Filo - Venosta - Volume 25

FILÒ

A Journal for Tyrolean Americans Volume 25

THE

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An Introduction . . .

The Filò is to be published and distributed several times each year and is targeted to the children of our immigrant parents. The Filò (pronounced fee-lò) was the daily gathering in the stables of the Trentino where the villagers met and socialized. The intent is to provide a summary of our culture, history, and customs in plain English to inform and provide you with the background of your roots and ancestry.. If you wish to contact us, call Lou Brunelli at 914-402-5248. Attention: Your help is needed to expand our outreach to fellow Tyrolean Americans. Help us identify them, be they your children, relatives or acquaintances. Go to filo.tiroles.com and register on line to receive the magazine free of charge. You may also send your data to Filò Magazine, PO Box 90, Crompond, NY 10517 or fax them to 914-734-9644 or submit them by email to filo.tiroles@att.net.

Front cover: National Park Stifser Joch 3

I

Introduction to the Val Venosta

n the west of the South Tyrol, the Val Venosta stretches from Naturno near Merano to the Passo Resia for about 50 miles. Val Venosta could not be more varied. Apple orchards and apricot trees on the one side while on the other mountain peaks and glaciers. Venosta is the Italian nomenclature needlessly imposed on it by Napoleon and the Irredentist Italianizers after the annexation to Italy. It was Napoleon who arrogantly named the upper portion of the historic Tyrol Alto Adige. Its historic name and current for the Sudtirolese in German is Vinschgau. In Romansh, it is Vnuost and in Ladin: Val Venuesta. In Etymology the German name Vinschgau, like Italian Val Venosta, is derived from the Celtic (Rhaetian) Venostes tribes mentioned on the ancient Tropaeum, a monument erected especially by Roman armies to commemorate a military victory.

The Vinschgau Valley runs in a west-east orientation, from the Merano basin up the Adige river to the Resia Pass in the northwest of the South Tyrol. The Adige River is born at the Rezia Pass and flows down to Trento, Aldeno, Cimone and Garniga forming the Val D`Adige, the Adige Valley.The Ötztal Alps in the north, which form the Alpine crest, separate it from the upper Inn Valley. Inntal is the name of the valley around the river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Its biggest city located in Inntal is Innsbruck. From the Resia Pass , the Adige River reaches the gates of Merano , constituting the western most strip of the province of Bolzano, bordering to the north with Austria , to the west with Switzerland , to the south with Lombardy and Trentino and to the east with the Burgraviato that surrounds Merano. The valley is first in a north-south direction, then in a west-east direction, surmounted by the Ortles

Group of the Alps to the south-west and by the Ötztal Alps to the north-east. Mountain Ortles, 12,814 ft, is the highest mountain in the Trentino-Alto Adige and at its foot is the Stelvio Pass (9055 ft) with the well-known panoramic road.

The Val Venosta was part of the historic Tyrol and the Principe of Brixen that included the Lords of the Tyrol as the enforcers of the Prince Bishops for 800 consecutive years. The Val Venosta during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was nonminally "Swiss", since for a while it was part of the Republic of the Three Leagues.

In the Upper Venosta Valley until the early nineteenth century, the language of the population was still Romansh prompting intense cultural exchanges with the Swiss valleys, where the same language was spoken.

However, the inhabitants of these valleys had converted to Protestantism and this led the Habsburg government to forced Germanization policies of Venosta starting from the era of the Counter-Reformation. The Ladin heritage is still reflected in many words of the local dialect, toponyms and surnames. According to the 2001 census, 96.51% of the population of the valley speak German, 3.41% Italian and 0.08% Ladin as first language.

The Val Venosta became knicknamed the “Tyrolean granary” due to the fertility of its lands. n the 18th and 19th centuries, the Empire, the governance of the Hapsburgs reclaimed the marshy valley to create this fertility so that agriculture became and still is the most widespread activity. A quarter of the active population finds employment in agriculture. Due to the insular location within the Central Eastern Alps, a rather warm climate and a lack of rain creates an arid-steppe climate and a unique vegetation throughout the Alps. The geological conformation and the position of the valley and the climate are the factors that have always 4

contributed to the development of a rich fruit growing agriculture. The microclimate of the Val Venosta includes scarce rainfall, the poorest throughout the Alpine areas along with a continual presence of sunshine for over 300 days a year. The temperature variations contribute further by presenting a barrier from insects and parasites. Thanks to the beneficial effects of the microclimate, apples ripen more slowly and intensively. The strong temperature range between day and night means that the apples are enriched with natural sugars and have a firm and juicy pulp, which is precisely what characterizes the Val Venosta apple. In addition to apples, vegetables, small fruits and apricots are cultivated even if in small quantities, the apple is still the main product. The production of apples takes place according to the method of integrated pest management , which involves the insertion and permanence in the orchards of useful insects able to drive away the harmful ones and the ladybug is the symbol of this special method. This is accompanied by carefully staged process. Each phase is characterized by strict rules and strict control systems: cultivation, harvesting, delivery, storage, opening of the cells, selection, ordering, packaging, loading and delivery of apples to the shops of the farmers’. After the war, there was reforestation effort with black pine and black pine

The other engine of the local economy is tourism, both summer and winter, even if Venosta is not as rich in tourist infrastructures as other areas of South Tyrol.

Small industries are present in almost all the municipalities of the valley. There is also a widespread network of family-run artisanal and commercial businesses.

The Lake of Resia with its protruding bell tower has become a symbol of the Val Venosta despite its many other picturesque landscapes. The bell tower is that of a submerged church for the village of Curon. The church and its village was submerged to build a power generating source despite the strong protests of the village and the region (see article).

With his 12,811 ft of altitude, the Ortler is the highest mountain of Tyrol. Every year the mountain attracts countless mountaineers from all over the world. Thanks to his height, but also to his majestic appearance it is reverentially called “King Ortler”. The Upper Venosta Valley is one of the most well-liked destinations for cyclists in the Alps. The stretch along the ancient trading route, the Via Claudia Augusta along the Adige River is very popular. It is the ancient road built by the Drusus, alone which is divergent from the once vast forests of the son of Augustus to connect the Po Valley with oaks. According to a legend that is still taken as true Southern Germany. It is ideal for road cyclists, mountain today by many Venostans, but clearly denied by histori- bikers and recreational cyclers who like to ride through ans, Monte Sole was formerly covered with vast forests meadows and historic towns in the valley. of oaks, which would have been cut to provide the timber necessary for the construction of Venice.

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The Mountains of the Val Venosta

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al Venosta (in German Vinschgau) is located in western Alto Adige-Südtirol. Here, at the Resia Pass, the Adige, the largest river in the region, is born. Another very important pass is the Stelvio Pass (9055 feet) (its spectacular road, where almost every year one of the most difficult stages of the Cycling Tour of Italy takes place. The most important mountain in the Val Venosta is the Ortler (Ortler, in German), 12811 feet high, the highest peak in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. When the valley still belonged to the Austrian Empire, the Ortles was its main peak.The summit was climbed for the first time in 1804 at the instigation of Archduke John of Austria, brother of Emperor Francis II. John of Austria promised a rich prize to those who had first trod the summit of the Ortles, the "roof" of the Empire. An army officer, Nepomuk Gebhard, accepted the challenge, but his attempts to climb were unsuccessful. At the end of September 1804 Josef Pichler, a hunter from Val Passiria, set out to help him. Gebhard joined the er two other valley dwellers and the trio succeeded in the enterprise. The following year, Gebhard also managed to climb the summit, planted a large flag and set fire to some straw, so that everyone, even in the valley, could have proof of the ascent. Other strong climbers created new ascent routes from the Englishman Francis Fox Tuckett to Reinhold Messner. Today some of these routes have become even more difficult due to the progressive retreat of the glacier. The same "normal route" of ascent can only be done by expert mountaineers, or by expert hikers accompanied by a mountain guide.

Near the Ortles there are three other fascinating peaks, all covered by wonderful glaciers: Monte Zebrù (3735 m), Gran Zebrù and Cevedale. Mount Zebrù was first climbed by Julius Payer in 1866. Payer was a Bohemian, an officer of the Austro-Hungarian army, author of numerous climbs in the Ortles-Cevedale and AdamelloPresanella groups, he was also the first explorer discovered, in 1874, the Land of Franz Joseph (today Zemlja Frantsa-Iosifa), the northernmost land emerged in the Northern Hemisphere. Gran Zebrù (in German Königsspitze, 3857 m), is a wonderful peak with an unmistakable profile. The first to climb this summit alone was almost certainly a young Bavarian seminarian, Stephan Steinberger in 1854. The feat was repeated by the Englishman Tuckett and his companions in 1864.

During the First World War a handful of Alpini and one of Tiroler Schützen faced each other for a long time on the top of Gran Zebrù. The Cevedale is made up of two peaks, the main one, called Cevedale (3769 m) is located in Trentino, was climbed by Payer in 1865; the secondary one, called Zufallspitze (3757 m) is located in Alto Adige and was climbed in 1865 by Edmund von Mojsisowicz and Sebastian Janiger.

The most important refuges are the "Città di Milano" Refuge, the Tabaretta Refuge, the Payer Refuge (starting point for the climb along the easier route), the Pizzini Refuge and the Coston Refuge. Written by Riccardo Decarli (Mountain Library-SAT, Trento)

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The Stelvio Pass

telvio…the Pass and the Park Stelvio is neither a place or a location. It has two identities. It is the highest mountain pass in the Alps and at the same time it is the premier nature park so similar to our own National Parks like Yellowstone. It is replete with Alpine flora and fauna and truly a marvelous destination. The Stelvio Pass (Italian: Passo dello Stelvio);German: Stilfser Joch is a mountain pass in what was once the Tyrol and now northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of 29,045 ft above sea level.

It is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps 23 ft below France's Col de l'Iseran 9,068 ft.

The Pass was built by the Austrian Empire in 1820-25, Its purpose was to connect the former Austrian province of Lombardy with rest of Austria. Carlo Donegani (1775-1845) was the engineer and project manager. The Pass covers a climb of 6,138 ft. The roadway winds like a serpent with 75 hairpin turns. 48 of these turns are on the northern side of the Pass. They are numbered with stones offering motorists a challege. The Stelvio Pass Glacier in Italy, at an altitude of 1132 ft, normally

From May through November, the Stelvio Pass is important and the site for a variety of sports. Countless cyclists and motorcyclists compete with each other to get to the highest stretch of the road in the Eastern Alps. It is the highest finish of any Grand Tour which includes the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Every year, the pass is closed to motor vehicles on one day in late August when about 8,000 cyclists ride and around

Stelvio Pass Roadway

25 runners run to the top of the Stelvio. Bormio located in Sondrio in Lombardy regularly hosts World Cup ski racing, usually in late December for a men's downhill event; its Pista Stelvio is among the most challenging courses on the circuit. The Stelvio Pass was also picked by the British automotive show Top Gear as its choice for the "greatest driving road in the world". The Stelvio Pass Glacier in Italy, at an altitude of 11,320 ft, normally permits skiing year-round.

