Sacred Haert Sundy became a high holiday.Still today we light the fires like they did to inform each village of the upcoming rebellion.
The fires are often arranged in the form of hearts, crosses and the sign of Christ ("INRI" or "IHS") in memory of 
the holy oath.