2018 Volume 19 Trumbull

FILÃ’

A Journal for Tyrolean Americans Volume 19

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An Introduction . . .

Dear Tyrolean American«

Father Bolognani, the historian, sociologist, and apostle of our Tyrolean American community asserted the following«. ´A strange situation hindered the immigrants from the Trentino, making life more difficult for them then for other ethnic groups that arrived at the same time. Though they spoke no German and were Italian by language, they belonged to the Austrian empire and held Austrian passports. Considering themselves Austrian, or Tyrolean, they did not settle in cities as did most Italians. A search for their identity was difficult.µ In other words, our people sought their definition, their differentiation from other groups. As their home land, the ancient Tyrol was annexed by President Wilson and the Allies without a plebiscite to Italy, they literally became ethnic orphans as Italy adopted a process of Italianization, becoming Fascist and then our political adversary as they declared war on us in their affiliation with the Axis Powers. Defeated in the war and recovered with our American help, Italy became culturally adverse by no longer differentiating our history and our identity and imposing on us an identity that they had evolved while forgetting ours. What happened after the annexation happened there and not here«to them and not to us.

The Filò does not engage in a political polemic but legitimately and justified ably seeks to differentiate, to enhance the literacy and legitimacy of our historic existence and experience«Article by article it asserts with pride and joy«that who are is who we were!

In the name of all our readers who are served by the Filò, we thank Mr. Vincenzo Fiore of Auriga for his generosity in making the Filò possible.

Cordially, Lou Brunelli 914-402-5248

The Filò is to be published and distributed on a quarterly basis 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.

Piazza Duomo, Neptune’ fountain and the Duomo. Picture by Lynn Serafin of London, UK

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Intro to the City of Trento

rento lies in a wide glacial valley the Celts did instead found the city during the known as the Adige valley, just south 4th century BC. Trento was conquered by the of the Dolomite Mountains, 55 km Romans in the late 1st century BC, after several south of Bolzano and 95 km north clashes with the Rhaetian tribes. Before the of Verona . The city of Trento is located at the Romans, Trento was a Celtic village. In reality, center of an urban area that includes the name derives from Trent, which is a tribute Mezzolombardo and Rovereto to the north and to the Celtic god of the waters. The river Adige south and extending east towards the Valsugana ran through the city. The Romans gave their , up to the town of Pergine.Trento is flanked settlement the name Tridentum and is a tribute with mountains: north-west is the Paganella , to the Roman god Neptune (Tri Dentum, coat of arms of the north-east the Mount Calisio , east the Marzola The Autonomous Province of Trento meaning 'Three Teeth' because of the three of a silver shield with the hills that surround the city: the Doss Trent, , south-east the Vigolana and to the west the consists eagle of St. Wenceslas, symbol of Monte Bondone. It is the capital of the Trento Sant'Agata and San Rocco). After the fall of the autonomous province of Trento. Trento is an education- Western Roman Empire, the independent bishopric of al, scientific, financial and political centre in Trentino- Trento was conquered by Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Alto Adige/Südtirol, in the Tyrol and Northern Italy in Lombards and Franks, finally becoming part of the Holy general. The University of Trento ranks 2nd among Roman Empire. In 1027, Emperor Conrad II created the 'medium sized' Universities in the Census ranking. The Prince-Bishops of Trento, who wielded both temporal city contains a picturesque Medieval and Renaissance his- and religious powers. In the following centuries, howevtoric centre, with ancient buildings such as Trento er, the sovereignty was divided between the Bishopric of Cathedral, the Duomo and the Castello del Trent and the County of Tyrol (from 1363 part of the Buonconsiglio, Palaces, frescoed houses, Science muse- Habsburg monarchy). Around 1200, Trento became a um. The city often ranks highly among Italian cities for mining center of some significance: silver was mined quality of life, standard of living, and business and job from the Monte Calisio - Khalisperg, and Prince-Bishop opportunities, being ranked 2nd in 2017 ranking. Trento Federico Wanga issued the first mining code of the is also one of the nation's wealthiest and most prosper- alpine region. ous cities, with its province being one of the richest in There is from time to time a discussion as to whether Italy. Trento was for 800 consecutive years the seat of our American community are Tyroleans or Trentini. the Principato of Trento, the historic Tyrol, ruled by a Here is some history. The 800 year history of the Prince Bishop. It passed to the Austrian Hungarian Principato could suggest the nomenclature of Empire for over a century. At the conclusion of World I, “Trentino” to the territory and valleys of the Principato. it was annexed by Italy in 1919 by the determination of While the ex-urban, valley populations always and solely the Allies (France, England and the USA) and without a and individually identified themselves as Tyrolean and plebiscite of its people. In the 16th century, Trento not Trentini with the exception of the inhabitants of the became notable for the Council of Trent (1545–1563) city itself who properly identified themselves as which gave rise to the Counter-Reformation. The adjec- “Trentini”. Someone from Rovereto or the Val did Non tive Tridentine (as in "Tridentine Mass") literally means or the Giudicarie were solely and specifically Tyrolean. pertaining to Trento, but can also refer to that specific 97% of our original immigrants arriving to the USA event. prior to annexation came with Austrian passports…as The history of Trento brings out a variety of scholarly opinion while some have been influenced by the political, ideological gyrations of the post annexation time period. Some scholars maintain it was a Rhaetian settlement since 6000 BC. The Adige River area where Trento is located was influenced as well by neighboring populations, including the (Adriatic) Veneti, the Etruscans and the Gauls (a Celtic people). According to other theories,

did my beloved Dad! While the Province went through the gymnastics of Italianization by the Irredentists, the Nationalists and the Fascists, our USA community had a legitimate alternative experience substantially and fundamentally diverse from what occurred historically and politically in the Province.

