South Tyrol. The Other Italy. Elizaveta Ebner
statue of the Minnesang poet. The monument of Walther von der Vogelweide was moved to Peter Rosegger Park. Ettore Tolomei, who headed the process of the Italianization of South Tyrolean population, insisted on erecting in its place a monument to Drusus the Elder, the Roman commander who in the 15th century BC fought on the territory of Raetia against the bandits raiding Roman tribes and receiving support from the local tribes. Drusus the Elder then destroyed both the bandits and the local tribes. There’s no need to mention that Tyrol at that time had also been part of Raetia, and Tolomei was not simply referring to ancient history.
In the end, they did commission South Tyrolean sculptor Hans Piffrader to make a statue of Drusus the Elder, but, for unknown reasons, it was never made.
With the end of World War II, in 1945, the main square of Bolzano (Bozen) was renamed again, this time to Marienplatz. It bore this name until 1947, when it was changed to Waltherplatz, or Walther Square. The statue of the same name was moved to its place only in 1981.
Nowadays, the main square of the South Tyrolean capital is known as the “drawing room” of Bolzano (Bozen). At any time of the year, the cafes and bars around it are filled with locals and visitors to the region. It is home to the most famous Christmas market in Italy and the equally famous flower festival. Walther Square is then renamed (this time only jokingly) Waltz Square (Walzer Platz instead of Waltherplatz), and dancing parties are arranged here.
Cities, the main squares of which can boast a monument to a poet, are a rarity; however, the reasons for putting up such monuments are often far from poetic. The figures of Walther von der Vogelweide and Dante Alighieri symbolized the silent confrontation of two worlds speaking different languages within one country. Now, when they are once again part of the same, though completely different, country, neither the north nor the south recall the past of these two monuments. They understand that the future depends on respecting each other’s cultures.
Chapter Three.
Grüss Dich!
The landscape outside the car window is constantly changing, and the chances are good that I will make the word “beauty” the refrain of my narrative if I start describing everything that I see. Every now and then I can glimpse signs bearing the names of hotels and guest houses, most of which necessarily contain, modified in one way or another, the words Edelweiss, Alpin (“Alpine”), Weissen Rössl (“White Horse”) (to be quite fair, I must say that sometimes the horse is of some other colour), Panorama and Mondschein (“Moonlight”). In the same way as in the Soviet Union each city had its own Lenin Street, in South Tyrol you will always come across the good old rössl (“horse”).
If you have got lost, you can stop your car and ask the locals for directions – they will help you, but only after saying Grüss Gott or Grüss dich (“Hello” in the local dialect). After that, you can continue your way to see another signboard of a hotel bearing the name Post, which is also very popular in the region.
South Tyrol is The Other Italy.
Chapter Four.
We Are in Italy, Are We?
Vipiteno (Sterzing) is a fairy-tale South Tyrolean town in which you want to use a diminutive name for absolutely everything. It is so charming in late spring that I don’t even dare to think of it at Christmas season, when it must be covered with an even layer of soft fluffy snow, decorated with ornaments and strings of lights, permeated with the smells of fresh gingerbread, hot chocolate, roasted chestnuts and fruit punch. I can’t but think: what would it be like, to be born here? It would probably be great to wake up and run to the window to see the snow-capped peaks, the Zwölferturm tower – the symbol of the city – and the conventional boundary between its “new” and “old” parts, and to smell the perfect aroma of fresh buns coming up from the cosy family coffee shop – there would simply have to be one on the ground floor. This is my first visit to Vipiteno (Sterzing), though I’ve known about its existence for a long time.
The fact is that I love to start my day with a delicious breakfast, an integral part of which has always been yoghurt. While studying in Milan, I found out “by trial and error” in the literal sense of the word that the best product of all the variety presented in the stores is the one in minimalist packaging with a coat of arms and the inscription “Sterzing-Vipiteno.” Needless to say, I was in advance disposed more than favourably towards this South Tyrolean city, considering rightfully that only a good place and good people can produce such a high-quality, wholesome and tasty product.
Of course, in addition to yoghurt, which is produced by a company founded in the times when South Tyrol was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Vipiteno (Sterzing) you can and should pamper yourself with traditional speck, smoked sausages, all kinds of knodels and fragrant strudel with apple, apricot or cottage cheese. It would be a crime to just walk past hand-made chocolates laid out in the windows of pastry shops and the freshest Sacher cake with homemade whipped cream.
In this town you must go by your senses and be sure to enjoy not only the beauty around, but also the local cuisine. At the time I found myself in the town, my knowledge of German was poor; sitting down at a table in a restaurant and finding that the menu was only in German, I asked the waiter to bring it in Italian, adding with a smile: “We’re in Italy, are we?” The local citizens, who were watching the scene closely, literally collapsed with laughter.
But that was the same kind of good-natured laughter that parents laugh when their child says something silly.
Chapter Five.
Walter
From the interview with the architect Walter Angonese for Archi.ru (11.05.2016)
(The conversation is in Italian)
Me: It seems to me that all South Tyroleans love their motherland (patria)?
Walter Angonese: Motherland (patria) is not quite the right word. Italian doesn’t have the right equivalent for that, so I will use the German word Heimat. It is not the same as the Italian patria. The Italian word implies a nation, while Heimat is a place, a corner that you come from, where your roots are. The great German poet Kurt Tucholsky defined Heimat as the place where you feel that you are understood. It is Heimat that we, South Tyroleans, love.
Me: They call you an Austrian, German, Italian architect… Which of those do you think you are?
Walter Angonese: I am an architect who works here, in South Tyrol, a region which was largely shaped by its position at the crossroads of two cultures: the Alps and the Mediterranean. And this is a great wealth: we have the heritage of both Central Europe and the Mediterranean at our disposal. This is our capital. If we want, we can be inspired by both worlds, and there is a special beauty in this position. For example, take the way we live: we are quite rational, we work a lot – these qualities are characteristic of Central European, even North European mentality, but we also know how to enjoy life, we like tasty food, we like to have a good drink: we took the best of both cultures.
Me: It seems to me that all the advantages you have named were here already before the Italian influence.
Walter Angonese: Well, I believe that there is some difference between South Tyrol and North Tyrol; it’s about the ability to enjoy life, which we inherited from the Mediterranean culture. It is exactly 3 km from the place where I live to the linguistic barrier, beyond which everyone already speaks Italian. South Tyrol has beautiful landscape and rich history. I consider myself as an architect from South Tyrol, a person with an Italian passport, and a native speaker of German.