Stelvio Valley with its Roadway in the bottom of the valley

permits skiing year-round.

The Pass had had strategic importance prior to the end of the Great War, World 1. The Pass formed the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. Switzerland had an outpost in the Pass but had remained neutral during the hostilities. In the ice and snow, there were fierce battles as occurred so often throughout the then Tyrol and Italy. After the end of the war and the annexation of the Tyrol to Italy, the Pass had little significance.

Summit of the Stelvio Pass

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The Stelvio National Park

telvio National Park (Italian: Parco nazionale dello Stelvio; German: Nationalpark Stilfser Joch) is a national park in northeast Italy, established in 1935. The park is the largest in the Italian Alps and covers part of two regions: Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Lombardia, in 24 municipalities. Stelvio National Park has borders with the Swiss National Park, the Parco naturale provinciale dell'Adamello-Brenta and the Parco regionale dell'Adamello. Together, these parks comprise 1,500 sq miles of protected natural environment. The park includes an extensive territory of valleys and high mountains,] ranging from 2,130 ft to 12,812 ft in height.

The Stelvio National Park was established in 1935 and its 332653 acres in the heart of the Central Alps, which include the entire Ortler-Cevedale mountain range, make

landscape of the national park is characterized by the presence of intact alpine areas and areas which have been cultivated for centuries. Here one may indeed meet , green mountain meadows, pastures and farms and examples of rural architecture, but also factories, sawmills and mills preserved all over the valleys. The landscape diversity ensures there are vast ecosystems rich in flora and fauna. Nature lovers may find countless plant species in the park territory, even very rare ones such as the glacier buttercup that grows at over 3500 meters above the sea level or the soldanella pusilla (snowbell). Edelweiss, arnica, gentian root and masterwort all thrive in these parts. The Alpine bell hides under the snow as does the glacier buttercup, which begins its flowering period after the ice has sufficiently melted to enable the sun's rays to penetrate through. The glacier buttercup grows at higher altitudes than any other flowering plant, with sightings as high as 14353 ft.! By contrast, the purple petals of the Alpine bells are already visible even as the snow melts. With their range of striking colours, primroses attract a variety of pollinating insects. Every area is covered by a varied and colourful flora.

All the areas of the park are inhabited by numerous specimens of alpine fauna.There are herds of red deer and roe deer in the dense woods, chamois can be spotted higher up, and alpine ibexes in the valleys. Foxes, it the largest Italian park. It covers the four provinces of marmots, ermine and squirrels are also present. There Trento, Bolzano, Brescia and Sondrioand offers a unique are many species of birds, such as ravens, woodpeckers, scenery of glaciers, waterfalls, glacial lakes and grouses, owls, bearded vultures and golden eagles. waterways, extensive woodlands, cultivated areas, mountain farms which are inhabited the whole year Top Row: Alpine, Bearded Vulture, Choimois,Dear Fauna, Ermine round, Alpine villages and distinctive villages. The Bottom Row: Marmot, Red Fox, Roe Deer, Golden Eagle, Red Deer

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B

Mary’s Mountai n

of Burgusio, Slingia, S. Martino and Plata in Val Passiria still depend today on Monte Maria.

enedict of Nursia and Francis of Assisi were historically great reformers. Benedict was the greatest of them all. He lived in the late 400`s and early 500`s as the Dark Ages began. He is known as the “father of Western monasticism,” having established a Rule that would become the norm for innumerable Christian monks and nuns. His Rule created not only a moderation for monks but also a humanizing and cultural force for all of Europe. He is the patron saint of Europe. To this day, the Abbey offers occasions to worship of area people as well as a high school for area students.

The Monte Maria Monastery - "Kloster Marienberg" in German, "Abbazia di Monte Maria" in Italian - is located above Burgusio, in the municipality of Malles in the Val Venosta valley. The white, castle-like building dates back to the 12th century and was donated by the Nobles of Tarasp. The first monks derived from the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren in Bavaria. It is the highest Benedictine abbey in all of Europe. Located at 4386 ft, it is situated in a dominant and visible position seen from afar. For eight centuries the building was a religious and cultural reference for the German-speaking populations.

It is in fact located a stone's throw from Switzerland and Austria, along the border line with the Tyrol now Italy.

The abbey was founded by Ulrich III of Tarasp and his wife Uta who moved the convent that stood in the Lower Engadine around 1090 to Marienberg (Monte Maria). The abbey was built in 1150 near an ancient chapel dedicated to the Madonna, to whom it was consecrated. The upper nave was built on the oldest stone building that had been the crypt. It was consecrated for the first time in 1156 and then in 1160, and then as a Romanesque church and then consecrated in 1201.

In the courtyard of the monastery stands the chapel of S. Egidio. It was next to the basilica church that was built in the Romanesque style with three naves, erected above the crypt consecrated since 1156 and dedicated to the Madonna in 1201, it was transformed into the current Baroque forms between 1642 and 1647. The wooden portal, from around 1200, with the two Romanesque rings held by bronze lion heads, has been replaced by a copy. The interior is dominated by stucco decoration and countless floral motifs, in buds and garlands, of fruit, gems, candelabra and amphorae, heads of angels and cherubs that alternate in the friezes, on the capitals, in the soffits of the arches. Authors of the stuccos were the master Florian Nuth and Kassl Braun, both of Innsbruck (1643).

The crypt, consecrated in 1156 or 1160, was the first building of worship at the time of the foundation of the abbey until the completion of the Romanesque basilica above. It preserves a cycle of Romanesque frescoes whose author, unknown to us, is one of the most important artists of the 12th century in Europe. After the removal of the monks' graves in 1980, the large frescoed surfaces came to light that had been hidden during the baroque transformation of the church above (in 1643), when the funerary niches were set against the walls in the crypt.

In 1724, the monks founded a Humanistic Gymnasium in Merano, in the 20th century the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Maria itself hosted a private gymnasium and therefore has got a long tradition in formal education.

Pius Zingerle, Albert Jäger and Beda Weber were an illustrious triumvirate in the gymnasium, until 1928, when it was forced to close its doors. Still today, however, the monks operate in the field of continuing education: weekend courses, a guest house and "Monastery on Time" (only for men) provide retreat in our frantic time.

Since 2007, the ground floor hosts the "ora et labora" Monastery Museum, furthermore the library, the St. Stephan Church and the museum depot can be visited.

From the beginning, there was a close link with the Swabian abbey of Ottobeuren, from which the first monks and the first five abbots of Monte Maria came.

The monastery, small throughout the Middle Ages, was destroyed by a fire in 1418. Rebuilt, it suffered the loss of precious manuscripts at the time of a peasant revolt (1525). In the 17th century, Abbot Matthias Lang started a second development of the abbey with the construction of numerous buildings. His successor completed the Written by Alberto Folgheraiter, journalist, authoer, ediBaroque transformation of the Church of Our Lady. tor of Il Nuovo Trentino Suppressed by the Bavarian government (1807), the abbey was robbed of the treasures of sacred art and the book heritage and archive that it possessed. The parishes

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Glorenz a...the Fortified City

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lorenza, the smallest city of the Southern Alps, is rich in historic jewels. Glorenza was founded about 700 years ago, in the era of Meinhard II von Tirol. In the course of centuries, this town had an important role to place as a trade centre. Glorenza (Glurns in German, is a village, historically a “city” with fewer than 900 inhabitants. It is the smallest municipality in South Tyrol to enjoy the title of the city (in German Stadtgemeinde). In Glorenza there is the saying, "Our city is so small that we must go to the church out of the walls." It is located in the center of the Venosta Valley, dominated by the Tarces hill, which is a known archaeological site. In its surroundings, to the west, you will find Tubre in Val Monastero, close to the border with Switzerland, while north you will meet first Malles, then Lake Resia and the Resia Pass.

Glorenza is located at the crossroads of the roads that lead to the Resia Pass and then the into Northern Tyrol then on to the Fuorn pass and then to the Engadine (Switzerland). It is located at the center of communications and traffic between Italy, Switzerland and Austria, and thereby dealing with the exchange of various products. The Counts of Tyrol encouraged trade, transferring the market of St. Bartholomew which took place in Monastero, and granting particular privileges of weight and customs. Meinhard II one of key founders and shapers of Tyrol provided the city with the most important infrastructures, thus enclosing it with walls. In 1332, the city assumed such a commercial importance which included the weighing of goods, the "measure of Glorenza" was imposed on the valley. The village also acquired the monopoly of salt trade, which comes from Hall in Tirol.

Glorenza is a striking as well as exceptional example of an Alpine fortified city that has remained extraordinarily intact as regards its urban layout that was given to it in

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the sixteenth century. The development arose essentially for commercial reasons, since its location, at the entrance to Val Monastero, forms a triangle with the towns of Malles and Sluderno. During the Roman period we know that Glorenza was an important crossroads both for Via Claudia Augusta and for the ancient trade route to Switzerland. The first citation of the village dates back to 1163 and the name "Glurnis" is used, which means "ontaneto" or "hazel", "measure of Glorenza".

This picturesque medieval village, embraced by mighty walls, which protects it and at the same time creates an evocative atmosphere, has a town planning organization typical of the Middle Ages, although the architectural style of most buildings is from the 16th century. In the historic center of Glorenza, the only one with porticos throughout the Venosta valley, you will find numerous abodes of great artistic value, enriched by the typical bay windows at the corner of the house and decorated with frescoes.

As Glorenza has never grown beyond its walls, still today there are not more than 880 inhabitants. The city was able to preserve its historic character as mediaeval town and is considered an architectonic jewel: the circular wall with the three city towers and a series of fortified towers surround the charming alleys and corners, town houses of the 16th century and the arcades with their special atmosphere.

No wonder that Glorenza has repeatedly been chosen as film set. If you plan to spend your holidays in the Alta Val Venosta, you absolutely don’t have to miss out Glorenza. Also the Claudia Augusta cycling route stretches past the town gates. Take the opportunity and make a journey back in time in this lovely, mediaeval market town.

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The Campanile in the Lake

ampanile`s are not supposed to be in lakes protruding from the water. Their place is to rise above a village, beckon people to worship and to enhance the identity of a particular community. The Campanile did and was all that.