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TRENTO – THE SPLENDID CITY

n 46 A.D., the Roman Emperor Claudius called it the “splendidum municipium” – the “splendid”, “bright” or “pleasant” city. He was describing Tridentum, the Roman name for the city we now call Trento. Home of the Rhaetian and Celtic peoples long before the Romans arrived, today’s Trento remains a beautiful, magical place. In contrast to many of the more famous tourist cities in Italy, Trento hums at a more moderate and less commercial pace. Its centro storico (historic center) is pedestrianized, enabling you to stroll safely streets packed with history and old-world charm, alongside modern shops and a wide selection of restaurants offering traditional Trentino cuisine. I have adopted this “splendid city” as my second home, and I spend about four months a year there. As I love Trento so much, I’d like to share a few of my favorite places in thwonderful city, so you can put them on your “must-see” list when you plan your visit.

Piazza del Duomo e Fontana di Nettuno

As the Latin word “Tridentum” means “three teeth”, some historians say the Romans were referring to the three hills that embrace the city: Doss Trento, Sant'Agata and San Rocco. Others say the name was a tribute to their god Neptune, whose traditional weapon was a trident (another meaning of the word). Indeed, the city has long been associated with Neptune via the magnificent Fontana di Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune) located in Piazza del Duomo, outside Trento’s Cathedral of San Vigilio. Originally built in the mid-1700s, this fountain has become an iconic symbol of Trento and is often the first image that comes to mind when people think of the city. Against a mountain backdrop, the plaza is a stunning sight in every season. I have seen it in fog, snow and brilliant sunshine, and it never fails to take my breath away.

Il Duomo di San Vigilio

Dedicated to the martyred Saint Vigilio (353-405 A.D.), the first bishop of Trento and patron saint of the city, the gothic Duomo (cathedral) of San Vigilio is built on the site of a 6th century church also dedicated to him. The magnificent main altar is surrounded by glistening marble pillars, and you will find dozens of medieval crypts, frescoes and shrines on every wall. The remains of this saint and many other bishops are entombed in the underground crypt beneath the main church; the crypt is open to the public at a modest entry fee.

Il Museo Diocesano di Trento

Housed in the tower adjacent to the Duomo, you will find the Museo Diocesano di Trento (Museum of the Diocese of Trento). Here you can see hundreds of exquisite ecclesiastical artefacts, including manuscripts, tapestries, statues, dioramas, chalices, paintings and many other treasures of the church.

One of my favorites is a painted banner from 1630 depicting the city of Trento during the horrific plague that swept through the province – a heart-breaking visual rendering of what our ancestors must have experienced. While visiting, be sure to walk all the way to the end of the hall of embroidered bishops’ vestments on the top floor, where you will find a passageway leading to an elevated walkway overlooking the top of the main altar of the cathedral. It’s a very special view you won’t find anywhere else.

Tridentum – The Underground Roman City

Walking northeast through the pink and white limestone streets of the historical city center, you will come to Piazza Cesare Battisti, where you will find an inconspicuous staircase leading down to the archeological remains 6

of the ancient Roman city of Tridentum. Here you can walk on the same streets used by the citizens of Trento 2,000 years ago, paved with the same locally quarried reddish limestone seen on the walkways of the present-day city. You can also see the remains of many public buildings and private homes, including an incredible mosaic dining room floor. NOTE: The site’s official name is Spazio Archeologico Sotterraneo del Sas or “SASS” (meaning “Underground Archeological Site of Sas”), so-called because this neighbourhood was called Sas prior to the 1930s.

Il Castello del Buonconsiglio

No visit to Trento would be complete without spending at least a few hours at the magnificent Castello del Buonconsiglio. Meaning “the castle of good advice”, this was the seat of the Prince Bishops of Trento for over 500 years, until Napoleon abolished the office in the 1790s. Located in the old north-eastern quarter of the city, the original Castelvecchio (“Old Castle”) was built in the 13th century next to the city walls. Over the centuries, the complex expanded into an ornate array of palaces and courtyards, including Magno Palazzo and Torre Aquila (“Eagle Tower”), with its stunning 15th century frescoes depicting daily life in Trentino though the twelve months of the year.

I have been there several times, as its wonders cannot be absorbed in a single visit. I am especially fascinated by the massive oil paintings depicting the historic Council of Trento (1545-63), in which the attendees are named and labelled. While the exhibits are superb, I often find myself most captivated by the buildings themselves. I love walking on its time-worn floors – paved with the same characteristic pink and white limestone seen throughout the the old city – and wondering whose footsteps I am retracing.

The Many Archives in Trento

If you are a family historian, a visit to at least one of the many excellent archives in Trento is a must. The most important of these is the Diocesan Archives on Via Endrici (a short walk from the Duomo), where you can access digital images of all the parish records for the province, and many other church documents. For those interested in civil records, the Provincial and State Archives (both outside the city center) contain notary documents, military records and other items of historical interest. Even the Municipal Library (close to the Duomo) has the “Sala Trentina” (“Trentino Room”) full of books, periodical and historical documents.

Some Other Places for Your “Must-See” List

Just a few minutes’ walk from each other on the west site of the city are Palazzo delle Albere, a 16th century villa built by Cardinal Madruzzo, and the beautifully landscaped Monumental Cemetery of Trento, where you will find many hundreds of tombs of noble families, artists, public officials, war veterans and other citizens of the city. If you’re not afraid of heights, you’ll find a spectacular view as you climb to the top of the mountain via the funivia (cable car) across the River Adige. You can board the funivia near the 13-century Torre Vanga, not far from the main railway station.

