War Museum Rovereto
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Via Castelbarco 7, Rovereto 
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| Art | |
| opening | 1921 |
| Number of visitors (annually) | 54,000 (2019) |
| operator |
private law association
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| management |
Francesco Frizzera
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| Website | |
| ISIL | IT-TN0101 |
The Italian Historical War Museum ( Italian Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra ) is located in the northern Italian city of Rovereto in the province of Trento . It is one of the most important war museums in Italy, which deals in particular with the First World War on the Italian front . But one also goes into other epochs and warlike events. The War Museum is housed in the Castle of Rovereto .
Museum history
Foundation phase
As early as 1906 there were initial suggestions from circles friendly to Italy in the population of Rovereto to set up a patriotic museum in the city's Venetian castle, which was then still part of Austria-Hungary . This idea was taken up again after the end of the First World War with the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy , and in 1920 some citizens of the city formed a committee with the aim of opening a war museum in the castle.
When building the collections, they also made use of the numerous war material that could be found on the former battlefields in the surrounding area immediately after the end of the war. A first exhibition hall was opened in 1920 outside the castle, which had been badly damaged during the war. In the spring of 1921, the first four restored halls in the castle could be moved into.
The grand opening finally took place in the presence of the Italian King Victor Emanuel III. held on October 12 of the same year. At the inauguration, twelve exhibition halls were already available.
When the museum was founded, the focus of the museum's tasks was on the memory of the war that had just ended and the annexation of Trentino to the fatherland of Italy. This local irredentist interpretation soon proved to be an obstacle in several ways.
The interwar period
In order to give the facility an international touch, several halls were opened after 1921, which were dedicated to individual war nations such as Czechoslovakia , France , Belgium , Great Britain and Romania . The museum expanded rapidly in the 1920s. In 1923 there were already 23 halls, which had grown to 30 at the end of the 1920s, which concentrated on three exhibition areas: the war nations, the individual branches of the armed forces and the irredentists from Trentino who fought as volunteers of the Italian army against Austria-Hungary .
The bell for the fallen in 1925 on the Malipiero castle tower became a magnet, which led to a noticeable increase in the number of visitors. The bell, initiated by the co-founder of the museum Don Antonio Rossaro, with which one commemorated the fallen of all nations, soon stood in contrast to the exhibits on display in the museum, which underlined the losing and victorious role of the former warring parties, especially by foreign visitors and institutions was criticized. The political rapprochement between Fascist Italy, first to Austro-Fascist Austria and then to Nazi Germany , exerted its influence. The Italian Ministry of War, for example, asked the museum management several times to remove anti-Austrian and anti-German material, as these exhibits would have a negative impact on the perception of visitors from these countries.
The critics paid particular attention to two works from South Tyrol that were stored in the museum as spoils of war, the Eisenmann from Bruneck and the statue of the Tyrolean freedom fighter Katharina Lanz . The museum management made itself, perhaps without being aware of it, a tool of the nationalist politics pursued in South Tyrol under the leadership of Ettore Tolomei , when it accepted these pieces without hesitation. The dispute with the Tyrolean neighbors widened in 1936 when the Laurin fountain was also housed in the castle at Tolomei's instigation. The irredentist founding idea was also increasingly questioned by the museum management itself. In particular, new exhibition halls that dealt with the Italian colonial wars contributed to this, in keeping with the fascist empire aimed at by the government.
When Italy entered the war in June 1940, museum activities largely came to a standstill. In 1941 the exhibits classified as anti-German had to be removed at the instigation of the War Ministry. The Czechoslovak Hall also fell victim to the changed geopolitical situation and was closed. With this, the irredentist founding idea was finally lost.
the post war period
The museum and the castle survived the Second World War relatively unscathed and in 1946 the museum was able to reopen its doors to visitors. With the reopening there was also a realignment. Shortly before the war, half-hearted attempts had already been made to focus more on technical and weapons-related aspects and to transform itself into a military museum, but this became the desired museum goal in the post-war period.
The year 1961 marked a turning point in the history of the museum, because in that year the paths of the War Museum separated from those of the Maria Dolens Fallen Bell, which, as a point of attraction, had a positive effect on the number of visitors to the museum. The bell was always under its own management, independent of the museum, even if its director, Don Antonio Rossaro, was also one of the founding members of the War Museum. With the death of Don Rossaro in 1952, plans were drawn up by the new management to erect the bell in a new monumental location, which they resorted to in 1960 when the bell had to be melted down after repeated cracks. In May 1961 the bell was dismantled and transported to the foundry. It should not return to its previous location, even if the discussion about a new location lasted for a long time and ended in a legal dispute that went through all instances and ended the first decades afterwards.