Below the waters, there were streets, homes and all the things that created a village. Bell towers of churches were the highest structures in old towns since they Curon prior to its demolition & submersion indicated that they symbollically closer to heaven than any other other building in the town. The bell tower of the small town of Curon, in Sudtirol, juts out from Lake Resia like the tip of an iceberg, whose submerged body tells a dramatic story now almost sixty years old. Here is its story of this bell tower.

The Bell Tower in the lake

and Curon, also known as “Middle Lake” or “Mittersee” in German, about 1,500 meters above sea level.

Montecattini, an energy company seeking to produce hydro electric power proposed to create a lake combined with the two lakes that were juxtaposed while at the same time submerging several towns and villages. It was the times of the new and progressive age of electricity with powerful interests that ran rough shod over lives, homes and livlihoods.The old town of Curon Venosta was razed to the ground and buried forever under 120 million cubic meters of freshwater. Over fifty hectares of land and almost two hundred houses in this part of the Venosta Valley disappeared.

Powerless, those communities protested with no other advocacy than their moral sense of justice. They were contadini, ordinary paesants. Their fruitless protests organized by the parish priest reached the Pope in Rome who was unable to stop the project. The towns that were submerged were Graun (Curon in Italian), parts of Reschen and the villages of Arlung, Piz, Gorf and Stockerhofe. 1290 acres of developed and fertile land disappeared while 163 houses were flooded. Despite protests, its residents were forced to abandon their homes, jobs and everything they had. They moved nearby, founding the new Curon Venosta.

Near the borders of Switzerland and Austria and dividing lines between the historical Northern and Southern Tyrol, there is Lake Resia, Reschensee in German and Lago di Resia in Italian. It is an artificial lake first conceived by Josef Duile di Curon in the middle of the 19th century during the years of the Au s t ri a n Hungarian Empire. The project was stalled for years and revived after the annexation of South The Demolition of Curon Tyrol to Italy in The Romanesque bell tower and its submerged church 1920’s. In 1950, the construction of a dam for a hydro- date back to the 14th century. Thousands of years of hiselectric plant required merging two large lakes – Resia tory going back to Roman times were wiped away.

Ancient Curon surfaces 70 years after its destruction

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Ancient Church of San Procolo

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ere in New York I have a choice of museums: the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim, and the Cloisters my favorite so full of medeval art treasures… Our folks lived in their valleys as poor contadini. Our folks had no art literacy and certainly were not art diletantes…they had no museums but as they looked up from their work in the fields, villages and woods they were treated by so much art in their shrines, churches adorned with frescoes and images. Throughout the Tyrol with its rich history and religiosity, there were these “museum’s”. Such is the case of the Church of San Procolo.

there are some Gothic frescoes from the 14th century.

Discovered in 1912, they were displayed in 1923/24 during the restoration of the church. The age of the oldest pre-Carolingian frescoes, however, is rather contested, new datings refer to the period of time between the 7th and 10th century. The most famous fresco shows a man on a swing, probably St. Proculus himself. Very unusual for a sacred building, however, is the representation of a dog with a herd of cows.

The nearby Proculus Museum which exhibits the Gothic frescoes of the church completes this extraordinary experience. It is located at the entrance of the village of Naturno and it is surrounded by apple trees. This little church is very humble: a sturdy tower with arched windows leaning against a square structure made of rock.

The impressive characteristic of this church is the frescos on the external wall and inside the church. At the end of the XIV century the entire interior was decorated with frescos, while the external wall facing south was painted.

In 1923 works brought to light the most ancient frescos of the entire German-speaking area. The most famous of all coloured representations is the so called “Schaukler”, which is very likely to be a depiction of San The St. Proculus Church near Naturno is undoubtedly a Procolo, once the bishop of Verona. This church is a historical treasure and dates back to the 7th century and masterpiece of art in the region and, at the same time, a is one of the oldest churches of South Tyrol. It is "St. historical witness dating back to 1500 years ago.

Prokulus Kirchlein" in German, "Chiesa di San Procolo" in Italian . The building itself was established between 630 and 650 AD in place of an old house and dedicated to Saint Proculus, a bishop of Verona who survived the persecutions of Roman Emperor Diocletian. In the following centuries, the sacred building was restored and enlarged several times. In the 17th century, however, when the plague caused havoc also in Naturno, mass graves for the victims were excavated near the church.

The St. Proculus Church features the probably most ancient frescoes of the German speaking area and the most complete early fresco cycle of Tyrol. Furthermore,

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Castelo Coiro-Schloss Cherburg

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o matter in which corners, valleys or mountains you find yourself, you come across castles, fortresses, country houses and ruins at every turn. There are around 800 such strongholds in South Tyrol, each with their own little idiosyncracies and contributing in their own small way to the greater picture of the turbulent history of the region as well as its geopolitical significance as the conduit of Europe to the papacy. The main reason castles were built was not for luxury, but for defense and protection.

Another reason for the construction of castles was to remind the people of the land who was in charge. In medieval times, the king or lord owned all the land and gave pieces of it to people to use. Castles could serve as a centre for local government, administration and justice.

They were also used by powerful lords to display their wealth and power through lavish architectural styles and decoration. Building a castle up high made it difficult for enemies to get to the castle.

One of the best preserved castles of South Tyrol rises at the entrance of the Val di Mazia valley at Sluderno and is called Coira Castle - "Churburg" in German, "Castel Coira" in Italian. In 1259, this building was mentioned for the first time as "Curberch" in a document of Archbishop Heinrich von Monfort, which had the castle built around 1250. However, already in 1297 the castle passed to the Lords of Mazia, which were in constant feud with the prince-bishopric of Chur. At the beginning of the 16th century, after the death of the last representative of the Lords of Mazia, the castle again changed hands and passed on to the Counts of Trapp which still own it today.

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The most ancient nucleus of the Romanesque period is represented by the donjon (the great tower or innermost keep of a castle),the great hall and the circular wall. Up until the 16th century the castle was able to preserve its Mediaeval appearance. Only when it passed into the hands of the Counts of Trapp, substantial renovations and extensions were made. In the course of this period, residential buildings, Zwinger palaces, chapels, bays and garden terraces in gothic style were annexed. Only in the second half of the 16th century the castle was converted into a Renaissance castle.

Today the castle, which has never been destroyed, offers a rich variety of well-furbished rooms. Particularly interesting for those who love arts are the Madonna sculpture, the funeral shields in the castle chapel and the dec-

orated arcades with Renaissance vault made of the typical marble of Lasa in the Val Venosta valley. Moreover Coira Castle offers the largest private armory worldwide, including an almost complete collection of armaments for the entire castle crew with more than 50 suits of armour, thrustings and swords..

Smacafam

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he whole Tyrolean cuisine should have a new nomencla ture: SMACAFAM. The word is translated “beat hunger”,”slap hunger”.The life and struggle of our contadini emigrants in their valleys was a constant smacafam struggle to survive. Smacafam refers to a type of rustic pizza that is constructed by the usual things they had available in the absence of supermarkets and available cash. They had milk, some flour, sausage and this is yet another “use what you have” to avoid hunger. It is also a quick way to make a savory bit of paesant fare. Eat and enjoy and let’s crush hunger.

SMACAFAM

Smacafam Ingredients 2 cups of flour 2 1/4 milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon of salt Lucanica sausage

Preparing Mix the milk with the eggs and salt. Introduce the flour and mix and combine well.

Take the lucanica, cut in half. Skin half the sausage and manipulate the sausage with fingers to create small pieces. These small pieces will be integrated into the batter. Cut the other half leaving the skin on into small pieces.

Place oven paper on a pan . Use olive oil to treat the pan. Place the other pieces of sausage on top of the batter. Preheat the oven to 400 and then bake for thirty minutes.

Ingredients

Introduce the lucanica into the mixture

Combine milk, eggs and salt

Cut 12 pieces of the lunanica and then strip the rest of their casing

Line the pan with oven paper and coat with olive oil

Pour mixture into pan and place the 12 pieces of lucanica on surface

Smacafam is a soft pie to be consumed hot as main dish, although it can also be coupled with tasty cold cuts, cheese and fresh salads. Do not rush to eat it the same day, according to the tradition the smacafam is a dish for "ancòi e per doman", that is it is good today but the next day even more

Baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes-then at 450 for 10 minutes.

N.B. The recipe presented is an old and simple recipe. It suggests placing the luncanica sausage directly in the milk, egg, flour mixture. For can use butter or olive oil to saute`the shredded sausage meat, then drain the fat with a sieve or collander and then placed the sauted sausage meet on a paper towel and finally place it into flour, milk, egg mixture.

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The Developing of New Legends

T

he Dolomites are sometimes called the Monti Palladi, the pale mountains. This name in itself being mythical) have always inspired a sense of awe in the populations who lived at their feet, and today they do trigger the same feeling in whoever visits them. What few people know, however, is that because of their peculiar shapes and colors, many of these beautiful mountains also conceal incredible stories and legends, born out of an attempt to explain so much wonder – or, especially in the old times, out of awe and fear. There are stories, tales, myths and legends related to the Dolomites – as well all the mysterious creatures who are said to roam freely on them and to inhabit their peaks and meadows, woodlands and rocks – but certainly, as in the natural world, at the mythical level too for each habitat there are different ‘inhabitants’: and so there are creatures of the pastures, of the woods and of the rocks – be it fairies, witches, wizards, or mythical kings and queens.

The landscapes of the South Tyrol are ancient as are the legends that developed, told and retold and have become

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an archive if not a legend curriculum. In relative recent times, the Lake of Resia (see article on page ) has a feature that will indeed generate legends since it has the stuff to create some such narratives. The Lake of Resia sits on top of a submerged village and church and its eerie campanile. The submerged village is almost a quasi Atlantis and it conjures up centuries of once living people with strong attachments to village, community. The bell tower protrudes in an unusual and mysterious manner that could connote or suggest the hidden and mysterious village under the waters with a to be imagined community of mythical creatures abiding in that watery environment. To this day, during the wintry months with the lake frozen and the winds strong, there is said that one can hear the soft sounds of the campanile’s bells no longer beckoning people to worship at its church but creating the mysterious tolling of the campanile’s bells conjuring to the imagination the images, individuals and narratives that legends are made of. Written by Verena De Paoli, Terlago, Trentino

Sherlock in the Dolomites

s you well know the writer Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), wrote 4 novels and 56 short stories starring the detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusted collaborator, Dr. Watson. The success of these adventures was such that, after the author's death, others continued to write stories starring Sherlock Holmes. A new adventure has recently been published, written by two people from Trentino, Riccardo Decarli (author of numerous mountain articles on our Filò) and Fabrizio Torchio. In this new adventure, entitled "Sherlock Holmes and the treasure of the Dolomites" (publisher Mulatero, Piverone-Turin), Holmes and Watson must solve the mysterious theft of a treasure that took place in Sikkim, following the traces of the culprits they arrive in the Austrian Trentino and

then on the Dolomites, finally in Venice. A detective novel of great interest, which has already been translated into French (publisher Ginkgo, Paris).