And lastly, don’t forget the FOOD! Trento is full of restaurants and sidewalk cafes serving fantastic gelato, hot pretzels, canerdele (knödel) and polenta. And for the best LYNN SERAFINN is an author and pasticceria (pastry shop) on the planet, be sure to check genealogist specializing in the families out Bertelli’s, not far from the Castello. of Trentino. Her father was born in Val Giudicarie in 1919 7

The Churches in Trento

There are many churches throughout Trento. Among them are four churches that will be highlighted because of their location..or rather their place or their role and function in the long history of Trento.

Church of Saint Appollinare

is located along the side of the Adige River in the Piedicastello section of the City of Trento. Going back to very times that Christianity reached the area, there was an ancient baptistry. The architectural style is a primitive Gothic. Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the first church and bell tower were built. A new Benedictine monastery was built around it in 1146. As a Benedictine monastery, it had all the usual features of a monastery: refectory, scriptorium and fields to sustain the monks. More importantly, the monks would gather throughout the day to chant the Divine Office. That first church was demolished between 1250 and 1300 and replaced with the current church with its height reminiscent of the Cistercian architectural style, imported by the then Bishop Henry of Metz, himself a former Benedictine. Subsequently, the church was embellished by works of Nicolo` of Padova and other iterant artists. In 1420, the Benedictine Bishop Bernardo Antonini of Cimego monks’ presence diminished and it ws assumed by the Bishop of Trent. The church contains a slab of pink limestone of Marco Appuleio, 23 AD, a sign of the early Romanization of the church

Church of San Lorenzo The Church of San Lorenzo was part of an a

Benedictine Abbey built between 1166 and 1183. As such it was a place of worship where monks chanted, prayed, worked and lived. There is a legend that previous to placement of this church, there was a temple dedicated to “Larenzia”, a pagan deity.

The archaeological excavations carried out between 1995 and 1998 have shown the attendance of the site in the Roman age, with works of drainage on which there were buildings to indicate a stable occupation, probably already since the second

century. During its history the abbey was taken away from the Benedictine monks

Bishop Bernardo Antonini of Cimego

and was entrusted to the Dominican Friars (1248).. The monks, after leaving place to the Dominicans, moved to the nearby church of Sant'Apollinare: There they remained until 1425.

Church of Santa Maria Maggiore The Church of Santa Maria

Maggiore is of particular significance since it was the site of Third Session of the Ecumenical Council of Trent. It was built by Antonio Medaglia simulating the Basilica of San Andrea in Mantua by request Cardinal Clesio who was the prime mover and driving force behind the Council. In the Roman period, there were public buildings and public baths on the very site where the cathedral was later built. It was built in late fifth or early sixth century and had a large space divided into three spaces. In the late tenth and early eleventh century, the old church was demolished. As the years went forward, there were added richly stone liturgical fittings, a rood screen and a ciborium( canopy or covering supported by columns, freestanding in the sanctuary, that stands over and covers the altar in a basilica or other church…also called a baldachin.) The Renaissance Church begun in 1520 is built in red and white stone. The façade consists of an arched entrance in the Renaissance style with a door commissioned by Prince-Archbishop Cristoforo Madruzzo in 1539. The interior of the church consists of a single nave. Along the sides are a series of altarpieces and the baroque sarcophagi containing the relics of St. Clement. There are a series of historically significant paintings of the Council of Trent as well of the Counter Reformation.

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The Duomo (the Italian word for cathedral) is the prominent church in the

very heart of Trento, flanked by a sizable piazza with a fountain of Neptune, with his trident, the source of the name Trento, and attached to the Diocesan Museum.

The Duomo is dedicated to St Virgilius, who began the evangelization process in the Tyrol and is buried in the basilica. It was built upon a previous church and outside the walls as a cemetery church, where the three Nones martyrs, Sisinio, Martirio, and Alessandro were killed. They were recruited by Virgilius from Capadocia. Prince Bishop Uldarico II (1022-1055) began the construction of the bishop's palace and the rebuilding of the cathedral. The latter had three naves, with pillars set on basic blocks coming from Roman remains and it is Roman and semiGreek, and the construction of a crypt also began. Prince Bishop Altemanno (1124- Piazza Duomo & Neptune Fountain 1149), descendant from the Counts of Bavaria continued the construction of the crypt and was consecrated in 1145. While the construction of Prince Bishop Uldarico II depended on Roman remains, Altemanno, opened new quarries ending the dependency on the classic remains. The Prince Bishop Federico Vanga (1207-1218) decided to completely rebuild the cathedral from the foundations, entrusting the project to the Cumacini who were builders, bricklayers, stucco workers and artists, grouped in a guild of traveling construction companies made up of specialized professionals. They were led by Adamo d'Arogno, began and built this church, which was then concluded by his sons and nephews. The construction began in 1212, but the death of the Prince Bishop Vanga in the Holy Land halted the work but the project was. respected by his successors who continued the construction, maintaining the main characteristics established in the original design: three naves divided by beam columns, projecting a transept equipped with a lantern tower(tiburium), very deep presbytery and a semicircular apse,two bell towers on the faรงade.Only one was completed. In 1236 the master Adamo d'Arogno died and his son Enrico di Fono d'Arogno succeeded him in continuing the work. The end of the 13th century the northern transept was decorated with a The back of the Duomo rosette window called the wheel of fortune for the iconographic motif represented. Between 1305 and 1307, Egidio da Campione directed the work by building the southern side of the cathedral and the lower part of the bell towers. In 1321 Egidio's son, Bonino da Campione, created the rose window on the facade and added elements that were now Gothic. . The portal was restored at the time of Prince Bishop Bernardo Clesio, adding his own coat of arms and commissioning Lucio da Como to raise the dome. On February4,1508, the Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg was crowned at the Cathedral and his official residence in Tyrol was transferred to Innsbruck. The church from 1545 to 1563 hosted the solemn first two sessions of the Council of Trent. In 1682 by Giuseppe Alberti the Chapel of the Crucifix was built, a baroque structure inserted in almost totally Romanesque forms, while in 1739 the baldachin of the main altar inspired by Bernini was inserted. In March 1913, Pope Pius X raised her to the rank of minor basilica. Many of the works that once were inside the Cathedral of San Vigilio are now kept inside the Tridentine Diocesan Museum.