For the museum, the “loss” of the bell was associated with a significant decline in visitors. This underscored the importance of accelerating the path already taken of realigning the museum to become a history and technology museum.
The museum today
In 2001 an extensive restoration of the castle, carried out in several stages, and an associated renovation of the museum began. Not only were the exhibition areas modernized and redesigned according to new museum criteria, but the castle itself was also extensively renovated. The administration and entrance area of the museum, which was moved from the castle and housed in an adjacent building, was also completely redesigned. In 2002, the artillery section was added, which was set up in an air raid shelter that was driven into the castle hill under the castle during World War II . In the third renovation phase, which was completed in 2014, the two defense towers Marino and Malipiero were restored and new exhibition areas were housed there. The fourth phase, started in 2014, concerned the southern wing of the castle and was completed in autumn 2017. The 13 renovated exhibition halls were handed over to the museum for the design in March 2018. The fourth construction lot is followed by a fifth and final construction phase, which will affect six more halls and which should be completed in 2020. The museum remained open during the various restoration phases.
The Italian Historical War Museum has been in charge of the Rete Trentino Grande Guerra project since 2009 . The latter is an amalgamation of around 20 museum establishments, institutions and associations in the province of Trento that deal with the First World War in Trentino. The main task of this network is to use synergies and to present the various institutions scattered throughout the province to the public. The War Museum in Rovereto is responsible for coordinating the project.
Permanent exhibition
The permanent exhibition is housed in a total of nine exhibition halls. Seven of them deal with the First World War and the period shortly before it, the other two deal with a period that extends from prehistory and early history to the Renaissance , with the castle being included in the museum concept and architectural Special features of the fortress construction received. In the following, the individual halls are briefly presented in the order of the suggested tour.
19th century
The first exhibition room deals with the rapid changes in warfare and weapons technology in the 19th century, and thus illustrates the development in these areas until shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. These changes are represented by means of uniforms and weapons that cover a period that extends from the Napoleonic Wars to the Italian Wars of Independence to Garibaldi's red shirts and the American Civil War .
The risorgimento in the salon
In this room the attempt is made to depict the Risorgimento era using ceramics, pictures and other objects. The exhibited pieces show military episodes, but also personalities from public life of this time, such as Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Benso von Cavour as well as from the Italian and European royal houses such as Victor Emanuel II , Franz Joseph I and Napoleon III. The exhibits are also evidence of the national, political sentiments of Italian society in the 19th century.
The First World War
The third exhibition room introduces the subject of the First World War. It shows how the name “Great War”, which is common in Italy, came about and what role industrial mass production , the mobilization of millions of men and women, and the development of aviation and communication technologies played. The aspects that characterize the First World War, such as trench warfare and the associated war techniques, weapons and equipment, are dealt with. Among the exhibits, particular mention should be made of the restored Nieuport 10 biplane , which is one of the few aircraft that have survived that were still used in operations during the First World War.
The filling plant
The filling is a special element of the fortress architecture that was used here between the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century as an architectural answer to the siege artillery . It is a cavity between the outer and inner walls of the castle, filled with earth, stones and partly with rubble by the Venetians, which had the task of dampening the impact of artillery shells. Along a catwalk, some installations and video displays show the development of fighting from the quarter pile to linear tactics between the 15th and 17th centuries. In this area, however, the structural changes to the castle are also discussed.
The Marino tower
This fortified tower, which was built at the end of the 15th century, houses two newly designed exhibition halls in which, in particular, cutting and stabbing weapons from the 16th and 18th centuries can be seen. The first firearms to be used at this time are also on display . With the help of some multimedia screens, the development of the first firearms is shown.
The Malipiero Tower
This fortified tower, located in the north-western corner of the castle, was made accessible to the public again in 2014 after several years of restoration. It is named after the city's Venetian Podestà , who had it built in 1489. From 1925 to 1961 the bell of the fallen stood on the tower that was not covered at the time. Weapons from the Stone Age to the Early Middle Ages are exhibited here , most of which come from the vicinity of Rovereto. The tower is also used as an exhibition space for regularly changing photo exhibitions.
