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Replacing the First World War front lines with paths of coexistence between peoples and cultures
A circuit of museums, exhibitions, excursions and educational activities in preparation for the centenary of the Great War
At Belvedere-Gschwent art and new technologies revive the experience of life and battle in the fort
VISITTRENTINO.IT
Three important exhibitions illustrate reconstruction work after the Great War and the campaigns in Libya and Russia, with a new historiographical approach
A LOOK AT HISTORY
Walking from the Ortles to the Marmolada for guided insights into nature and history
Replacing the fronts of the war with paths of peace. To walk in the territories of coexistence. To be in step with solidarity. This is what Trentino has been doing since the dramatic experience of the First World War. A path of values and testimonies through the memories of a story to be reinterpreted looking ahead is also proposed for a tourism in search of contents, new incentives and regeneration of the body and soul. One of the best ways to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Great War without being rhetorical, but with the tranquil strength of projects oriented to a tomorrow of agreement between peoples of different cultures and faiths. Lorenzo Dellai
President of the Autonomous Province of Trento
Tiziano Mellarini
President of the Trentino Marketing S.p.A.
Rovereto Castle, seat of the Italian War History Museum Soldiers in the front line trenches of the Great War On the opposite page the armoured cupola of Fort Belvedere-Gschwent on the Altopiano di Lavarone
n Trentino the memory of the Great War is still vivid in practically every family and even the land is still marked by the military works of that period. Not everyone knows the war lasted almost a year longer here than in the rest of Italy because, at the time, this region was part of the Tyrol, an Austro-Hungarian province. In fact, when the conflict started in 1914, its citizens, soldiers of the emperor, were sent to fight on the Russian front, in Galicia, a region now divided between Poland and Ukraine. Sixty thousand left for the war and more than eleven thousand died, while over a hundred thousand civilians were evacuated to Austria and Italy and two thousand, suspected of being pro-Italian or proAustrian, were interned.
A year later it was the Italians turn to face machine-gun fire to the cry of Avanti Savoia and among them were about 700 Trentino volunteers, who nursed the Irredentist ideal, and some, like Cesare Battisti, were hanged. Battistis fate is emblematic of the contradictions this land has seen. He was a Tyrolean subject and Irredentist, who went to high school in Trento and university in Florence, a socialist member of parliament in Vienna and Innsbruck, then a volunteer in the Italian army, a hero for the Italians and a traitor for the Austrians.
The territory also bears the signs of the war having been considerably altered from the mid-1800s onwards by military works that still guard the passes, paths and peaks today. Over a hundred fortifications and hundreds of kilometres of trenches turned Trentino into a strategic defence point against Italy. In a certain sense war was expected fifty years earlier than its actual outbreak, whereas the consequences lasted for decades. The 1918 peace treaty, which left many problems unsolved throughout Europe and sowed the seeds of the Second World War, had severe economic repercussions on Trentino and generated a new source of conflict with the annexation of Alto Adige to Italy.
Once again a frontier land (to the north and no longer to the south) this time Trentino played an important international role, that of a land experimenting new forms of coexistence. It was its most illustrious citizen, Alcide De Gasperi, who, in 1946, signed the agreements between Italy and Austria protecting the south Tyrolean minorities. Other Trentino politicians have since participated in defining the new instruments of selfgovernment that have regulated and developed the life of the autonomous Trentino and Alto Adige provinces.
This long-sighted commitment of farreaching European echo, the excellent example of coexistence and healing of old wounds, are like seeds germinating in the ground of the memory and devastating experience of the war. The decisions, consistent with this commitment, of the governments of the Autonomous Province of Trento and the active institutions of research, starting with the University and the History Museums of Trento and Rovereto, have given rise to centres involved in projects for peace and international solidarity.
The huge Bell of the Fallen in Rovereto, made by fusing the cannons of the countries that participated in the First World War, has become an outstanding symbol of peace developed by the increasingly numerous organisations in Trentino dedicated to the subjects of coexistence and solutions to conflicts. The fundamental message is simple and straightforward: if you want peace, prepare for peace.
Inside the Rovereto War Museum Above a high altitude artillery position on the front of the Great War On the opposite page Giovanni Sollima in a concert at Fort Dossaccio in Paneveggio
he Trentino Great War Network has been devised by cultural groups, local institutions, museums, tourist boards and professional associations that dedicate part of their time and energy to the history and memory of the First World War. Their work involves restoration and maintenance projects to conserve the many signs of the conflict present in the territory and spread the knowledge of them through excursions, exhibitions and publications. A Network that collects and coordinates many convergent initiatives will permit the memory of the war to be an essential part of the history of Trentino, Italy and Europe and will also provide food for thought in future for the contemporary conscience.
The projects planned for 2011 include the Circuit of the Great War Museums 19 museums, almost all of them animated by volunteers, situated along the old front line as places for documenting and interpreting the historical events that took place there , a provincial calendar of guided excursions to the battlefields and the sites of the conflict, and a photographic exhibition entitled War scenes.