For the past 10 years,Riccardo DeCarli has been generous author of the narratives of the mountains throughout the Trentino Alto Adige. We apprciate him and are grateful.

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n Introduction...Riccardo Decarli was born in Trento in 1966. For thirty years he has been working as a librarian at the Mountain Library-SAT. In his free time he frequents the mountains, in all seasons, always following the itineraries on foot. He has written books on the history of mountaineering in Trentino and the Dolomites, a guide to Trentino refuges, essays on skiing and caving. He loves everything about the mountains, woods, high altitude pastures, Dolomite peaks and glaciers. His greatest satisfaction is walking the paths and climbing the peaks with his wife Tiziana, their children Alice and Pietro and the faithful little dog Floki.

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S

Music and Bands

ince the mid-nineteenth century, the bellows harmonica or acordion is the instrument that is used most often at village festivals, to accompany songs and dances in the square, but also in public places and private homes.

Acordions are known in dialect with different names: orghenéto, rèta, armònio, voze armònica, òrghen, mùsica.The bellows harmonica or acordion is the result of a technical evolution that began in 1822. In that year what is the ancestor of the harmonica was invented. A few years later a bellows were added to this simple instrument. In this way, a stronger and more continuous breath of air is obtained. In the following years many other improvements are introduced and the different types of harmonics are born that are still used today.

Accordions have the great advantage of being light and space-saving instruments. In addition, they allow the player to combine the melody (performed with the right hand) with harmony (performed with the left hand). For these reasons, accordions are very popular at a popular level. Amateurs play them in the family and at parties, but they are also popular professional with“buskers”, a person who performs music or other entertainment in the street or another public place for monetary donations. Aarmonics replace violins that were previously very popular, and also bagpipes. In Trentino, the first workshops of artisans who build accordions appear around the middle of the nineteenth century.

They are Giuseppe Bonelli and Antonio Pedrini from Trento and Ferdinando Ongheri from Borgo Valsugana.

The best accordions, still well known and sought after today, are however built by Giovanni and Severino Branz and by Bortolo Giuliani di Mori, who died in 1930.

Between 1920 and 1950 Carlo Dallapè was active in Trento, while Egidio Galvan worked in Borgo Valsugana , which builds between 600 and 800 instruments per year.

In 1871, Fidel Soncin, a native of the Val di Non, opened his workshop in Bolzano.

bellows from entering the barrels. The air, passing through the pipes, reproduces the musical motif "recorded" on the reel. The accordion could have different dimensions: it could be carried over the shoulder by the player, or loaded on a cart. It was played in the streets, squares, taverns, during fairs or festivals.

Often the organ player was very poor or was an invalid.

Later the accordions are inserted into furniture in the shape of an upright piano. In this case, the roll is replaced by a perforated paper tape. The holes in the belt have the same function as the teeth on the roller.

And then there are the bands. These are made up of a variable number of people who play wind instruments and percussion. The bands almost always perform outdoors, on the occasion of civil holidays (anniversaries, visits of important people, inaugurations) or religious holidays (processions, festivals, funerals). The first bands were founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In Trento the band was formed in 1801. During the century many other bands were born and, at the beginning of the war of 1914-1918, there were at least sixty, distributed throughout the valleys. For a long time, the bands consisted of only men, as well as the fire brigade, veterans' associations and sports associations.

Band members can also have a uniform, which is very similar to that of soldiers. Often, however, they only wear the party dress. The number of players that make up the band can be very varied: there are bands of 15 elements and bands of 60. Especially in the countries, we had to adapt to the availability of instruments and instrumentalists, so the bands did not all have the same composition , but they were very heterogeneous. Did your grandparents bring a musical instrument from their home country to America? Is an ancient song in dialect handed down in your family? Send a photograph or write your memories to info@museosanmichele.it Written by Luca Faoro, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina

The accordion was also widespread in Trentino. This tool consists of a wooden box that contains a bellows and a roller on which teeth are fixed. The teeth are not arranged randomly, but correspond to the notes of a musical motif. The roller and the bellows are moved by an external crank. The box also contains one or more rows of rods. At the base of the pipes there are valves.

When the roller rotates, the teeth open or close the valves, allowing or preventing the air blown by the 19

S

Are We in Diaspora?

everal weeks ago, I wrote an article for the Nuovo Trentino entitled I Nossi in Diaspora?

Are Our People in Diaspora? The article was aimed at defining and articulating us, the emigrants who left them and whose experiences and identities have become obscure if not purposely suppressed. Let’s explore this in an effort of understanding ever more the psycho social mindset as well as the physical situation of our Tyrolean immigrants.

Diaspora is neither a virus nor some pandemic. It refers to the dispersion of any people from their original homeland. The term Diaspora comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "to scatter about." And that's exactly what the people of a Diaspora do — they scatter from their homeland to places across the globe, spreading their culture as they go. The Bible refers to the Diaspora of Jews exiled from Israel by the Babylonians.

Between 1880 to 1919, over 300,000 of our people left the historic Tyrol, their original homeland, their heimat and dispersed to both North and South America. They were genuine citizens of the Empire and had a history that included 1000 consecutive years that included 800 years of the theocracy of the Principati ruled by Prince Bishops and the Austrian Hungarian Empire. In this capacity and until 1919, they were indeed in diaspora since they were the sons and daughters, the people of the Tyrol, linked to their ancient homeland, their heimat. At the same time, in diaspora, they were immigrants entering into a social contract with a different country to become their citizens.

Then, the World Powers of those times ruptured their Diaspora identity. They allowed the usurpation of the Tyrol for and by Italy. Called an annexation, it was truly a conquest engineered by the Treaty of London of 1915 which included imperialistic, anti-Catholic Protestant England, Church adverse France, Irredentist Italy and a racist American President Wilson who acceded to Italy’s offer to join the Allies in the war in exchange for the Tyrol and Dalmatia. As a result, Austria Hungary was defeated and the Tyrol as it had been geopolitically simply was suppressed and disappeared. There was no plebiscite, no choice. Italy simply took over. In our dialect, there is an expression used by our people regarding the take over. The then citizens of the Empire became “…I taliani ciapadi con il sciop”…the Italians seized with a gun.”This geopolitical somersault was properly not even noticed by us in the US. We simply 20

were too busy working and adapting but in fact and in actuality we became orphans, abandoned, the remnants and vestiges of a no longer existing Tyrol. The notion of a Diaspora was that people had a connection with a fatherland, a homeland, a heimat. Our emigrants had in their memories, their ideation, and the treasured identity of being none other Tirolesi. It was not only in their DNA but it was in the very documentation of their Austrian passports. Oceans away and apart, they were concentrated in becoming good and grateful citizens of a new nation striving to forge a new identity that combined their Tyrolean heritage with a reconstituted American identity. God blessed them and they blessed the nation that had embraced them.

Across the ocean, the historic Tyrol was being changed and transformed…Italianized. The likes of the Irredentist Ettore Tolomei were changing street signs, text books and promulgating nationalistic ideologies. It was a cultural transformation that simply suppressed and ignored its 1000 year pre-annexation history and identity.

In that initiative, in that movement we, the departed emigrants were also forgotten. After all, the very emigrants and their affiliated relatives had been their adversaries and enemies who fought against Italy and its Allies and thereby seemingly deserving of no recognition and support. It was in Italian a “vatene” or in our words…Bye, bye get lost! We…our emigrants were orphaned, deprived of a homeland and simply neglected.

Whereas in Germany, John Paul Cahensly was an activist layman that prompted his nation to treat its emigrants quite differently & to create mutual aid societies to assist the emigrants and urge the hierarchy to deploy the clergy to accompany them. Not until Bishop Scalabrini of Piacenza created a society of priests to accompany and follow all the Italian emigrants was there to be services for them. Our emigrants were also shamed in that the clergy and the hierarchy feared that our emigrants would lose their faith. As Italy turned to Fascism, it declared war on the US… joining Hitler and his Third Reich so that the very children of those emigrants were deployed to fight and die to save Europe. Things became yet more cruel as the Mussolini and his Fascists turned to the ethnic persecution of the South Tyroleans offering them the infamous Ozioni, the Options. The Options offered to the German speaking citizens of the Tyrol the option to abandon their historic culture and language and become totally Italian or leave their communities and

lands and homes. Plans were developed in conjunction with Hitler and Himmler to effect the displacement of them to alternative territories. Home and farms were confiscated, schools closed, people beaten. The nomenclatures of their villages, streets and buildings were given an Italian equivalent. Moreover, Mussolini imported thousands of Southern Italians to the South Tyrol in a political maneuver to outnumber or change the political advantage of the German speaking populations.

This cultural and political upheaval happened there not here. We were simply spared the propaganda and the coercion to change who we were. We remained and embraced who we had been. While determined to remain who they were, the now Trentino and Sudtirol, its valleys, mountains and villages were in fact and in history our common birthright and heritage. We are the sisters and brothers linked by both our common past and our beloved relatives. In a surprising way, a phenomenon our original emigrants as well as their descendants tenaciously held on to their Tyrolean identity and feel dissociated with Italy. What basis had this determined assertion and declaration or an outspoken and widespread assertion of their identity. There is documentation of this as well as actual demonstration of it.

Fr. Bonifacio Bolognani, a Franciscan from Cavedine of the Val dei Laghi, born in 1923 and totally exposed to the cultural indoctrination of the post annexation period came to the US and traveled and visited all our communities for 22 years. He came to us seeking Italian Trentini and to his surprise and bewilderment he found none other than self assured, self identified Tirolesi…or in the legitimate identification of the Filo`…Tyrolean Americans. He described and explained how our emigrants unlike the Italian immigrants went not to cities but to the country side to mine and to farm or to work in the friendly employment of Solvay Chemical in Solvay, NY. He related how our immigrants were literate, bilingual…how they were considered preferred workers and how they so often flashed their Austrian passports in a way to differentiate themselves from the Italian community. This represents irrefutable historical documentation of those very immigrants. Permit me to offer the Filo` who in these past 10 years has served as a sponge as the readership in the face of the indifferent and Tyrol denying Trentino Province have called, emailed, written family stories, have related family memories and dialogues with immigrant relatives about the Tyrolean and emigrant experiences of their families.