Nave of the Duom

Aerial view of the Duomo

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Left side of the Duomo

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Castel di Buonconsiglio he Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento is the most imposing and important secular monument in the history and art in the Trentino-Alto Adige region (the historic Tyrol). The Buonconsiglio Castle is one of the largest fortified complexes in the Alps. Its current structure is the result of a multi aggregation of secular buildings so that the different sections and structures, dating back to different centuries, are clearly distinguishable. For over five centuries, it was the seat of the government of the Prince and Bishop of the Principato of Trento. Since 1004, Henry II of Germany, then the Emporer of the Holy Roman Empire had appointed Udallric I, the Bishop of Trento both Count and Prince. Henry II needed a loyal vassal to secure for the Emperor the safe passage through his way through the Alps to enable the Emperor to arrive in Rome to be crowned by the Pope. The castle dominates the city protected by two towers (Torre Verde and Torre Aquila and the Adige River which, until 1859, flowed in a semi-circle close to the houses. The first part of the castle was built around a tower in the first half of the 13th century, where in 1250 the Prince Bishop Egnone da Appiano moved the bishop's residence to the Castle. During the Middle Ages, the wooden and brick building became a sumptuous residence with marble arches and columns.

The fortifications were expanded including the cylindrical tower, called the "tower of Augustus", massive, 46 meters high, which was later incorporated (XVI century) in the "Great Palace".

The Castle was built in the style of the Rennaisance between 1528 and 1536 at the behest of Cardinal Bernardo of Cles. In 1500 the Cardinal Bernardo Clesio , engaged in a project of restructuring and urban redevelopment of the entire city, building a Renaissance building to the south of the complex , the Magno Palazzo, a new residence for the Princes Bishops, frescoed by Dosso Dossi and Girolamo Romanino. He engaged the major artists of Northern Italy at that time: the brothers Marcello and Matteo Fogolino from Vicenza; Battista and Giovanni Dossi from Ferrara; Vincenzo Grandi, Zacchi and Longhi. They frescoed the vaults and walls of the noble rooms. Remarkable is the Romanesque loggia, painted in 1531 with frescoes covering an area of 250 square meters.

Cardinal Clesio was the most famous and most important figure of the 16th century not only in Trentino but throughout Europe. He was an adviser to Popes and Emperors, a man of culture and action. Devotee of Our Lady of the Assumption, he had three churches built in his name (in Trento, Cles of the Val di Non and Civezzano in the Valsugana). The Buonconsiglio Castle aroused the admiration and amazement of the Cardinals and Bishops who took part in the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which sought a compromise between the papacy and the Emperor of Germany, between the Catholics and the Protestants of Luther. Instead it ended up sanctioning and reinforcing the rift between the Latin and the German world. Over the centuries, Princes and Kings passed through the Buonconsiglio Castle, from Christina of Sweden to Maria Teresa of Austria, from the French Napoleon Bonaparte to the Emperor of Austria, Hungary, Franz Joseph.

In the castle there are the princely halls, the audience chamber, and the gardens. To the south, the castle is joined by a roundabout with the Torre dell'Aquila (The Eagle’s Tower) in which there is the famous frescose of the Cycle of the Months and Seasons. The paintings, attributed to the court painter, Wenceslas (end of the 14th century). He depicted scenes of medieval life: work in the fields, bear hunting, castle dancing, playing with snow.

In 1796 the city was invaded by Napoleonic troops. The last prince bishop, Pietro Vigilio Thun , left the castle and took refuge in the family fortress in Val di Non. With the secularization of the Episcopal Principality of Trento and its annexation to the County of Tyrol , the Buonconsiglio was reduced from a representative office to an Austrian military barracks. Today the different rooms of the castle house the provincial art collections, divided into the archeology, ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary art sections. Written by Alberto Folgheraiter, author, journalist

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The Painted Houses of Trento

Throughout the historical Trento, one encounters palazzi (palaces) and ancient buildings with an array of frescoes depicting saints, madonnas, idylic settings, mythical gods, images of bishops and noblemen, decorative flowers. Pages could be written but each image speaks a thousand words!

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Ruled by a Prince Bishop! id you know that our ancestors were born into, lived under and were protected by a Prince Bishop supported by the Lords of the Tyrol for a consecutive 800 years from 1004 to 1804? We were a feudal state loosely affiliated with the Holy Roman Empire well before ever Italy ever became a nation. Reminding ourselves that who we are is indeed who we were, let’s review who we were…our history.

The Holy Roman Empire was a loosely joined union of smaller kingdoms which held power in western and central Europe between A.D. 962 and 1806. It was ruled by a Holy Roman Emperor who oversaw local regions controlled by a variety of kings, dukes, and other officials.

The Holy Roman Empire was an attempt to resurrect the Western empire of Rome perhaps in opposition to the Byzantine Eastern Empire of the East. The Holy Roman Empire was not the Roman Empire that existed during the New Testament period. These two empires were different in both time period and location. The Roman Empire (27 B.C. - A.D. 476) was based in Rome (and, later, Constantinople) and controlled nations around the Mediterranean rim, including Israel. The Holy Roman Empire came into existence long after the Roman Empire had collapsed. It had no official capital, but the emperors—usually Germanic kings—ruled from their homelands.