Trentino at the end of the First World War. All this as the international event of the 100th anniversary of the Great War begins to appear on the horizon. A brochure entitled Museums and the Great War, a guide and a website: www.trentinograndeguerra.it, provide further information, which includes opening times, events and short films.
he one and only fort on the Altipiani di Folgaria, Lavarone and Luserna to have survived intact the passage of history still holds many memories within its walls: from the battles of the Great War to the mutilations in peacetime. A long story of more than one hundred years that is now adding another chapter with The Fort of Emotions: sensitive multimedia environments for military architecture in peacetime.
The project highlights the outstanding heritage of Fort Belvedere-Gschwent along a route devised and made by Studio Azzurro, one of the most accredited international realities in the field of new creative languages based on the relationship between culture, art and multimedia technology. The rooms, the underground passages, the casemates and the bastions of the fort come to life with the echo of voices, commands and sounds, while beacons appear and disappear in the air and even the roar of the cannons is heard. Moments in the daily life and battles revived with interactive installations that enable the visitor to fully comprehend the reality of the soldiers of this First World War front and, at the same time, to personally experiment the complexity and defence systems of this authentic fort on the road to Trento.
The Fort of Emotions has been populated, since summer 2008, with characters and scenery, presences and situations. The Sentinels, a system of personal guides in the galleries with video projections of the significant moments in the life of the fort, have been followed by the Animated 3D Model, a three dimensional reconstruction of the fort and the surrounding territory and the Sounds of the Howitzers, real cannons creating noises, explosions and also cries, commands, remarks, fits of coughing and breathing muffled by the gas masks.
On the second floor the Eyes of Light recreates the optical telegraph, a communication system linking the forts on the plateau with the station on Mount Rust. The installation consists of a Communication Table that can be rotated by the public to bring it in line with the openings of the optical telegraph and create flashes or code messages by interrupting the bands of light.
The Diaries of the Machine-gun Nests and The Angel of the Alpine Soldiers enhance and complete the project entitled The Fort of Emotions.
The former occupies three posts and transforms history and actions by replacing the bullets with rays of light, the lines of fire with steel wires, the silence and oblivion with images of faces and vocal thoughts and words of those who experienced this war. Lastly it looks at the enemy troops no longer with hostility, but simply as participants of the same tragic experience in The Angel of the Alpine Soldiers, an installation that has been set up on the rock ledge falling steeply to the Italian Val dAstico. Here the stories and beautiful texts by Piero Jahier and Mario Rigoni Stern, recited by female voices, interact with the splendid natural scenery.
A LOOK AT HISTORY
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hree important historical exhibitions will open in 2011 in Trentino. These three exhibition tours will describe specific moments in national and local history from the end of the First World War and the birth of the Italian Republic. Once again, the aim is to focus on taking a new look at little-known themes and new historiographical interpretations, for example, War scenes which focuses on the return from the front line and the reconstruction of Trentino after the Great War; The Libya War(1911-1930) and Trento Voronezh: return to the Don. From the clash of civilizations to the construction of a collective memory of the Russian war.
WAR SCENES
War scenes. Trentino at the end of the fires, marked by the permanent presFirst World War is the name of an im- ence of the opposing armies, destrucportant exhibition planned for Septem- tion and devastation, in which the first ber 2011 in Trento by Fondazione Museo signs of reconstruction were visible and Storico del Trentino (Trentino History the hardened faces of the protagonists Museum Foundation) and by Rete Tren- of that period. The War scenes. Trentino tino Grande Guerra (Trentino Great War at the end of the First World War project Network) in the Gallerie di Piedicastello was started in 2010 and continues into (Piedicastello Tunnels). The name of the 2011. It is divided into 12 different photoexhibition refers to the after-war period graphic exhibitions, each one dedicated when tens of thousands of soldiers and to a segment of the Trentino territory refugees returned home from the front crossed by the front line. When visiting line, refugee camps and imprisonment it, you can discover the destruction of to a devastated country with houses in the war, wooden huts, the blank faces ruins, war remains scattered throughout of children wandering among remains the countryside, trenches and graves. of walls and piles of rubble, scaffolding Although struck by the appalling hu- erected among buildings, soldiers and man loss and extreme hardship, the civilians cooperating after four years Trentino community began to rebuild, of belligerence; the protagonists of an repair the least damaged buildings, fill important visual documentary that has in trenches, gather the buried, recuper- already been hosted in Val di Sole, Valle ate abandoned war materials and start del Chiese, Valle di Ledro, Alto Garda, Valproducing again with the assistance of lagarina, Altipiani di Folgaria, Lavarone the Italian army divisions. It is a picture and Luserna, Valsugana, Vanoi and Valle of Trentino ravaged by bombings and di Fiemme.