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It was a differentiation from Italy and the annexation, a narrative articulated by our original emigrants and passed down in the recollections of their family for several generations.

Who knows whether our people knew what the concept of Diaspora really meant and purported. They did not have to know. The tenacious and strong embrace of their Tyrolean heritage to this very day is indeed a force, a presence of a virtual Diaspora in which they know that they have an entitlement, an historical covenant of understanding that who we are is who we were notwithstanding whether the Tyrol ever returns. This virtual Diaspora obliges us to honor, respect and cherish our families, friends and paesani. We need no permission or endorsement from the Province as it continues to ignore and truly disrespect who we were. In my 10 year absorption into the history and personality of our families and communities in producing the Filo`, I discovered the role and function of Andreas Hofer who in the Insurrection of 1809, like the mouse that roared, stepped forward and weaponized 15,000 peasant citizen farmers to defeat the invading armies of Napoleon three times. Frustrated, Napoleon yelled out…Who is this peasant that defeats my armies? Scholars responded that Hofer had three motivators: his strong attachment to the Empire, his unswerving embrace of his Tyrolean culture and identity and his deep devotion and linkage to the Catholic Church. I maintain that these very same motivators of Hofer were the very heritage and persona of our emigrants. The Insurrection of 1809 by Hofer was in effect the international endorsement and recognition of what the Tyrol was and who we were as its citizens. Bolognani, the true chronicler of our people and in dialogue with our original emigrants, presents one narrative after another of how pervasive this identity was and how Hofer’s feats were to be the very icon and symbol of the Tyrolean identity.

To reiterate, we, the descendants of those thousands of original emigrants have not only an entitlement but an imperative to embrace who our families were and not what the Trentino became. Hence we advance not a separation but a distinguishing differentiation. Amen and so be it!

Angeli and Valentini Families

H

e made the best sausages in town! Family tradition has it that perhaps Giuseppe Valentini made the best grappa in town as well, but who didn’t make grappa in an illegal distillery on the second floor, just across from the children’s sleeping chambers? Before grappa, the room hosted silkworms and later home grown produce and grain. And just next door, in the adjoining part of the house, Zio Ginot and his stories of squirrels, La Girra, and rattlesnakes filled the children’s dreams each night after Filo. That was life in Tenna, Italy, in the 1930s.

Giovanni Batista Angeli, nicknamed Gio-betta, and his brother Domenico, nicknamed, Ginot built their house in the bucolic plateau town of Tenna, where they and their families had lived for generations. The house was built to host two families. Both prolific in offspring and fortunes, the home and the families that it held saw births, deaths, marriages, business deals, and war. This is the story of one daughter, Giovanna Angeli and her husband, Giuseppe Valentini.

The children of Giovanna and Giuseppe Valentini enjoyed a life of good mountain air, fresh lake fish and sweet orchard fruits, profitable cottage industries and clever storytelling. Nine children were born, one passing at the birth of another, leaving eight to grow to adulthood.

The children loved Zio Ginot as they endearingly called him. His warm home and his tall tales were just next door-convenient for FILO! After dinner, the children would gather about the big porcelain-tile stove in Zio’s room and listen attentively to his stories. ‘La Girra’ was meant to scare the children-a sneaky squirrel who came in unnoticed and would steal stores of nuts. Zio would chase the squirrel and try to keep him away from the walnuts! HISS went the squirrel, “Ho paura!” Screeched Zio, and the children would jump in their seats. And then there was the rattlesnake! Only, this story was true!

Somewhere off in a land of mines, called Colorado, lived snakes with bells on their tails. Zio had gone to this faraway place and had ventured deep into the mountain where shiny silver and copper lay hidden. In the crevasses of these places were unique creatures not seen elsewhere and one of them was a serpent! This monster was enormous and stealth, but if you were attentive and kept your ears alert, you may hear it coming and be prepared. Well, Zio Ginot knew this secret and kept one ear available for the sound. One lucky day, sure enough beckoned a faint vibration, then, a louder shaking-the

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The Giuseppe Valentini family circa 1937 (rear left to right Giovanna nee Angeli, Enrica, Giuseppe; middle: Lidia, Nonna Teresa, Pia; bottom: Maria Teresa, Claudio, Valerio)

snake was around! Suddenly, a slash and a bang-death to the snake! The prize-its rattle. Zio Ginot returned to Tenna with the rattle from that snake. He marched in parades and processions carrying the victor’s spoils, until one day it was lost.

Smoked sausages hung in the family cantina. Polenta, lucanica, and krauti filled bellies from September to May, barley soup with smoked pork bones made for a satisfying meal. The children and their parents had food enough, aside from the wartime shortages of sugar or oil. Fish from the lake, grain made into polenta, barrels of kraut set up for the long winter, and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Of course, there were the sausages and Giuseppe Valentini lovingly bestowed the flavorful reserves to all who requested. He made the best sausages in town.

Maria Theresa Garber nee Moreo is the daughter of Peter V Moreo and Maria Teresa Moreo nee Valentini, and proud granddaughter to Giovanna Angeli and Giuseppe Valentini. A 1st generation Alto-Adige Italian American, Maria Theresa spent summer vacations at Nonna’s house in Tenna, Italy. Many memories of youthful summertime in Tenna inspired the writing of this piece. Her mother, Maria Teresa came to the US during the late 1950s, following the emigration to New York of her sister, Lidia. Both Maria Teresa and Lidia contributed their remembrances to this development of this narrative. Written by Maria Theresa Garber.

Katonah, NY

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Merica, Merica, Merica...

n their poverty, in their dreams and aspirations, despite the beauty of their valleys and orderliness and predictability of their way of life, they ventured to risk all to leave for Merica. Merica was our dialect way of reference for America…They wondered and inquired… cossa saràlo ‘sta Merica?..What can this Merica be…again in dialect “sta Merica” instead of questa America. There were the uncertainties of the arduous voyage, their permission to enter, the fear for their families, the intense sorrow of leaving their parents and paesani and the beauty of their environments. What was certain and fundamental was their courage and their self assurance and willingness to work hard and survive.

I adopted a writer’s or poet’ license to modify the lyrics a tiny bit substituting Tyrol and Tyroleans for Italy and Italians that we were not. After all, it was us that sang and felt this song in our village filo’s. I also took liberties by changing the Italian to our dialect. After all we were who we were! There are many choirs in the Trentino exercise the same license when singing of the Inno del Trentino, the hymn of the Trentino. It was written by the wife of the arch Irredentist, Cesare Battisti who slipped in the Irredentist theme…” Italic heart, Italic mind, Italic language here people speak. They simply leave it out. The Italian language argument is a non sequitur since we who speak English in the US are not rendered Canadian, Australian nor British.

Merica, Merica, Merica

Dal Tirolo noi sem pardidi Sem pardidi col nos onor Trentase di de macchina e vapor, e nella Merica noi sem arriva’.

(Refrain) Merica, Merica, Merica, cossa saràlo ‘sta Merica?

Merica, Merica, Merica, un bel mazzolin di fior.

E alla Merica noi sem arrivadi no’ avem trova nè paglia e nè fien Avem dormi` sul nudo terren, come le bestie avem riposa’.

(Refrain) E la Merica l’è lunga e l’è larga, l’è circondada dai monti e dai piani, e con la industria dei nossi Tirolesi ave, forma` paesi e città.

(Refrain)

We left from the Tyrol We left with our honor 36 days of machine and ship and in Merica we did arrive (Refrain) Merica, Merica, Merica What will this Merica be?

Merica, Merica, Merica, A bouquet of flowers.

(Refrain) To Merica we have arrived We had neither straw nor hay We slep on the bare ground We slept like the cattle (Refrain) And Merica is long and long, It’s surrounded by mountains and plains and with our hard work, we created villages & cities

INCANTO ALPINO The Incanto Alpino di Mori e val di Gresta choir was born a few years ago from the merger of two previous male choirs: the Voci Alpine Città di Mori choir and the Monte Stivo choir from the Val di Gresta. The choir is made up of male voices and is mainly dedicated to traditional folk and mountain music. Mattia Culmone, choirmaster since its foundation, has dedicated himself and heart to the revival of a repertoire that knows how to enhance and pass on customs and traditions belonging to the territory but which tend to be forgotten. Many of the popular songs in fact tell of places and situations belonging to another era, to other generations, which however deserve to be renewed and remembered precisely because they are part of the history of that territory, they tell the people who lived there and in part also the one that still inhabits it. The Alpine Incanto choir in the pre-pandemic period had a rich concert activity in the region and abroad, often renewing its cultural exchange relationships with local and non-local choirs and musical realities, with a view to mutual musical enrichment and social encounter. . The first appointment after the pandemic will be a joint concert that brings together all the choirs of the area in a big musical embrace for a sign of hope of recovery.

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Tosèla...a Young Cheese

a Tosèla: a young cheese with an ancient tradition. Each cheese has a story to tell, which is made up of territory, traditions, local knowledge and links with peasant culture. As Italo Calvino said: "Behind each cheese there is a pasture of a different green under a different sky". The story I want to tell you in this issue is that of Tosèla, a fresh cheese that is born in the mountain farms of Primiero and that has always been part of the popular cuisine of those places. The Primiero is a valley located in the eastern part of Trentino, a borderland between the Venetian Pre-Alps and the Dolomite peaks of the Pale di San Martino. The valley floor is so narrow and limited that man has had to tear up the land to cultivate from the steep slopes of the mountain since ancient times. Over

the centuries, an incredible constellation of farms and mowing meadows has been created, which characterize the intermediate altitudes between 700 and 1,400 meters above sea level. These farms, called maggenghi, were historically used for the production of hay in summer and as a place for the passage of cattle from the valley floor to the malga (dairy) (and vice versa). They were simple, poor structures in wood and stone, which were to welcome men and animals for a few days a year in their transhumance in search of grass.

In these farms, the Tosèla del Primiero was born from practical needs of milk conservation and human nourishment. In fact, from one, perhaps two cows only a few liters of milk were milked, which had to be promptly transformed into cheese to avoid deterioration.

As there were no processing rooms available, the freshly milked milk by hand was coagulated while still hot with the addition of rennet. The result was a fresh, very humid, soft product, often "alive" as it was produced in precarious hygienic conditions. The absence of salt also prevented it from being able to salt it for longer storage.