The year 1918
This room deals specifically with the last year of the First World War. After the devastating Italian defeat in the twelfth battle of the Isonzo, 1918 marked a turning point for the Italian army command and made it necessary to reorganize the Italian armed forces. At the same time, everything was set in motion to make this defeat forgotten and the war economy and propaganda mobilized. In addition to archival documents, uniforms and a number of machine guns are on display in this room .
Trenches and prisoner of war camps
This room deals with Italian prisoners of war and captivity. A series of drawings by the painter Pietro Morando are exhibited, which he made while he was a prisoner of war in Austria and Hungary. The other exhibits on display here, such as gas masks , killers , brass knuckles , trench daggers and other items that were used in trench warfare, bear witness to the brutality in the trenches .
Propaganda and medical service
A separate section is dedicated to Italian and Austro-Hungarian propaganda, which was used for both military and civil purposes. A large selection of leaflets , newspapers and postcards document the effort with which it was attempted to raise the morale of one's own troops and to weaken that of the enemy. At the same time, the propaganda attempted to silence pacifist efforts among the population and to involve the population in the costs of the war by signing war bonds . The other half of the hall deals with the medical service , which was confronted with completely new tasks during the First World War. Among other things, a field x-ray machine from the Italian army can be seen, as well as a selection of surgical instruments and prostheses .
The bell hall
In the so-called Glockensaal, the First World War on the Italian-Austrian front is discussed. The aim is to give visitors an overview of the most important events on this front, during the period when part of the museum is inaccessible due to restoration work. The post-war culture of remembrance is also dealt with, which was expressed, among other things, with the erection of memorials , ossuaries and monuments in honor of the irredentists. You can also see objects such as a trumpet and parts of a parliamentary flag with which the Austro-Hungarian emissaries announced the commencement of armistice negotiations at the end of October 1918 . The mold of Maria Dolen's first bell of favor is also on display here.
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The artillery section
This section of the museum is located outside the actual museum building in a former air raid shelter that was blown into the rock below the castle during World War II and is only open from May to the end of October. Dozens of Italian, Austro-Hungarian, German and English guns from the First World War are on display, including mine and grenade launchers , howitzers and cannons . It is one of the largest collections on this subject that can be visited in Italy today. The exhibits also include numerous artillery shells and parts of ammunition. In the immediate vicinity of the entrance to this area there is an Austro-Hungarian 30.5 cm M.11 mortar , which is on the pipe transport trolley along with its bedding and which is also part of the museum's collections.
Special exhibitions
In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are regularly changing special exhibitions on a wide variety of topics. Among other things:
- La pelle del soldato (Eng. The soldier's skin) - 2018/19
- Morire per Trento. Die for Trient - 2015/17
- Pasubio 1915-1918 - 2012/15
- Libia. Una guerra coloniale italiana (German Libya. An Italian colonial war) - 2011/12
- Fiume. Una rivoluzione immaginata (Eng. Fiume. An imaginary revolution) - 2010/11
- Slogan come armi. La propaganda italiana nella Prima guerra mondiale e la disgregazione dell'Austria-Ungheria ( Eng . Words as weapons. The Italian propaganda in the First World War and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary) - 2009/10
- Bunker - Le fortificazioni del Vallo Alpino Alto Adige 1939–1989 (German bunker - The fortifications of the Alpine Wall in South Tyrol 1939–1989) 2008/09
- Galizia, Pasubio, Isonzo. Arte popolare e “orgoglio di reparto” nei distintivi Austro-ungarici. 1914–1918 (Ger. Galicia, Pasubio, Isonzo. Popular art and troop membership pride on the Austro-Hungarian badge. 1914–1918) - 2007/08
- La scelta della patria - Giovani volontari nella Grande Guerra (Eng. The choice of home. Young volunteers in the First World War) - 2006/07
- La donna del soldato - L'immagine della donna nella cartolina italiana ( Eng . The soldier's wife - The image of the woman on Italian postcards) - 2005/06
- La Patria estrema - 1915 1918 Soldati sul fronte delle Alpi ( Eng . The extreme homeland. 1915–1918 soldiers on the Alpine front) - 2004/05
- Invisibili al nemico - Il mimetismo nelle guerre del Novecento 1914–2000 ( Eng . Invisible to the enemy - The camouflage in the wars of the twentieth century 1914–2000) - 2004/05
- Radiofront 1935–1945 - Le radiotrasmissioni militari sui fronti dell'Italia in guerra (Eng. Radiofront 1935–1945 - The military radio transmissions on the Italian war fronts) 2003/04
- Le donne la moda la guerra - Emancipazione femminile e moda nella Grande Guerra (Eng. Women, fashion, war - the emancipation of women and fashion in the First World War) - 2003/04
literature
- Giovanni Fioroni: Cinquanta anni di vita. Il Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra di Rovereto 1921–1971 , in: ders .: La Valle di Ledro nella Prima Guerra Mondiale 1915–1918 , Temi, Trento 1971.