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Fronte Orientale, inverno 1943. Colonna di soldati italo-tedeschi in ritirata dal Don
Fronte Orientale, inverno 1942-1943. Automezzo nella steppa In alto Trento, estate 1942. Partenza del corpo alpino per il Fronte Orientale
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A MEMORIAL PARK FROM THE SMALL DOLOMITES TO THE EXTENSIVE HIGH PLAINS
Una torretta corazzata del forte Belvedere-Gschwent Missili NATO - Base Tuono, Passo Coe
ust imagine what could unite valleys, mountains and high plains other than the mere and foreseeable fact of belonging to the same region. This led to the creation of a Memorial Park, thanks to observing original characteristics, historic paths and experiences, and traditions that have accumulated over the centuries. This ongoing project arouses interest and offers a network of cultural resources from an extensive geographical area, which includes the Trentino-Vicenza area, as well as thirty municipalities and three mountain communities of Altipiani Cimbri, Sette Comuni, Alto Astico and Posina. It provides an important opportunity to experience the birth of an inter-regional cultural park via the examination and monitoring of current resources and assets and the creation of promotional projects.
Shortly, a network of the historic heritage of the First World War will be established. It will include the front line and the fortifications that extend from Pasubio to Ortigara, as well as the strongholds of the Trentino and Vicenza areas. In addition, meetings and conferences will be organized about the Great War. A second investigative strand concerns the exhibition entitled Feuer! Important anti-partisan operations in the summer of 1944 in Veneto and Trentino. This exhibition, organized by Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino takes a look at the Second World War and the Italian resistance movement in these territories. After being set up at Maso Spilzi in Costa di Folgaria in 2010, it will be hosted at three other venues including Schio in April 2011.
Finally, back towards the present, the Trentino-Vicenza area is, once again, the protagonist of history with the Cold War years this time and the presence of Nike missiles at Base Tuono at Passo Coe. Here is an opportunity to evaluate the effects on the local communities of the international political events and tensions that have marked a significant part of the second half of the 20th century. Info www.museostorico.tn.it
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n the 1990s a number of important initiatives were set in motion to recuperate the memory of the Great War. The then provincial Service of Cultural Heritage promoted a project to catalogue the 114 Austro-Hungarian fortifications of Trentino, including those found only in the records of the archives and those planned, but never built. In the meantime the Service of Cultural Heritage and the Trento and Rovereto history museums began to think about recovering and enhancing the military works existing in the Trentino region. In the new millennium the Superintendency for Architectural Heritage started some pilot projects for the restoration of some forts of particular historic importance and location: Fort Dossaccio in the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Nature Park, Fort Col delle Benne in Levico and Fort Pozzacchio between Trambileno and Vallarsa. Fort Bus de Vela in Cadine, on the outskirts of Trento, was also restored to house the Information Centre of the Trentino fortification system, which, due to its location, will become the point of departure for those who wish to follow the tracks of the Great War.
Other work involves listing the fieldworks on Mount Zugna, the project to enhance the Tagliata del Ponale, the recuperation of Fort Tenna, the conservation of the Hapsburg stones in the Marocche of Nago and the monument to the Austrian fallen in the Trento cemetery, the restoration of the Austro-Hungarian cemetery in Bondo, the project of restoration of the Monument at Malga Sorgazza in Tesino, the recuperation, restoration and enhancement, in agreement with the Province and Mountain Community of Vicenza, of the historic heritage of the First World War on Pasubio, the restoration of the ossuarychurch of Santo Stefano in Bezzecca, in agreement with the Ministry of Defence and the Commune, studies on the fortification landscape of the Lardaro barrier defence and on the recuperation of the forts on the Altipiani, a memory trail in the Adamello-Presanella chain, the invention of a logo and signposts and the organisation of theme conferences. The Superintendency for Historic and Artistic Heritage has restored two important relics, the Skoda 10.4 Cannon built in Pilsen in 1917 that emerged from the ice on Adamello in 2003 and the Nieuport Macchi NI 10, a two-seater reconnaissance and training aeroplane of the Italian air force, belonging to the Italian War History Museum in Rovereto, where it is now on show to the public.
The Superintendency for Book, Archival and Archaeological Heritage collaborates in the recuperation of copies, regarding Trentino fortifications, found in the Austrian and Italian history archives and has begun an important debate on the use of the archaeological discipline as an important aid in documentation and enhancement of the memory of the Great War.
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Nieuport Macchi NI 10, collection in the Rovereto War Museum Above the project of the barricade at Bus de Vela On the opposite page restoration work on the ruins of a small tower of the Folgaria Fort
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The website www.trentinograndeguerra.it shows all these initiatives and provides news and information on events and projects that would otherwise appear isolated and fragmentary. The site is for history enthusiasts, tourists, researchers and teachers who want to know what can be visited today and what is being done to highlight this heritage.
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Inside the Rovereto War Museum Below educational activity in the trenches at Matassone di Vallarsa
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Past editions have included the thoughts of writers including Alessandro Baricco and Erri de Luca, of philosophers including Giulio Giorello, and of well-known actors and directors including Moni Ovadia and Gabriele Vacis. As an increasingly universal way of expressing the wealth of the world and dialogue between cultures, the Dolomites of Peace project has never forgotten the universal language of music and its protagonists: including the singers Yungchen Lhamo from Tibet and Simphiwe Dana from South Africa, the multi-ethnic combo of Radiodervish and the Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio, as well as Djivan Gasparyan, Angelique Kidjo and Noa. Admission free www.isuonidelledolomiti.it
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Simphiwe Dana at Fort Sommo Alto Above Nicola Piovani in a concert at Fort Sommo Alto on the Altopiano di Folgaria On the opposite page Alessandro Baricco at Fort Dossaccio 19
working towards disarmament, and the International Composition Contest Instruments of Peace are all part of the Foundation, which is an international location for examining all aspects of the theme of peace: cultural, religious and political. +39 0464 434412 www.fondazioneoperacampana.org
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Info www.trentinograndeguerra.it.