Therefore, the Tosèla had to be consumed immediately, within the day, as a nutritious food to support the work in the meadows. In order to sanitize it and eliminate the bacterial load, the farmers cut it into slices and cooked it in a pan on the plate of the wood stove (spolèr in the local dialect), adding just a knob of butter. The roasted Tosèla was then accompanied by the inevitable corn polenta and some mushrooms collected in the neighboring woods.

Tosèla di Primiero is produced in the Social Dairy of the Primiero valley with the milk collected by the over 60 contributing members. The freshly milked whole milk is pasteurized and subsequently coagulated with calf rennet.

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characteristic "cow scent" that takes us back to ancient times and to the ancestral origins of this mountain cheese. And if the cooking is done with mountain butter, the result is that of a simple dish that fully expresses the authenticity of high altitude cuisine.

And finally, here is the recipe for the classic "Polenta and Tosèla" as it was handed down to us by our ancestors.

Today the The shape is parallelepiped, with a weight between 3 and 5 kg, to allow the portioning into slices to be used for cooking. The duration in time is very limited: the earlier it is consumed and tasted (better if fresh during the day), the more pleasant it is for texture and flavor. Tosèla must in fact be soft, moist, sweet, with the characteristic notes of fresh milk and cream reminiscent Ingredients for four people: of freshly milked milk.

600 g of Tosèla 100 g of butter yellow corn polenta Preparation: It is essential, for a perfect success of this dish, that the cheese is really of the day, or in any case that it has not exceeded 24 hours. Cut the Tosèla into rectangular slices one centimeter high, neither more nor less ("a finger" is mentioned in culinary recipes), to prevent the cheese from crushing, or that it does not perfectly absorb, even inside, the necessary heat to uniform cooking. Brown the However, the tradition of Tosèla has also spread outside slices over a low heat in melted butter, for about 10-15 the area of origin. We can find it, for example, in the minutes, in a pan with a thick bottom, with a lid on top, neighboring mountains of Veneto and on the pastures of turning them over from time to time. When the slices Tesino and nearby Valsugana, when the cows are taken have taken on a golden brown color, they can be lightly to the mountain pastures in the summer months. Here salted and served with hot or toasted polenta. Ideal the Tosèla is taken from the curd destined for our local combinations are those with chanterelles or grilled cheese and is therefore less soft and slightly chewy. lucanica pasta. Written by Francesco Gubert of the Val However, the use of raw milk gives it pleasant animal di Ledro, Agronomist, Agricltural Consultant, Author. notes typical of the malga and pasture: it is that

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The World’s Foremost Alpinist

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einhold Andreas Messner is a Kingdom and the USA. He is honorary Tyrolean mountaineer, explorer, member of the Royal Geographical Society and author. Reinhold Messner is and of The Explorers Club in New York. apt to remain the greatest highHis wealth of experiences wealth of altitude mountaineer of all time. He made experience at the margins of the world that the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, has enabled him to create a group of along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of museums on the subject of the mountains: Reinhold Messner Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first Messner Mountain Museums (MMM). MMM currently climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over 26,000 ft above comprises six museums. MMM Firmian in sea level. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen is the heart of the Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds. He Mountain Museum; MMM Ortles in Sulden is devoted to also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. Messner has the glaciers and the world of eternal ice; at MMM published more than 80 books about his experiences as Dolomites on Monte Rite south of Cortina, the focus is a climber and explorer. on rock and mountain climbing in the Dolomites; MMM Juval in Juval Castle in Vinschgau relates the myths of Climber, writer, photographer and Member of the the mountain. MMM Ripa in Bruneck Castle tells the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004, Reinhold story of the mountain people.Each of the museums Messner was born in the Sudtirol, on 17 September occupies a unique location, which helps relate the 1944. He grew up in the Villnöss Valley in the Dolomites museum’s theme to the collections and the architecture. and later studied at the University of Padua. He started The geographical location, relics and works of art climbing mountains at the age of five and has been one combine to form a whole. His Messner Mountain of the world’s most outstanding mountaineers for thirty Museum (MMM) has already become a global focus for years. In his over three thousand climbs he has achieved the international mountaineering community. As the over a hundred first ascents, and was the first to climb all centerpiece of the Messner Mountain Museum, MMM the world’s 26,000 ft peaks. Messner was the first to Firmian in Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen addresses reach Mount Everest’s top without oxygen support. He the subject of man’s encounter with the has crossed by foot the Antarctic, Greenland, Tibet, the mountains.Reinhold Messner has written 50 books, deserts Gobi and Takla Makan. Messner has succeeded which have been translated into more than a dozen in opening numerous new ascent routes and has given an languages. “Climbing for me is more than a sport,” explanation to the mystery of the Yeti. In contrast to the writes mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner in his modern figure of the adventurer-protagonist, Messner book, My Life at the Limit. “Climbing is all about has never sought to break records, trying instead to freedom, the freedom to go beyond all the rules and take maximize the exposure to nature in its purity and limiting a chance, to experience something new, to gain insight to the minimum the use of artificial tools. In the era of into human nature… For me, imagination is more mass communication, Messner chose solitary trips, important in climbing than muscle or daredevil antics.” without the support of artificial means, from nails to oxygen and satellite telephones, experiencing nature as he confronted it. Reinhold Messner has a track record of breaking with taboos – in rock climbing, on mountaineering expeditions, and crossing deserts and the Poles.

An eloquent speaker, he lectures throughout the world in international conferences, makes documentary films with well-known producers such as the BBC and contributes to specialist magazines such as National Geographic, Stern and Die Zeit. He has received literary prizes and international awards in France, Germany, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, the United

Castel Juval- one of Reinhold Messner’s museums

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Family Stories: Sicher-Marinconz

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y father, Pio Isidoro Sicher, was born in 1894 in Coredo, Austria (Val di Non), the oldest of the 18 children of Attilo and Elfreda (Moncher) Sicher. Although he was small in stature, he quickly developed the work ethic of a giant. He worked diligently as a stone mason to help his family before joining the Austrian Army in WWI, where he spent four years in the Tiroler Kaiserjaeger. He fought in the trenches in Russia, where he suffered severe frostbite to his legs and feet. He returned from war gravely changed by the experience— like many, he was haunted by the horrors endured. Due to post-war economic hardship, many men from the area were leaving to find their fortunes in South America, Australia or the United States. Papi left his beautiful and beloved Val di Non to join his cousin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he quickly found work as a stonemason. In 1929, he returned to Coredo, where he met and married the “prettiest girl in the village” ---my mother, Viola Maria Marinconz (6th of the 11 children of Mansueto and Chiarina Pilati Marinconz). They soon left for America, and were greeted by the Statue of Liberty on October 29, 1929---the day of the stock market crash. A day filled with much distress and fear for many Americans was met with hope by my immigrant parents.

Bouquet of Flowers) was her favorite. My mother was a saint!

Once they made their way to Pittsburgh, they lived in a small apartment in a crowded neighborhood in a then dirty and smoky city---a far cry from their beautiful mountains of Coredo. When asked about this many years later, my mother simply explained that they did what they had to do to give their children and grandchildren a chance at a better life.

My mother enjoyed her later years surrounded by her children, 23 grandchildren, and many greatgrandchildren. Despite the challenges of her advanced years, my mother never lost her sharp wit and vivacious personality. She passed away in 1997 at the age of 91. My siblings and I greatly enjoy reminiscing about the good times, and the legacy of laughter that Mama left with us.

Written by Bruno P. Sicher, Kane, PA

Their first four children were born in those early years--Clara, Me (Bruno), Anna and Daria. My father then purchased a house with a small farm in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. My brother Ermo and my sister Nancy were born there. The family raised cows, pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits and tended a large garden. I can recall my father cutting all of the hay on the farm using a straight handle Austrian scythe. At home we spoke only Nones, and through my mother’s wit and tremendous sense of humor, we learned the colorful and clever sayings of her native tongue. She kept us well-fed with her delicious gnocchi, polenta with wild birds and gravy, and our favorite treats: grostolini and raisin bread. We also enjoyed singing together: ‘Quel Mazzolin di Fiori’ (That 27

Papi was eventually hired by Rampa Marble Company, where he worked as a marble setter. My father’s skill and craftsmanship were soon recognized, and he began traveling all over the country working in banks, universities, and churches. He installed the marble in the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. His craftsmanship can be best appreciated in the “Greek” room, which boasts floor to ceiling white marble columns. Most notably, he was the foreman of the work crew that built the beautiful dark green marble fountain in the rotunda of the National Gallery of Art in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. I was sometimes able to travel with him and watch him meticulously work. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren take great pride in seeing these works of art, knowing that they will be enjoyed and admired for many years to come.

Our whole family worked hard together, and we were taught to pray and thank God for our blessings. After battling stomach cancer, my father passed away in 1974 at the age of 79. His work ethic and commitment to a life’s work was instilled in all of his children, and was passed on to their children as well.

Viola & Pio Sicher Wedding Day, August 10, 1929

N OS D IALET...O UR D IALECT #25

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n the past, the Val Venosta was for a time under the jurisdiction of the contiguous Swiss Canton of Grissons resulting in the widespread use of Romansh as the area language. Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, which by the 5th century AD replaced the Celtic and Rhaetic languages previously spoken in the area. Romansh retains a small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and syntax. The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by Alemannic and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop. During the 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of the language. Under the influence of the Hapsburgs, there evolved a process of germanization that almost obliterated Romansh. This language circumstance underscores the historic and even current language situation. In summary again, we have three linguistic minorities: the Ladini, Cimbri and Mochen. Although the dialects are no longer as prevalent as they had been, we have 18 valleys with the historic dialects and finally the wide spread use of German in the South Tyrol.

LISTEN TO OUR DIALECT...Listen to some creative dialect recitation and singing. On the Feast of San Rocco in Cavaione, they celebrated the patron of the village. Such a celebration is referred to as a “sagra”. On that occasion, Ruben Bellotti did a creative recitation in the dialect of the Val delle Giudicarie. Ruben is a friend. He has a boyish look of an adolescent although he is a well regarded surgeon with a medical practice in Innsbruck, Austria. I am going to upload his performance to the website…filo.tiroles. com. Its sound and pronunciation will provide a lesson of how we spoke…and how we sounded. We need to understand that each of our valleys had “their”dialect with the nuances and pronunciation idiosyncratic to a specific valley.