In the fourth century, Christianity was embraced by the emperor and was pronounced the official religion of the Roman Empire. This blending of religion and government led to an uneasy but powerful mix of doctrine and politics. Eventually, power was consolidated in a centralized Roman Catholic Church, the major social institution throughout the Middle Ages. In A.D. 1054, the Eastern Orthodox Church separated from the Western (Roman) Church, in part due to Rome’s centralized leadership under the Pope. Pope Leo III laid the foundation for the Holy Roman Empire in A.D. 800 when he crowned Charlemagne as emperor. This act set a precedent for the next 700 years, as the Popes claimed the right to select and install the most powerful rulers on the Continent.

The Holy Roman Empire officially began in 962 when Pope John XII crowned King Otto I of Germany and gave him the title of “emperor.” The Catholic Popes wielded the most influence, and the papacy’s power reached its zenith. The Empire was hardly an all embracing empire nor was it “Roman” nor was it holy, an adjec-

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tive imposed by the popes in conflict with the Orthodax church of the East.

Trento became a principality (Principato)in 1004 and was one of the many principalities scattered across the Europe Fresco of Charlemagne and the Prince Bishops of the Middle Ages and the early Modern ages. Its strategic position situated between North and South that made it one of most important principalities of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. The Trentino’s (then the Tyrol) sovereignty was comparable to that of a modern state similar to all the major principalities of the Middle Ages.

Its sole obligation (by its bond of vasalage) was to come or contribute to the defense of the Empire while at the same time providing for the European balance of power and defending the Church. A principal duty of the Prince Bishop of Trento was to accompany or have accompanied the King of Germany on his journey to Rome for his coronation by the pope and thereby legitimize his reign of the Empire. Given the dual political and religious nature of the principalities, the Bishop was assigned the governance, justice and defense of his principality. The Prince Bishop of Trento kept the narrow alpine mountain passages free of adversaries. Aligned with the Pope, the Principato remained loyal claimimg no heritary power that in the hands of secular noblemen would lead to an expansion of their powers into a monarchy and block access to the Pope. The Principato was dissolved by Napoleon in 1804 and shortly after became a Province of Austria and part of Austrian Hungarian Empire until 1918.

There is more to tell about the Tyrol’s place in history.

Stay tuned...

Castel Buonsiglio-Fortified Castle and Seat of the Prince Bishops

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Simonino…the Innocent..

imonino..Little Simon was a two year body of documentation of the event and its old boy whose murder had the aspect aftermath. Over one hundred miracles were of the “martyrdom” of the scriptural directly attributed to Saint Simon within a narrative of the two year olds muryear of his disappearance, and his cult dered under the reign of Herod in Bethlehem. spread across Italy, Austria and Germany.

His story became a legend forever besmirching The veneration was nevertheless reinvigothe reputation of the city of Trento. rated in 1588 by the Franciscan Pope Sixtus The story of Simon of Trent occurs during the V, who officially approved his cultus. Simon reign of the Prince-Bishop Johannes IV was eventually considered a martyr and a Hinderbach, an Austrian noble, head of the patron of kidnap and torture victims. He Principato of Trento.. Shortly before Simon went miss- was entered into the old Roman Martyrology. ing, Bernardine of Feltre, an itinerant Franciscan preach- Editor’s Commentary: Were we in the valleys also Antier, had delivered a series of sermons in Trent in which he Semites?Hardly a scholar yet a constant traveler through vilified the local Jewish community. our valleys ..and yet again conversing with scholars, there Samuel, Tobias and Engel formed the three Jewish is a need to delineate and distinguish Trento’s realities, household arriving as immigrants in 1461.Samuel was a history and culture and that of the peasants of the valmoney lender, Tobias a physician and their small com- leys in their poverty, struggles to survive and their world munity were distinctly separate due to the nature of their view. It was Trento who became the propagandist for professions as well as their apparent wealth in a commu- things Italian, a hot bed of Irredentism with their nity of artisans and sharecroppers. Prince-Bishop mythology of an eternal entity called Italy. Its culture was Hinderbach specifically granted the Jewish community not the culture of the contadini of the valleys. It was they permission to reside and practice their professions in who held on to their tradition of the Tyrol…stubbornly Trent. Accordingly, they were dependent on the protec- even after the annexation. Often they were even physicaltion of the authorities This dependence on the protec- ly blocked from Trento by its terrain e.g. the residents of tion of the authorities, obliging the Jews, to report the the Giudicarie often did their “business” with Rovereto incident upon discovery of Simon's body. Simon went rather than Trento. I maintain that the reprehensible missing on March 24, 1475 and was discovered by Anti-Semetism was a product of Trento’s exposure to Seligman, a cook, in the cellar of Samuel on Easter the territorialites of Europe, Papal conflicts & frictions.

Sunday 1475. While other historians relate that he had The valley peoples had a kitchen juxtaposed to their stabeen found in a ditch. Town magistrates arrested eight- ble and their manure pile outside their doors and possieen Jewish men and five Jewish women on the charge of bly in their simple but solid religiosity had no exposure ritual murder — the killing of a Christian child in order or animus to things Jewish. More than 500 years after to use his blood in Jewish religious Passover rites. Fifteen the Simonino murder, an emigrant from Primiero, of them, including Samuel, the head of the community, became the most celebrated prelate in American church were sentenced to death and burnt at the stake. The history, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago, celebrated Jewish women were accused as accomplices. With out for his affinity to the Jewish community and his constant evidence, the arrested Jews were interrogated and tor- pursuit of common ground with other faith groups tured obtaining specious confessions of the Jewish men Eight were executed in late June, and another committed suicide in jail. The widespread trial at Trent inspired a rise in Christian violence towards Jews within the surrounding areas of Veneto, Lombardy, and Tirol, as well as accusations of ritual murder, culminating with the prohibition of Jewish money lending in Vicenza in 1479 and the expulsion of Jews in 1486.