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hree hundred and fifty kilometres along the front of the First World War. A memory trail to discover the forts, trenches, strongholds, military roads and citadels, where the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies fought against each other from 1915 to 1918. A path of peace to reflect on the madness of war, of all wars, and to make peace with an incredible nature, once scarred by war, but now protected in all its beauty and serene regenerative force.
In thirty-three separate stages, from Passo del Tonale to Riva del Garda, from Mori to Rovereto, from Pian delle Fugazze to Caldonazzo, from Paneveggio to the Marmolada, the trail can be approached without any problem on a quiet and peaceful hike (in some sections also on mountain bike) in the mountains, guided and accompanied by the symbol of a dove, yellow when drawn on a rock, white when carved on wood. An opportunity to enrich the holiday with new environmental and cultural incentives. Another way to regain, step by step, tranquillity in body and spirit. With the hope that, as in Trentino, the war fronts the world over will be replaced with paths of peace.
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Trenches on Panarotta at Passo Portela Above trenches on the Rocchetta of Riva del Garda 25
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hen the promotion of peace and concrete aid to countries impoverished or torn by conflicts is involved, Trentino is up-front, thanks to a widespread network of institutions and associations that often work together for the same important objective. There are many projects of international solidarity carried on by the over 200 voluntary organisations present in Trentino, mostly working in Africa, but also in Latin America, Asia, the Balkans and more generally in Eastern Europe, with the support of the Autonomous Province of Trento Department of International Solidarity. On average about 150 to 180 projects a year are financed, which currently amounts to around 11 million euro.
An important figure, which is doubled by the funds the same associations manage to collect privately with donations and various kinds of initiatives. The Trentino province is a public body that compared with other Italian regions appropriates the most funds in this field. With the new law these funds are fixed in at least 0.25% of the provincial budget. Furthermore, tables have been created to organise decentralized cooperation with Mozambique, Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo. There is also the new training centre of international solidarity. This centre, which became operative in 2009 and inherited the experience developed by the Bell of the Fallen Opera Foundation of Rovereto, is a point of reference for all the organisations working in the field of cooperation for the development and promotion of peace and human rights.
Its mission is twofold: on the one hand to coordinate the training activities already existent in Trentino, favouring synergy and collaboration, on the other to act as the driving force for increasing and innovating the offer of training and refresher courses, also by building territorial partnerships. The project is based on the awareness that solidarity is not only a question of good intentions or resources. Volunteers and co-operators, as well as associations and public institutions, are increasingly required to have specific technical knowledge - and also political, juridical, economic, anthropological competence, etc. in the various fields they operate in.
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The commitment goes back a long way. Almost every village in Trentino has some missionaries in difficult or critical areas of the world. The On the Routes of the World event, the second edition was held in 2010, is dedicated to missionaries - over 500, spread throughout five continents. It calls on all missionaries who work in Asia and Oceania (the previous year it focused on Africa) to meet local communities, especially young people. The 2011 event will be dedicated to missionaries in South America.
The Balkan wars of the nineties and the enormous mobilization involved led to the creation, in 2000, of the Observatory on the Balkans and Caucasus. Today it features as a specialist press agency able to offer, also thanks to the portal www.osservatoriobalcani.org, a view of these countries torn by conflicts and violence for so long. Since 2004, the Ocse Centre of Trento, the first institute far from its headquarters in Paris, has been developing, with the programme Leed, initiatives in the field of local development, in an attempt to reinforce relations between public administrations, operators and scientific communities. But in Trentino there are many other activities working on these subjects. Worth mentioning is the festival Religion Today, an international showcase of religious films that has been organised for over ten
years and become a precious instrument for dialogue between various regions of the world. In the field of information, instead, the site www.unimondo.org has made Trento the Italian core of the international network Oneworld, the first world network of human rights and sustainable development. The activities of aid for development, headed by the provincial department of international solidarity and coexistence, are closely correlated with those oriented to hospitality for immigrants and peaceful coexistence among the diverse cultures in Trentino. Immigrants are assisted by the Cinformi, an association created to help foreign citizens with all the paperwork for residence permits, employment and public services.
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The Trentino network of the First World War includes 19 large and small museums situated behind the fortification lines of the old front, in the valleys and mountains on the Lombardy and Veneto borders, or in the towns of Rovereto and Trento. Behind them are the sites of the conflict. Entrenchments, high mountains and majestic peaks, permanent fortifications and field-works, where enthusiastic volunteers, who have chosen to dedicate their lives to this task, gathered the instruments and documents of that bloody war, endured in extreme climatic and environmental conditions, and have now displayed them in museums.