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The illustrations opposite this page are those of Helene Lageder; they appear in the Dizionario del Dialetto di Montagne di Trento of Corrado Grassi, produced and distributed by the Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina, San Michele all`Adige

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Family Story: Ralph Serafinn

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nown in the United States as Ralph Serafinn, my father was born Romeo Fedele Serafini in Duvredo in Bleggio, Val Giudicarie on 31 October 1919. The eldest son and second child of Luigi Pietro Serafini of Duvredo and Maria Giuseppa Onorati of Bono, he was conceived after my grandfather, who had fought with the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, had spent at least two years in a Siberian POW camp, and (like many others) walked across Europe to return home to Trentino in 1917-1918.

throughout his life, my dad was always a model for hard work and commitment to his family.

By the late 1930s, my family became US citizens, changing their names to integrate more easily into American society. Our surname became “Serafinn”, and my father became “Ralph”. In World War II, Ralph fought in the South Pacific with the US Army, including the horrific battle of Okinawa. Although he never spoke about his wartime experiences, I know he carried many “invisible” wounds from it.

Between 1906-1914, my grandfather had worked in the coal mines of western Pennsylvania. After the war, he was eager to return to America, but this time with his family. He returned to Brandy Camp in 1921 (after the birth of their third child, Pierina), with my grandmother, my dad and his sisters following in 1923, accompanied by my grandmother’s younger sister, Rustica.

In the Army, Ralph worked as an electrical mechanic on radio systems.

This was the beginning of what would become a lifelong career, which would eventually bring him worldwide recognition. In the early 1950s, he was hired by New York Bell Telephone Company, and rapidly advanced to become a special design engineer, creating telecommunication systems.

In 1964, when I was 9 years old, he was Despite his young age, my father had given a unique assignment. He was vivid memories of Ellis Island, as it asked to invent a device that enabled was not an easy time. His sister Luigia the deaf and deaf-blind to use the had become very ill during the arduous telephone. I vividly remember how sea journey, and she was put in diligently he worked day and night in quarantine immediately upon arrival. his basement workshop of our Long SERAFINI FAMILY, BROOKLYN 1927.

My grandmother stayed at Luigia’s Island home. One of my fondest PARENTS: (L to R): Maria Giuseppa Onorati; side, leaving my father and Pierina Luigi Pietro Serafini. CHILDREN (L to R): Luigia; memories is how he would ask me to with their Zia Rustica (who would Pierina; Remo (baby); Fiorina; Romeo. help him test his latest prototypes, later change her name to Lena). The pretending he was Alexander Graham care that Lena gave during those scary weeks was the Bell, and I was Mr. Watson. In 1965, his device was foundation of a lifelong bond between my father and his branded by NY Bell under the name “Sensicall”. Soon, his face appeared in newspapers all over the US, and we aunt. As an adult, he was more like a son to her, caring received letters from people from other countries, for her in every way until she passed away in her 80s. thanking my father for his life-changing invention.

After a few years at Brandy Camp, my family, like many Although later surpassed by computer technologies, it other Trentini, moved to Brooklyn, NY. Although my was ground-breaking in its day. grandfather had regular work in major building projects, After retiring from NY Bell in 1983, my father finally including the construction of the Holland Tunnel, when passed away in September 2001, nearly 82 years old. the Great Depression hit in 1929, even the children had Beyond his brilliance, my dad was also the most to work to help support the family. My father told me he generous, devoted, and encouraging person I have ever used to make deliveries for the local grocer for a salary known. He and his “old country” values definitely made of 5 cents a week. He always said he thought it was the me the person I am today. I am immeasurably proud of “best job ever” because, at the end of each day, the grocer would let him to take home a box full of fruit and and grateful to him. vegetables that were no longer fresh enough to sell. ~ Lynn Serafinn, genealogist at Trentino Genealogy These were undoubtedly fundamental experiences as, 30

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A Link to the Trentino

he Filo` has its hands full in covering the specific and the historical Tyrolean homeland of our emigrant relatives, it shys away from the focus of the Trentino of today that separated itself from us both politically and ideologically.

Nonetheless, the mountains and valleys are still there and have not changed and so are our aunts and uncles, cousins and paesani so that we remain their brothers and sisters. I wish to introduce to all our readers a new link, a window to the Trentino. Let me explain…

Relatively recent, a German business man bought the main Trentino newspaper: the Adige as well as yet another very popular newspaper the Trentino. The expectation was that both newspapers would be reinforced and reinvigorated. Instead, while the Adige continues to thrive, the doors of the beloved Trentino were closed forever.

But then Providence intervened or in the words of my mom: God writes straight with crooked lines.

To explain these crooked and straight lines, permit me to introduce you to Alberto Folgheraiter, a renown journalist for the RAI and many newspapers, the author of many…many books about our people and our lands, and the person who recently created a digital substitute for the Trentino…Il Trentino Nuovo. Yet you already know him since for the past ten years he has written so many articles for the Filo` about us, our lands and our people.

He is our friend, my keen partner and advocate for our

Tyrolean American community…and now he offers us yet another resource and way to keeping in touch with the remnants of our families left behind. I chatted withAlberto regarding his motives in creating the new Trentino publication. He explained that he had no need to re-engage himself with yet another existing publication but wanted to provide a forum where his network of journalistic friends and associates could write and communicate freely. This aspiration and this new initiative flows from his heart felt conviction of his beloved journalistic career. We bond together as friends since the indifference of the Province regarding the Filo`allows me to enjoy and share this same freedom to communicate.

Here is what you should know. The address of the Il Trentino Nuovo is www.iltrentinonuovo.it. It is written in Italian and by right clicking on the drop down menu to Translate to English , you will be able to navigate the entire site and read the articles including four of mine own articles. I serve as the American correspondent providing an insight as to who we are and who we were.

While distinquishing them from us in our history and experienes, we enjoy so many commonalites that make us …family. Alberto…bravo and congratulations…and thank you. Nota bene. If any reader wishes to have his or her family story appear in the Trentino Nuovo or as a Family Story in the Filo`, do not hesitate to contact me…

Lou Brunelli at 914-402-5248 and I will facilitate it.

Alberto Folgheraiter-Journalist and writer. In the seventies he was editor of the weekly “Vita Trentina”, of the Trento editorial board of “Il Gazzettino”, editor-in-chief of “Radio Dolomiti”. From 1979 to 2010 reporter at the RAI editorial office of Trento, then head of the programs (2007-2010); correspondent from the region (1975-1996) of the weekly “Famiglia Cristiana”. He has published 27 books on the history, traditions and ethnography of Trentino-Alto Adige. He is a member of the Trento Studies of Historical Sciences 31

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Tyrolean Wines: Lagrein

he first documented mention of Lagrein in Alto Adige was in the year 1318.

Thus it is to be viewed as the oldest historically proven grape variety in Alto Adige that is still cultivated today. The name is presumably derived from the term “Lagarina”, which describes the southernmost part of the Adige Valley (Vallagarina in Italian).

Remarkably enough, though, the spelling of the variety has notchanged any further since the name was Germanized in the early twelfth century. Up to the seventeenth century, white Lagrein also enjoyed special esteem and distribution. As a result of this color differentiation, which is recorded in numerous historical documents, it has to be assumed that the Lagrein with red berries was cultivated at the same time as the white vines. Today, WhiteLagrein is limited to individual grapevines that have remained. Lagrein as a red wine variety really began to catch on starting in the seventeenth century, at the same time as the classic fermentation with skins and seeds advanced to become the standard of the making of red wine. Previously, the fermentation of only the juice had been practiced in Tyrol since the Middle Ages. White Lagrein is not genetically related to “red” Lagrein. The red wine variety of Lagrein originated from a hybrid of Teroldego and a still unknown parent variety which, for its part, may be related to Kleinvernatsch (a variety of Schiava).

Teroldego, which like Lagrein is only cultivated in a clearly delimited zone, originated in neighboring Trentino. It is similar to wines that are made from Lagrein not only morphologically, but also with regard to the sensory properties. As a result of the variety’s high level of yield, the cultivation of Lagrein was regarded very early on as lucrative. The high yield quantities were favored by the possibilities for irrigation on the valley floor and around the city of Bolzano. But the chances for survival of grape varieties over the centuries, on the other hand, depended primarily upon their profitability, that is, upon a constantly high level of yield in connection with good robustness,for example against frost. Once aspects of the quality of the wine increasingly came to the foreground, individual varieties disappeared again, including white Lagrein. Its red brother in name, on

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the other hand, survived. Interest in the variety increased above all starting from the seventeenth century because it was regarded as the ideal blending partner along with Gschlafenen and Schiava for the production of lightercolored Tyrolean wine.

Distribution The distribution of Lagrein is essentially limited to Alto Adige, where 477 hectares (1,179 acres) are presently planted with the variety. Only in neighboring Trentino has the variety been able to gain a foothold after 1920.

Even though it is cultivated there on 220 hectares (544 acres) today, the wines do not have the same level of recognition as those from Alto Adige. Within the framework of experimental plantings, Lagrein is also cultivated today in Argentina, the USA, Australia, and Germany. Throughout the world, there are 810 hectares (2,002 acres) producing.In 1960, the area under cultivation in Alto Adige was already at 585 hectares (1,446 acres), but after that it fell as low as 253 hectares (625 acres) in 1998, only to rebound to the 477 hectares (1,179 acres) of today. Lagrein thrives especially well in the 2/2 Lagrein area surrounding the city of Bolzano.

Since as a result of the expansion through the city, the potential for good locations has to a large extent been exhausted, and other locations can hardly achieve the fullness and smoothness of the wine from Bolzano, the area of cultivation may remain stable. The main cultivation zone is in Bolzano with 192 hectares (474acres), of which 128 hectares (316 acres) alone are in the district of Gries. This is followed by Caldaro with 50 hectares (124 acres), after which come Termeno (37 hectares/91 acres), Appiano (30 hectares/74 acres) and Ora (30 hectares/74 acres).

Vines Lagrein is one of the late-maturing red wine varieties and has a marked vitality. In particular, the short-stemmed clones with the smaller bunches tend to have strong growth and mature earlier. The yield potential with the large bunch, long-stemmed clones is high. On the other hand, the small bunch clones with a medium yield output are sensitive when blossoming. The risk of blossom drop is correspondingly high. The oblong, conical bunches withthe loose berries are for the most part shouldered and have medium-sized, dark blue berries with firm skins. The preferable locations are found in gravelly

skins. The preferable locations are found in gravelly valley areas such as the Bolzano basin, where the soils remain warm for a long time in the autumn. This is where the wines develop that tannic quality that is a precondition for soft typologies of wines with an elegant mellifluousness. On the slopes, cultivation is limitedly possible up to 300 meters (1,000 feet) above sea level.