- Mauro Lando (ed.): La campana della discordia , in: Letture Trentine e Altoatesine No. 31/32, June 1983: Rovereto, l'altra città , Panorama, Trento 1983.
- Manuel Gober: Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra , Club 41 Rovereto, Rovereto 2008.
- Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra (ed.): Annali No. 17/22, 2009–2014 , Osiride Edizioni, Rovereto 2015.
- Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra (ed.): Annali No. 23, 2015 , Osiride Edizioni, Rovereto 2016.
- Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra (ed.): Annali No. 24, 2016 , Osiride Edizioni, Rovereto 2017.
- Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , in: Memoria e ricerca. Rivista di storia contemporanea No. 7 / Gennaio-Giugno 2001, Carocci, Roma 2001.
- Renato Trinco, Maurizio Scudiero: La Campana dei Caduti: Maria Dolens. Cento rintocchi per la pace , La Grafica, Mori 2000.
- Un decennio di vita del Museo della guerra di Rovereto (1921–1931) , Mercurio, Rovereto 1932.
Illustrations
The entrance
Artillery Section
Armor in the Marino tower
Italian field x-ray machine
Uniform of the Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna
Curious exhibit in the courtyard
Various machine guns in the hall in 1918
Bell hall with the winged goddess of victory
Web links
Notes & individual references
- ↑ Un decennio di vita del Museo della guerra di Rovereto (1921–1931) . Mercurio, Rovereto 1932, p. 5 ff.
- ↑ When it was founded and in the following years, the museum was unable to fall back on any noteworthy state aid, only the municipality of Rovereto repeatedly helped out financially, in particular with the restoration of the castle, which remained in the possession of the municipality. See Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto in: Memoria e ricerca. Rivista di storia contemporanea No. 7 / Gennaio-Giugno 2001, Carocci, Roma 2001, p. 19
- ↑ Manuel Gober: Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra . Club 41 Rovereto, Rovereto 2008, p. 45 f
- ↑ Here there was still some reference to the original idea, since Czechoslovak legionaries served as volunteers in the Italian army and fought for independence from Austria-Hungary.
- ^ Giovanni Fioroni: Cinquanta anni di vita. Il Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra di Rovereto 1921-1971 , in: La Valle di Ledro nella Prima Guerra Mondiale 1915-1918 . Temi, Trento 1971, p. IX.
- ↑ Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , p. 24
- ↑ Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , p. 27 ff.
- ↑ In Tolomei's eyes the fountain was a symbol of the German oppression of the Latin people .
- ↑ Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , p. 31 ff.
- ↑ In addition, the Austrian hall, classified as anti-German, had to be closed see Manuel Gober: Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra , p. 97.
- ↑ Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , p. 35 f.
- ↑ Fabrizio Rasera, Camillo Zadra: Memorie in conflitto. La Grande Guerra nelle esposizioni del Museo della Guerra di Rovereto , p. 36
- ↑ This was also supported by a donation from the Ministry of Defense, which made 28 guns available to the museum, making the museum's artillery park the largest of its kind in Italy. Giovanni Fioroni: Cinquanta anni di vita. Il Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra di Rovereto 1921–1971 , p. XVI
- ↑ Renato Trinco, Maurizio Scudiero: La Campana dei Caduti Maria Dolens. Cento rintocchi per la pace , La Grafica, Mori 2000, p. 108 f.
- ↑ Mauro Lando (ed.): La campana della discordia , in: Letture Trentine e Altoatesine No. 31/32, June 1983: Rovereto, l'altra città . Panorama, Trento 1983, p. 236 ff.
- ↑ Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra (ed.): Annali N. 24 2016 , Osiride Edizioni, Rovereto, 2017 p. 357 f
- ^ Rete Trentino Grande Guerra (Italian) accessed on June 26, 2018
- ↑ Permanent exhibitions of the War Museum in English ( memento from March 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 12, 2020.