A depliant that visitors can find in the museums, Apt and Pro Loco offices, or in the hotels provides essential information for those who wish to go from one museum to another to discover the geographical complexity of the memory of the Great War, or choose the one featuring the events in the area where they are staying. The same is true for the activities of the Trentino eco-museums. Environment, culture, history and knowledge linked to the local traditions constitute a heritage that unites all the communities in the area and offers educational cues of great importance.
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An assault squad attacking a trench On the opposite page inside the Bianca Adamellina Recuperanti War Museum in Val Rendena and the Rovereto War Museum
PEJO 1914-1918: LA GUERRA SULLA PORTA PEJO PAESE Contains war memorabilia found in the Ortles-Cevedale mountains and everyday objects used by the soldiers of both lines.
Open:at Christmastime, Easter and from 15 June to 15 September every day 10-12 and 16-19,from January to March on Wednesdays 10-12 and on Thursdays 17-19. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 348 7400942 www.museopejo.it
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FORTE STRINO VERMIGLIO The first of the Austro-Hungarian forts built in upper Val Vermiglio houses today a permanent exhibition featuring the White War and displays of contemporary art. Guided tours of the forts of the Tonale defence barrier are organised in the summer months.
Open: from 13 June to 19 September 9.30-12.30 and 14.30-17.30, from 18 July to 31 August 9.30-18.30. Info: +39 0463 758200 www.associazionestoriaememoria.it www.vermigliovacanze.it
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MUSEO DELLA GRANDE GUERRA IN VALLE DEL CHIESE BERSONE Displays a large collection of war materials, uniforms and relics found in the Adamello glaciers. It has an interesting reconstruction of an Italian barracks used in the high mountains and the entrance to an Austro-Hungarian tunnel used as a shelter and storeroom for the troops.
Open: from 10 July to 20 August Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 20.30-22.30. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 320 0767807 www.visitchiese.it
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MUSEO DELLA GUERRA BIANCA VERMIGLIO In a renewed display, it conserves the war memorabilia of Emilio Serra, an indefatigable recuperant of testimonies of the Great War. Guided tours of the forts of the Tonale defence barrier are organised in the summer months.
Open: from Monday to Saturday 9-12 and 15-18, July-August every day 9-12 and 15-18. Info: +39 0463 758200 www.associazionestoriaememoria.it www.vermigliovacanze.it
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MUSEO DELLA GUERRA BIANCA ADAMELLINA RECUPERANTI IN VAL RENDENA SPIAZZO RENDENA The large collection, prepared by the historic-cultural association of the Adamello White War 1915-18, presents war relics and material, personal belongings, clothes, sledges and skis found on the Adamello-Car Alto front line.
Open: from 20 July to 20 September Friday and Sunday 20-22, Saturday 16-18 and 20-22. Info: +39 0465 801544 www.museograndeguerra.com
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MUSEO GARIBALDINO BEZZECCA Conserves relics of the Third War of Independence and of the First World War and testimonies of the forced exodus of the civilians to Bohemia. In the vicinity, the historic park of Colle di Santo Stefano with the military Ossary church and the Italian trenches.
Open: from 1 June to 30 September 10-12 and 14.30-19. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 0464 508182 www.palafitteledro.it www.museostorico.tn.it
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Mount Pasubio, Forni Alti. Cannon positions of 1489 A On the opposite page wire netting below Castelaz
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MUSEO DI RIVA DEL GARDA Located in the historic-artistic section of the Rocca, it houses material relative to the military events in the Upper Garda zone.
Open: from 26 March to 1 November TuesdaySunday 10-12.30 and 13.30-18; from June to September Monday-Sunday 10-12.30 and 13.30-18, from 15 December toy8 January Tuesday-Sunday 10-12.30; 13.30-18;7closed on 24 (in the afternoon), 25, 26 and 31 (in the afternoon) December.and 1 January. Info: +39 0464 573869 www.comune.rivadelgarda.tn.it/museo
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MUSEO FORTE BELVEDERE-GSCHWENT LAVARONE Among the largest and best preserved forts of the Great War, it houses a modern museum with relics and interactive multimedia installations. It illustrates the history of the fort, its garrison and the military events that involved the plateaus.
Open: April, May, June, September, from Tuesday to Sunday 10-12 and 14.30-18, July and August every day 10-18. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 0464 780005 www.fortebelvedere.org
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MOSTRA PERMANENTE DELLA GRANDE GUERRA IN VALSUGANA E SUL LAGORAI BORGO VALSUGANA Prepared by the historic-cultural association of Eastern Valsugana and Tesino, it provides a rich display of exhibits relative to the war fought on the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni, Valsugana and the Lagorai-Cima dAsta chain.
Open: January-February prior booking, spring and autumn: Wednesday 9-12, Saturday - Sunday 10-12 and 15-18.30, summer season: Wednesday 9-12, Friday 15-18.30, Saturday - Sunday 1012 and 15-18.30. Info: +39 0461 757195, 754052 www.mostradiborgo.it
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MUSEO STORICO ITALIANO DELLA GUERRA ROVERETO Dedicated since its foundation to war history, its main theme is the First World War, of which it conserves and displays important collections of material. It has sections featuring cold steel and firearms of the 15th to 20th centuries and the Second World War.