Wine Two different types of wine are traditionally on the market. The production of Kretzer, as the rosé wines are called in Alto Adige, absolutely represents the wine tradition of Lagrein. This type is reminiscent of the juice fermentation that was generally widespread before the seventeenth century. The briefly fermented crushed grapes are pressed away after one to two days. Lagrein Kretzer presents itself as a salmon-colored, full-bodied wine with a fresh acidity structure.

For a long time, this was the predominant standard wine that was made from the Lagrein grape. Thetype of

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Lagrein that is fermented on the seeds and skins only came onto the market after 1960 and at the time was called“Lagrein dunkel” (“dark Lagrein”), a designation which today is no longer permissible under the local wine regulations. The variety increasingly captured international attention starting in 1985 with the use of aging in small oak casks for the best selections. Lagrein brings forth deeply dark, garnet-red, juicy wines with significant acidity and an intense tannin structure. In the glass, young wines show purple edges. The aromatic quality is defined by cherries, violets, blackberries, bitter chocolate, and fresh dark bread, and wines that have been aged in small oak cases also demonstrate tones of dried fruit. In order to counteract the tendency toward a slightly bitter finish, a variety of cellar techniques have recently been applied.

To make a superior Lagrein, vinification in wood is necessary. 1/2 Pinot Noir

Miracles Are Needed

n the early church, in scriptures written by Paul, Peter and John, the faithful are referred to as “saints”. This inspired nomenclature was based on the fundamental truth that Christians are sanctified through Baptism and incorporated into the Body of Christ. There was both a reverence for the living Christians and those who passed from this life to their eternal reward. There was no canonization process that included documentation or evidence of miracles to certify their presence in heaven. There is no doubt, no question that Eusebio Chini is truly and actually a saint and in heaven…as he is and remains truly our brother! The Filo` keeps declaring it, history does so as well and his exemplary and meritorious life and career make it more than obvious that he is truly one of the blessed in the Kingdom of God. In addition, the early Church did not focus on “spiritual gymnastics” or spiritual eccentricities like levitating or bi-locating. What was extraordinary about Chini was how he served the indigenous people serving their ordinary needs. And as such he was exceptional as were our Tyrolean women and mothers who with husbands away working throughout Europe and the USA, served the children, their noni in their very house, the cattle, the fields, the laundry, the meals and the moral education of the family.

Pope Francis has declared him venerable, there is no turning back. The next step is beatification and then canonization as a saint. Each of these steps requires a “miracle” as if the historical evidence of his magnificent and virtuous life is not enough. In our times of Black Lives Matter, in the recollection of our nation’s original sins of slavery and the genocide of our indigenous people, his true, practical and singular service and advocacy of our indigenous people, so much in his time and so ahead of his times should merit the immediate canonization by acclimation without any other step or process.

Nonetheless, let us together pray for his recognition.

Each day, before beginning my task to assemble the Filo`, I pray to him not just for him but to join all our loved ones who have gone al di la…beyond to assist the advocacy of the Filo` as a remembrance of who we are as we and they are who we were. In fact, I will be presenting the Filo` itself to the church as one of the required “miracles” of this church process since its initiation, existence and persistence wrought with so many perils is truly miraculous and I believe the witness of Chini and all our people in the beyond have indeed been these past ten years an intervening, dynamic force to sustain this service to our people. Let us join together with a persistent, determined prayer to our very own Saint But the once simple Church has become complicated Eusebio Chini!!!! For questions, do not hesitate to call me and requires “proof ” and “evidence” so that now that at 914-402-5248 Lou 33

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Geneology Corner #13

t least a few times a year, I receive emails from readers who are in a panic because they just discovered their great-greatgrandparents (or another generation) had the same surname. The most common question they have is, “Does this mean there is ‘inbreeding’ in my family?”

Sometimes, they ask (not always ironically), “So, is THIS why everyone in my family is so crazy?” Let me assure you immediately that the answer to these questions is almost always “No!”.

Prior the industrial era, the vast majority of our ancestors lived in rural communities, and were subsistence farmers (contadini), whose very survival depended on the land on which they lived. Most farmers couldn’t easily move somewhere else. Likewise, millers had to live near a mill on a river. Charcoal makers had to live near forests.

Those who were “professionals” (notaries, doctors, etc.) or had more transferrable occupations (masons, merchants, etc.) had greater opportunities to move, but they did not always choose to do so. This is not just true of Trentino, but everywhere in the world.

This means that most of our ancestors tended to live and marry within (or not far from) their village of birth. The word for the practice of intermarrying within a small social, geographic, or ethnic community is “endogamy”. Because of endogamy, there was usually just a handful of surnames within any given parish. The smaller the parish, the fewer the surnames. Thus, the further back you go in your family history, the more likely you are to find a married couple who had the same surname. This also meant surnames tended to be native to specific places. For example, my grandmother’s surname was Onorati; prior to the 20th century, it was found almost exclusively in the tiny village of Bono in the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio.

But the question is: does this mean a married couple with the same surname, who came from the same parish, are related? The answer is: yes, probably.

However, they many not necessarily be “related” in the eyes of the Church or civil law.

common relative, but they were not closely related by blood. Here, we will only look at “consanguinity”.

Technically, the church did not permit marriages between couples who had a consanguineous relationship at the “fourth degree” (or “4th grade”) or closer. But in practice, because it was often difficult to find suitable marriage partners who were not related in some way, a “consanguineous” couple could sometimes marry if they obtained a dispensation from the Bishop’s office.

The term “4th grade consanguinity” means the couple were related by blood four generations earlier, i.e., they shared at least one great-great-grandparent. This would mean they were 3rd cousins. Similarly, “3rd grade” meant they shared at least one great-grandparent (i.e., they were 2nd cousins), and “2nd grade” meant they shared at least one grandparent (i.e., they were 1st cousins).

Dispensations for 4th grade consanguinity were extremely common. Those for 3rd grade were less common, but certainly not rare. Those for 2nd grade (i.e., first cousins) were least common, but I’ve seen many in my research.

Of course, if couples were related by their paternal lines, they will share the same surname. But more often than not, the connection will be less obvious, as they were connected via female ancestors down the line.

Thus, you probably have many “consanguineous” ancestors without knowing it.

When a couple was granted a dispensation, the priest would always record it in their marriage record. Being able to understand the details of a dispensation is crucial in your genealogical research, as it can often help you identify ancestors further back in time. If you wish to learn more about this, I refer you to an article I wrote called “Kissing Cousins: Marital Dispensations, Consanguinity, Affinity” on my website.

Consanguinity is NOT “inbreeding”. Inbreeding is when closely related people intermarry generation after generation within the same line (as in the case of the royal Hapsburgs). But in most of our family trees, even repeated generations of consanguinity are usually a In the year 1215, the Catholic Church mandated that colourful mix from many diverse lines, which does not prospective couples had to announce the “banns” at result in a weakened genetic profile. If that were the case, three Masses, to check for impediments to the marriage. the human race would have died out long ago!

One possible impediment was “consanguinity” or “affinity”. Consanguinity means the couple were Written by Lynn Serafinn, author and geneologist. related by blood. Affinity means the couple shared a 34

Announcing a new Filo`Theme or Topic…In a constant effort to define who we were, in the absence of a staff of helpers and consultants, having already focused on cities e.g Trent, Bozen, Brizen, Meran, I am going to try to develop a focus on the individual villages where our people lived e.g. Rango, Revo`, Valda (Val di Cembra), etc. The narrative will originate from for the past and current residents of such villages and they will be prompted to present to our reader the various aspects of such village:location, fontana, feast days, village customs, dialect, village personalities. Stay tuned Exporting the Filo` to South America…. It is indeed “in corso”…in the works. Specifically, I have been collaborating with a Trentino association in the disappearance of some historic Tyrolean Association. The process at this point has been of sending them the articles of the edition dedicated to the city of Trento, Vol in English…. They are translating them and returning them to me in Spanish…and then subsequently in Portuguese. I am struggling of how I will be able to integrate the articles into the format of Quark Express to then send the manuscript to a printing establishment in Argentina and Brazil to be printed and distributed.

Attention Readers:Be aware of our website... filo.tiroles.com where you will find 25 of the past editions of the Filo` detailing the history, culture and customs of our valleys and people. It is our virtual library and resource for both new and old readers.Remember to recruit and prompt family members, relatives and paesani who are not yet registered to register for the Filo`. Direct them to the website to register so that they can discover who they are by

Our Partners Are...

Our Contributors are . . .

Alberto Chini, Eusebio Chini Museum, Segno Italy Alberto Folgheraiter- Author, journalist, Trento Christian Brunelli. Teacher Cornwall, NY Riccardo Decarli Biblioteca - Montagna-SAT- Trento Luca Faoro- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Verena DePaoli, author, Terlago Daniela-Finardi- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Vicenzo Fiore-Auriga-Bari Tomaso Iori, Museo della Scuola, Rango, Val delle Giudicarie Antonella Montanarella-Auriga David Tomasi, University of Vermont

Thomas Auschöll-IDM Suditirol Matia Culmone-Music Director-Incanto Riccardo Decarli-Biblioteca - Montagna-SAT, Trento Luca Faoro-Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentino-San Michele Alberto Folgheraiter-Author, Journalist-Trento Maria Teresa Garber-Katonah Francesco Gubert- Agronomist, Author, Val di Ledro Bruno Sicher-Kane PA Special thanks to Uli Stampfer, the Director of the APT in Naturno, Val Venosta, who introduced me to his beautiful valley and provided me with images and suggestions.

Photo Credits

Lou’s Album

Pages: Cover: Armin Terzer Pages: 4-5 Matt Cherubino, Wikipedia, Tappeiner Suetiroland.it Pages: 6-7 Suetiroland.it;Wikipedia; dolomiti.it; sudtirol.com Page: 8 IDM Suetirol;Wikipedia; Matt Cherubino Page: 9 Wikipedia, Trentino.com, IDM Suetirol Pages 10-11 Suetiroland.it, Wikipedia, IDM Suetirol Pages 12-13 Wikipedia, IDM Suetirol, Page 14: Wikipedia; sudtirol.com; IDM Suetirol Page 15 IDM Suetirol-Angelica Schwarz;Peter Santer Page 16 Suetiroland.it; Wikipedia; IDM Suetirol;Bruno Faganello Pages 24-25 visittrentino.info;formaggi del Trentino.it; The shirts read Brunelli 80 to celebrate my 80th birthday with my tribe-12 grandchidren, their Caseficio Sociale Comprensiorale di Primiero Mom’s and Dad’s along with their Nono and Page 26: APT Naturno: Tappeiner Nona! My joy and my blessing!

Back Cover: IDM Suetirol;Wikipedi Suetiroland.it 35

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