Simon became the focus of attention for the local Catholic Church. The Prince bishop, Hinderbach of Statue of Simonino Trent, tried to have Simon canonized, producing a large Facade of the Simonino chapel in Trento 14

The Tyrol Rescues Catholicism

I

n the 1500`s, Catholic Europe was in a state of upheaval. The Church weakened by abuse and corruption was being challenged from all sides not just religiously but politically as well. Martin Luther confronted the Church objecting to it in a wide spread opposition that was the Protestant Reformation involving not just the churches of various states but their political governors as well. Lutheranism was engulfing all of Europe.

The complexities of this upheaval were truly the greatest challenge the Church faced in its history. To survive, the Church had to indeed reform and change by mounting a Counter initiative, a Counter Reformation, an Ecumenical Council in its historic tradition of past historic Councils seeking renewal and reformation. But where to gather and convene such a council? Rome?

Paris? London? Jerusalem? Strategic planning of the Church or… God’s Divine Providence choose our very own Trento, the embodiment of the Counter Reformation, Trento of our very own Tyrol! Wow! Trento gave not only its location but its character so that it would be recognized, celebrated for centuries!

The Ecumenical Council

sessions between 13 December 1545 and 4 December 1563. Pope Paul III, who convoked the Council, presided over the first eight sessions (1545–47), while the twelfth to sixteenth sessions (1551–52) were overseen by Pope Julius III and the seventeenth to twenty-fifth sessions (1562–63) by Pope Pius IV. The consequences of the Council were also significant as regards the Church's liturgy and practices. During its deliberations, the Council made the Vulgate the official example of the Biblical canon and commissioned the creation of a standard version, although this was not achieved until the The logic of the choice was brilliant. Trento was chosen 1590s.[2] In 1565, a year after the Council finished its as the site of the Council in 1542 amidst the severe politwork, Pius IV issued the Tridentine ical difficulties of the time. It was chosen over the other Creed (after Tridentum, Trent's Latin name) and his sucpossible locations because of its particular geographical cessor Pius V then issued the Roman Catechism and location: a fortified city, a prince bishopric and therefore revisions of the Breviary and Missal in, respectively, politically autonomous, part of the Holy Roman Empire, 1566, 1568 and 1570. These, in turn, led to the codificaand situated on the greatest highway between Germany tion of the Tridentine Mass, which remained the and Rome.

Church's primary form of the Mass for the next four The history of the Council is divided into three distinct hundred years. periods: 1545–1549, 1551–1552 and 1562–1563. When I alluded to God’s Providence. Beyond the secular objecthe last period began, all hope of conciliating the tive considerations aforementioned, might the Lord also Protestants was gone and the Jesuits had become a have considered our Tyrolean “exceptionalism”, our strong force.The number of attending members in the non-Nordic and non-Mediterranean ethnography, our three periods varied considerably. The council was small removal from all the to begin with, opening with only about 30 bishops.It political strife ramincreased toward the close. The decrees were signed in pant throughout 1563 by 255 members, the highest attendance of the Europe, our historic whole council, including four papal legates, two cardi- religiosity …as he nals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, and 168 made his choice as he bishops. The Council issued condemnations of what it always does… in the defined to be heresies committed by proponents words of my mom… of Protestantism, and also issued key statements and clar- writing straight with ifications of the Church's doctrine and teachings, includ- crooked lines. I do ing scripture, the Biblical canon, sacred tradition, original think so!

Basilica of St Maria Maggiore sin, justification, salvation, the sacraments, the Mass and .

Site of the Third Session of the the veneration of saints. The Council met for twenty-five 15

Council

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The Tyroleans of North Adams orth Adams, Massachusetts is not only the small community where many Tyroleans settled coming from Ellis Island in the late 1800s and the decades that followed, but it also served as a welcoming point for many families passing through on their way to neighboring destinations.

Located in the northwestern part of the state at the foot of Mt. Greylock, North Adams was formerly the north village of the town of Adams. Originally incorporated in 1878, it became a city less than two decades later. What was the attraction to North Adams? Was it the textile and paper mills, the shoe and leather factories, the businesses that grew to line both sides of Main Street? Or, was it the people who had come before and wrote to family back home of the mountains, rivers, and booming industry?

Furnace Street, named after the smelting furnaces for iron ore that had been at the bottom of “the Hill,” had originally been settled by the Irish, many of whom worked at the smelting plant. Shortly after the ore gave out and the Irish found employment elsewhere, work on the 4.75-mile Hoosac Tunnel began (1851), and the city saw the arrival of Italians and Austrians to the region.

By the 1920s and early 1930s most housing in the city consisted of multi-family dwellings with running water, but no heat or hot water. Some had indoor toilets, but few families were equipped with bathtubs. Most people seemed content with what they had and eager to help one another. In the late 1800’s one church had served those of Italian descent, and more than a century later, in 2009, the Catholic parishes of St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Mercy, and St. Anthony of Padua were merged to create St. Elizabeth of Hungary. As for educating the city’s children, North Adams by the fifties would have seven public elementary schools and three Catholic elementary schools, plus three high schools (Drury, St. Joseph’s, and McCann).

For many of the newcomers from the South Tyrol, including the young family of Mario Maino, arriving from Lundo in the Val delle Giudicarie of the Tyrol in 1912-13, Ellis Island had been a large, intimidating place – one where Mario’s daughter Fredrica told her family she’d been so scared that she just sat on her suitcase; a young sailor had come by and given her an unfamiliar fruit which turned out to be an orange. Freddie’s father first worked on the railroad and her family settled in Williamstown, just west of North Adams, where Mario soon took up farming, worked as a butcher, served as

City of North Adams, MA

Williamstown Meat Inspector, and with his wife Alice raised their large family. The butter, meats, sausages, and vegetables they produced were brought to sell in North Adams, where Mario’s daughter Ida later attended college and taught in the Freeman and Sullivan schools.