Open: from Tuesday to Sunday 10-18, closed on 24, 25, 31 December, 1 January. Artillery section of the Great War visitable from May to November. Info: +39 0464 438100 www.museodellaguerra.it
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CENTRO DOCUMENTAZIONE LUSERNA LUSERNA The war events that involved the territory of the Altipiani di Folgaria, Lavarone and Luserna and the system of forts between Folgaria and Asiago are illustrated in a large room. Guided tours of the nearby Fort Luserna are organised in the summer months.
Open: April to the beginning of November every day 10-12 and 14.30-17.30. Info: +39 0464 789638 www.lusern.it
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MOSTRA PERMANENTE DELLA GRANDE GUERRA SUL LAGORAI 1914-1918 CAORIA The historic memories of the battles in Lagorai and testimonies of the vicissitudes of the population of Caoria: for the men, the war fought wearing the Austro-Hungarian uniform and for the civilians, the drama of evacuation.
Open: from 15 June to 15 September every day 14-18. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 340 3496317 www.alpinicaoria.it
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COLLEZIONE DI CIMELI DEL RIFUGIO CAURIOL ZIANO DI FIEMME Strategic departure point for excursions to Cauriol, Cardinal and Busa Alta: the scene of bitter fighting in the summer-autumn of 1916. On display war memorabilia gathered in Val Sdole and Ziano by Aldo Zorzi.
Open: from June to October. Info: +39 348 5161123 www.visitfiemme.it
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MUSEO NAZIONALE STORICO DEGLI ALPINI TRENTO Situated on the rock dominating the city it displays relics, weapons and photographs documenting the history of the Alpine Soldiers Corps, from its foundation to the present, with particular emphasis on the two world wars.
Open: from Monday to Thursday 9-12 and 13.30-16.30, Fridayy 9-12, Saturday and Sundays prior booking. Info: +39 0461 827248 www.museonazionalealpini.it
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MUSEO DELLAERONAUTICA GIANNI CAPRONI TRENTO In the area of Mattarello airport, it displays original historic aeroplanes, many of which the only ones in the world, as well as documents, relics and works of art on the history of flying.
Open: from Tuesday to Sunday 10-13 and 14-18. Closed on 25 December and 1 January. Info: +39 0461 944888 www.museocaproni.it
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SUL FRONTE DEI RICORDI MOENA This association with its museum in Someda, prepares and enhances the Costabella-Cima-Bocche front and the permanent photographic exhibition War to War.
Open: from 1 July to 11 September 10-12.30 and 16.30-19. In other periods prior booking. Info: +39 334 8222082
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MUSEO DELLA GRANDE GUERRA 1915-1918 PASSO FEDAIA A large collection of war relics in perfect condition, mostly found on the Marmolada front after the retreat of the glacier. Film shows and a well stocked specialist bookshop.
Open: from mid-May to the first week of October 10-12.30 and 14-17. Closed on Tuesdays. Info: +39 0462 601181, +39 347 7972356
FONDAZIONE MUSEO STORICO DEL TRENTINO TRENTO Created in 2007 to highlight the history of Trentino and the regional area corresponding to the historic Tyrol, it functions as a centre for exhibition events and studies, a reference point for the history of the various territorial communities.
Info: +39 0461 230482 www.museostorico.tn.it
MUSEO DELLA SOCIET ALPINISTI TRIDENTINI TRENTO Contains the history of the SAT and Trentino alpinism. Together with its library and archives its interest centres on the mountains, where some of its members also fought as volunteers in the Royal Army. It preserves original documents, photographs, important material for the history of Irredentism and the Great War in the mountains.
Open: prior booking. Info: +39 0461 980211 www.sat.tn.it
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THE FORTS
At the beginning of the 1900s the frontier between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire ran over the Trentino mountains. Fortify! Fortify! was the imperative used by the Austrian high command that, after the loss of Lombardy and Veneto in the wars of Italian Independance, feared a further expansion of Italy towards the irredenta regions. As the years passed, despite the formal diplomatic alliance between Italy and Austria, military preparations were intensified, until about 80 fortifications, most of which can still be seen today (often in the form of ruins) controlled Trentino from Stelvio to the Marmolada. In addition to this, a huge effort was made in 1914-15 to cover the area with hundreds of kilometres of trenches and strongholds. After the war, many of these constructions fell into decay and, in a certain sense, became part of the Alpine environment, others remained fearlessly standing and some have been restored or turned into museums and can be visited. The areas most scarred by this artificial panorama are the strongholds of the defence line: the Tonale-Rocchetta and Lardaro barriers, the Forts in Riva and Trento, the Tenna and Adige-Vallarsa barriers and especially those of Folgaria and Lavarone on the plateaus, where the Austrian commands intended to halt the Italian breakthrough and create the preconditions for a counteroffensive, as promptly happened in May 1916 with the Strafexpedition. Of the dozens of forts, we indicate the accessible ones or those involved in restoration projects.
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Car Alto in the Adamello group during a photographic reconnaissance flight On the opposite page Fort Belvedere-Gschwent
25. CORNO
20. STRINO
This is a fortified barricade destined to control a communication route, situated near Vermiglio, in Val di Sole, at an altitude of 1400 metres. Built between 1860 and 1861, it soon showed signs of its vulnerability and so the Austrian military authorities decided to strengthen it in 1898 and again in 1907.
Access: along the Tonale road, between Passo Tonale and the village of Vermiglio. It hosts a permanent exhibition dedicated to the White War and contemporary art exhibitions.
Called by the Austro-Hungarians Werk Presanella, it was built between 1908 and 1912 to control the Val di Sole road, together with the Fort Zaccarana opposite. Uphill a retaining wall protected it from any possible landslides. Restoration work is now in progress.
Access: from the hamlet Velon di Vermiglio, turn right onto a muletrack, after about 8 km on the right.
Situated near the village of Praso, it controlled theeValle del Chiese with Fort Carriola, built on the opposite side of the valley (today in ruins). Built between 1883 and 1890 in the Vogl style, it had revolving steel cupolas and shields for cannons later removed. Restoration work is now in progress.
Access: from Praso through the hamlet of Sevror. on foot via a path that begins at the fort of Larino. Not visitable inside.
23. MERO
21.
ZACCARANA Called at the time Werk Tonale, it dominated the Tonale pass and was built between 1908 and 1912, at an altitude of 2116 metres, the highest of the Austrian permanent fortifications. It was an impressive construction divided in three blocks, subsequently reduced to ruins. Recuperation work is now in progress.
Access: after the village of Vermiglio along the Tonale road, turn right onto the former military road leading to the fort (about 7 km).
Built between 1911 and 1913, it was the communication link between the Zaccarana Forts and Pozzi Alti. It was a small construction made of concrete and iron girders. Restoration work is now in progress.
Access: along the Tonale road, about 1 km after Fort Strino, turn right and at the second bend take the muletrack on the left (about 4 km from the Tonale state road).
Built on the shores of Lake Garda, it had a double function; it barricaded the road with a big iron door and was a coastline battery. It had powerful searchlights to scan the water in front of it.
Access: at the foot of Mount Brione near the port of the same name in Riva del Garda. It is the cantre of Lake Garda studies.
24. LARINO
27.
A barricade built in 1860 to defend the road coming from the Brescia area that had recently become Italian. It is a good example of fortified architecture, with chiselled granite ashlars and surrounded by a moat. It has been completely restored.
Access: descending from Lardaro, just above the fork to Daone, reachable by car. The interior can only be visited on guided tours.
GARDA It featured a modern conception of construction that included a great use of prestressed concrete supported by steel girders, the total absence of decorative elements and many infrastructures.
Access: along the scenic path of Mount Brione, a few minites from Fort San Nicol. Not visitable inside.
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Inside Fort Valmorbia-Pozzacchio On the opposite page Forte delle Benne An Austro-Hungarian trench on the Trentino front line
In the Vogl style, it belongs to the type of fortifications built in concrete and brickwork on hills or high ground. In 1915 a long tunnel was added to it, which led to the observatories on the overhanging rock face of Brione.
Access: on Mount Brione, near the antennae. Not visitable inside.
34. LUSERNA
31.
29. NAGO
The complex was built on two levels with two lines of cannons one above the other, the only example of a vertical barricade among the forts of the first generation (1860-1861).
Access: the upper part is on the road going from Nago to Castel Penede, while the lower part is on the old route from Nago to Torbole. Both have a restaurant.
BELVEDERE-GSCHWENT The construction exploits a rock spur and a depression in the ground that made it possible to sink the main casemate three levels. It is one of the best preserved Austro-Hungarian forts and it houses a museum dedicated to the Great War and recently completed with multimedia installations.
Access: from Lavarone Cappella, follow the signs for Oseli and after about 1 km turn left.
Known as the Everlasting Father, it was one of the safest Austrian forts. In 1915 it was heavily bombed and the Bohemian commander Emanuel Nebesar raised the white flag. The batteries of the Austrian forts, Verle and Belvedere, intervened to stop him. Nebesar was dismissed and arrested.
Access: from Luserna on path 49 or along the road to Malga Campo, alternatively from the Millegrobbe cross-country centre on foot for 1.8 km. Visitable inside only during guided tours.
35. SERRADA
32. CHERLE
Consisting in two blocks, with casemates and batteries, joined to each other by a corridor. It was built at an altitude of 1445 metres in the locality of Malga Cherle to control the Altopiano di Folgaria.
Access: from Folgaria climb to Passo del Sommo, then take the Fiorentini road on the right. Continue for 6 km. Not visitable inside.
In length this is the largest one on the front and consists of three blocks. The main one was 100 metres long and 8 metres wide and had three floors. During the first year of the war it was heavily attacked, but resisted.
Access: from Serrada one hour on foot along path 136. Not visitable inside.
36. VERLE
30. VALMORBIA-POZZACCHIO
Entirely dug in a rock spur south-east of the village of Pozzacchio (in the foothills of the Pasubio group) it was a work of outstanding military engineering. Restorations carried out this year will make it accessible also inside.
Access: by car along the Vallarsa road to the fork for Vanza and then towards Pozzacchio. Currently visitable only outside.
An intermediate work, built to control the land between Fort Cherle and Fort Serrada.