Isidore Louis Vivaldi was born in North Adams in 1929 and spent his formative years living there. Lou’s father, Ottavio Vivaldi, born in 1879 in Nago, Vallagarina of the Tyrol, had served a few years in the military north of Bolzano in a town then known as Brixen(Bressanone).

He emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 or 1908. In 1922 he travelled back to Italy to marry Maria Michelotti of Riva.

On returning to the U.S. they settled in an apartment on Furnace Street. Among their neighbors was the Crosina family. Federico (Fred) Crosina had been instrumental in the founding of the Tyrolean Mutual Aid Society in 1900 – a coming together of men who had emigrated from the Tyrol. Annual dues were modest and a small stipend was given to any widow of a deceased member. Ottavio Vivaldi was secretary of the Society for a number of years, and names of some of the other members were Rigatti, Scaia, Benedetti, Cellana, Schmidt, Mazzuchi, and Dagnoli. It was customary for the Society to hold an annual picnic which featured polenta, sauerkraut, sausage, veal and wine as staples. Another custom was to arrange for the shipment of some number of cases of grapes from California. A designated person would place the order, and it would arrive in a railroad car which would be diverted to a siding near the neighborhood of these men. They would all come to take the number of cases they had ordered and then return to their homes to begin the wine-making process. The residue from this process was used by some to make another popular product – grappa. Without exception, the men who made grappa made it for themselves or as a gift to their friends.

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Grappa was never drunk or sipped straight; instead, the custom was to have "caffé con la schnappa." On his frequent trips as a youngster to North Adams in the thirties, Bill Blanker, whose family was from Ospedaletto, recalls sitting at a large table with adult members of the Crosina family, each of them sporting a cup of coffee to which they would periodically add a bit of the contents from a rather tall bottle posiMonument to the Tyroleans tioned in the middle of the table. of North Adams Trusting in the special powers of grappa back home, Mario Maino’s father had attempted to cure an infection in his son’s eye by applying the alcoholic drink; sadly, the young Mario lost his vision in that eye, but it never stopped him from establishing a vibrant home and place in the community. Among other things, he also collected throwaways from local shops, fed some of it to his pigs, and shared any useful and edible items with his family and the community. Mario’s granddaughter, Terry (Maino) Taft grew up in New York City, and says her best summers were spent on Mario’s farm, where she’d follow him around while he did the chores.

When one of the oxen no longer could be yoked for farm work, the resourceful Mario replaced her with an horse, and the work continued. Alice Maino died in 1934, and the farm was sold in 1951. After that, Carol DeMayo, widow of Mario’s grandson Richard DeMayo, says that Grampa made frequent trips to North Adams to visit friends. Because he lacked a driver’s license, Carol taxied him there and picked him up later. Always eager to reach North Adams, but being unfamiliar with driving, Mario would sometimes shout, “Hit the clutch!” Carol ignored the command, but couldn’t help noticing that he was always dressed to the nines and wearing aftershave! After all, it was a trip to North Adams.

Describing Federico Crosina as her father’s “savior,” Barbara Cellana Bernard explains that Mansueto Alfredo Cessana, born in 1887, came to America at the age of 18 – the first member of his family to do so. He spoke no English and arrived at Ellis Island, having been told about a family named Crosina who lived in a town called North Adams. Somehow, he found his way to the Crosina house, knocked on the door, and explained who he was in Tyrolese. He was welcomed heartily, fed, and helped to get a job in the Readsboro, VT Chair Factory.

Mansueto never forgot the kindness of the Crosina family, frequently retelling the story of his arrival to his daughter. Another story, recalled from one week after his arrival, was the occasion of watching an Old Home Day

parade in North Adams and first setting eyes upon 15-year-old Rose Griffa, who would become his wife some eighteen years later. Barbara’s grandfather had purchased a six-apartment block on South Street where she lived until she was six, before moving to Chestnut Street for the balance of her childhood. She remembers Greek and Jewish neighbors on the street, District Court Judge Ahearn and family at the end of the street, and at the far end, an African-American family – the Greens. Their daughter Margaret became Barbara’s close friend. Bob Maroni grew up on nearby Royal Avenue, also in “the Swamp,” an area that frequently flooded and was like a small town in itself, featuring quite a number of Jewish-owned stores. As a young boy in the forties Bob frequently served as a Shabbes goy for the Orthodox Jewish Rubin family who lived in the neighborhood, turning lights on and lighting stoves during the Sabbath. Other early work included peddling papers, shining shoes, and working at the local market. During WWII Bob and his friends collected magazines and would take them to the west portal of the Hoosac Tunnel so that when a train stopped to switch engines, they could hand the magazines to the soldiers aboard the troop trains. Boys in the forties played a lot of baseball, but also found time for other activities such as visiting the Clark Biscuit Company to catch the occasional cookie dropped out the window by the girls working inside.

Another popular spot in the city was Jack’s Hot Dogs, where back in the day five cents would buy one tasty dog.

Jack’s is still in business, and boys are still playing baseball. North Adams continues to serve as the closest small city to the town of Monroe (Bridge), the tiny hamlet of Hoosac Tunnel, and Readsboro, Vermont – a half hour’s drive away. These small communities also can attest to having many a Tyrolean set foot on their soil, whether arriving by chance, by circumstance, or possibly by word from their good neighbors in North Adams. Written by Carol Aleman, Bernardston, MA.

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Maino Family of North Adams

I

The Duomo’s Miraculous Crucifix

t was a snowy winter night. The snow rested on the houses and palaces of Trento, giving the city an unreal appearance. At Palazzo Lodron a great party had just ended and the last guests were taking their leave.