Access: from Folgaria go to Passo Sommo and then Rifugio Stella dItalia, along path 124 for about 15 minutes. Not visitable inside.
Fortification that was the subject of heavy gunfire by the Italian artillery, but was never conquered. After the Strafexpedition in 1916, it remained an optic connection point on the plateaus.
Access: from Vezzena pass on foot along the road leading to Pizzo di Levico. Not visitable inside.
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37.
PIZZO VEZZENA Nicknamed the Eye of the Plateau, it was chiefly used as an observatory and an optic and telephonic connection with the nearby forts. It is a daring work: it leans against the rock that protects it in the north and it overlooks a sheer drop of 1300 metres to Valsugana.
Access: from Fort Verle, along the military paths for practised hikers, or following the old military road from the Varagna woods. Not visitable inside.
FORTRESS OF TRENTO
40. DOSSACCIO
Situated on the mountain of the same name at an altitude of 1838 metres, near Predazzo, it was an important stronghold against attacks from the east across the valley of the Travignolo torrent. It had a telephonic and optic telegraph link with the Fort Buso and Fort Moena and was connected to the telephone exchange of Predazzo and San Martino.
Access: from Paneveggio one hour on foot. Not visitable inside.
Strategically placed at the entry to Trento, it was built between 1860 and 1861 and was part of the first group of permanent fortifications in defence of the communication routes to the capital. It is a road barricade, made with pink calcareous ashlar stone. It has recently been restored by the provincial Superintendency for Architectural Heritage.
Access: along the provincial road to Riva del Garda, 6 km from Trento near Cadine.
Also called Fort San Biagio, it is situated at a height of 660 metres and dominates Lake Levico. A twin of Fort Tenna, during the war it served only as an observatory and depot. Restoration and renovation work has been planned.
Access: starting from the village of Levico Terme and going via San Biagio, you come to a fork, take the dirt road on the right to Dosso delle Benne. Not visitable inside.
BUSO On the eastern edge of the Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Nature Park, it formed a defence system, with armoured trenches and covered communication trenches and tunnels, between Fort Buso, Fort Dossaccio and Sella delle Carigole. It was connected optically and telegraphically to Fort Dossaccio.
Access: from Bellamonte, going towards Passo Rolle, continue for about 3 km. Not visitable inside.
43. CIVEZZANO
The barricade on the upper road to Civezzano is a one floor building situated between Civezzano and Cognola. Built between 1869 and 1872 in squared calcareous stone and modernised in 1914, it became a munitions depot and was then abandoned as Italian military property. It hosts a winery.
For guided visits contact the Argentario Ecomuseum in Civezzano +39 0461 858400 www.ecoarge.net Access: from Trento, state road 17 towards Cognola-Civezzano.
39. TENNA
Together with Fort Colle delle Benne it guaranteed the closure to Valsugana and controlled the approach to the Monterovere road that led to the fortifications situated at Lavarone and on the Vezzena plateau. The building, almost a ruin, is currently undergoing conservative restoration. A conservative restoration project has been planned.
Access: from the village of Tenna starting from piazza San Rocco and going along via Roma and via San Valentino.
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1
PEIO
VA L LE SO DI
2 20 3 21 23 22
VERMIGLIO
VA L D I NON
L R EN DE NA
4
SPIAZZO RENDENA
VA
42 16 17 19 43
TRENTO
24 5 25
VA
LLE DE I L AG
LI
GI
HI
IC
RI
18
39 38
A AN UG LS VA
BERSONE
37 36
LAVARONE
VA
27,28 6
BEZZECCA
31 9
34 10
LUSERNA
8
ROVERETO
32 33 35
30
40
LL
IN
15
SS A DI FA
PASSO
FEDAIA
14
MOENA
40 41
VA
ME EM FI DI
13
CAURIOL
VA
12
CAORIA
N O I
11
BORGO VALSUGANA
Fort Museum
Trentino. From War to Peace is an institutional communication project by Trentino Marketing S.p.A. and the Department of Agriculture, forests, tourism and promotion of the Autonomous Province of Trento in collaboration with the Italian War History Museum of Rovereto, the Provincial Superintendency for Architectural heritage, the Provincial Service of Cultural Activities, the Trentino History Museum Foundation and the Rovereto Bell of the Fallen Opera Foundation. Special thanks for the texts to Camillo Zadra, Marica Piva, Marco Pontoni and Claudio Fabbro. This publication was edited by Trentino Marketing S.p.A. in December 2010 Publication coordination: Aree Grandi Eventi e Progetti Culturali ed Editoria e Traduzioni Graphic design: Designfabrik, Rovereto Printed by: Tipografia Alcione, Trento Photos by: Paolo Aldi, Giovanni Cavulli, Flavio Faganello, Ronny Kiaulehn, Romano Magrone, Marisa Montibeller, Daniele Lira, Raffaella Persilia, Alessio Periotto, Ugo Visciani, Gianni Zotta Photo Libraries: AStudio Azzurro, Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino, Laboratorio di Storia di Rovereto, Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra, Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici della Provincia di Trento, Trentino Marketing S.p.A., Ufficio Stampa Pat
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