Dames and knights well wrapped in their cloaks came out with a shiver hastening to their carriages, ordering the servants to take them home. Finally when everyone had left, the massive door was shut, the torches on the side of the entrance and on the corners of the building and all the candles were extinguished. Count Lodron, tired of his hard day, was falling to sleep when he heard the banging of the big knockers at the entrance door. Sitting up, he thought “What can it be? Can it be a messenger? Had a fire or a revolt broke out in the city? "Meanwhile, the loud knocking continued. A servant ran to open the door while the Count intrigued dressed and hastened to see what was happening. Outside the door in the snow, there was a man wrapped in a broad cloak with his face half hidden by a dark hood and carrying a large bundle under his right arm. A little frightened, the servant first asked in a low voice, then in a louder one: "Do you think this is the way and the moment to disturb the good people at this hour?" At that point the count intrigued intervened asking the strange individual what he wanted. With a weary voice, the man replied: "I am a pilgrim going to the Holy Land. I can not utter my name but do not fear nor should you hesitate to give me hospitality on this blustery night. Rather if you allow me to spend these few hours before the dawn in your house not only you and your family but the whole city will be rewarded. When he heard these words he thought he was in the presence of a megalomaniac, but pitied the man's frank face so he gave orders to let him in and to have a room prepared for him. In the early hours the servant was to wake him up and have him go his way. The servant went back to bed.

Count Lodron seemed to have just fallen asleep when he was awakened by an unusual buzz and chatter that snaked through the whole building. Irritated he rang the bell to call the servant and ask for an explanation. The servant arrived breathless eager to communicate the latest news to the owner. It had happened that when the servant Bortolo had gone early in the morning to the room of the mysterious man to wake him up and escort

him to the door, he had not found no one. No one knew how he could have left the building without having the doors creak and disturbing the dogs in the backyard. The man seemed to have dissolved in the air‌and maybe he actually did!

Perhaps that man was a great magician or a great saint because in the room where he had slept, there was found a beautiful crucifix of colored wood had been found. The Count was fascinated and desired to see the extraordinary. He summoned all the family and servants together so that they could pray to the Christ of the crucifix left by the stranger. A few months later, Count Lodron donated the Crucifix to the Cathedral of Trento. Shortly after, the work of the Sacred Ecumenical Council began. It was decided and ordained that the mysterious crucifix of Count Lodron should be placed in the presence and the midst of the Council Fathers to inspire and protect them. As the extensive work of the Council Fathers concluded their work and as Cardinal Morone presented the large volume containing the degrees to be approved and confirmed before anyone could speak, the great Crucifix slowly lowered his head in assent and then resumed his original position.

The miraculous sign of agreement was noted by all the 200 Conciliar Fathers present who no longer had any doubt about the wisdom of the decisions taken. Orders were given to ring all the bells to announce to the people that the ecumenical council had happily concluded its work. The miraculous episode spread immediately throughout the city and the Tyrol so that a huge multitude of people rushed to honor the wooden Christ. The Tridentine Ecumenical Council gave rise to numerous legends. This, however, we think is the most famous believed for centuries by the populace as an article of Faith. Today the great Crucifix, before which the conciliar works of December 13, 1545 to December 4, 1563 took place is a noteworthy work of carving of the late fifteenth century (attributed to Sisto Frey of Nuremberg) It is located in the Baroque chapel of the Duomo. It was erected by Prince Vescovo Alberti Poja in 1682. Written by Verena Di Paoli of Terlago.

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L

La Mata...Torta dei Poreti

a Mata..the cake of the poor! In our dialect, la mata translates “that crazy lady” while l`e` mat means that crazy guy…When applied to a cake, la mata refers to a less sophisticated or refined confection. Truly la mata is a simple cake made in a simple way using the simple and available things of their peasant household: stale bread, milk, raisins, eggs, and apples. It probably resembles a type of bread pudding that is easily assembled and baked…and enjoyed. I loved it when served by my mom in the “Tyrolean” kitchen and household of our tenement in New York City…I never got her recipe which seemed to change every time she made it…improvising “con en micolin” (with a little-our dialect word) of this or that. I got this recipe and process from my cousin Maria of Trento who did record it from her mom and my Zia Rita of the Bleggio of the Val delle Giudicarie. Caution: instead of the precision of our baking precise cups and spoons, there is, to repeat, a great deal of “en pugn” a handful of raisins..en cit (a little ) of sugar, en pugn of walnuts, en micolin (a little) lemon peel. A bustina di lievito…an small packet of baking powder Ingredients 5 or more stale bread rolls Milk to soak the bread 3 apples A handful of raisins A handful of walnuts Some lemon peal Some sugar 3 large eggs A packet of baking powder Marsala or grappa to macerate the raisins

La Torta Matta

Preparing and baking...

The milk soaked bread drainingg in the collander, apples pealed, nuts chopped, raisin macerated in grappa, eggs beaten with sugar, baking powder and lemon peel added...ingredients mixed...placed in a buttered pan (mom’s)...sugar sprinked on top and baked at 350 for two hours...2 hours were suggested ....I am not kidding!

Zia Rita Berasi Bellotti

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Procedure Break up the stale bread.

Soak in sufficient milk.

When well soaked drain excess milk.

Peel apples and cut into slices Loosely chop the walnuts Beat eggs & sugar and lemon peel.

Add a packet of baking powder.

Butter a baking pan.

Sprinkle sugar before & after baking.

Bake for two hours at 350... not kidiing ..2 hours!

Zia

Trento & Vicinity

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Mountains surround Trento!

.rento is surrounded with mountains. Located at 636 ft is itself surrounded by mountains.

The very name Tridentum (three teeth) probably derives from the presence of three low mountains (300 and 500 m high; Doss Trento where there are the remains of an ancient paleochristian basilica and the Monument to Cesare Battisti, Doss San Rocco where there is the Bosco della città (Woods of the City) and a center for the recovery of injured birds. and the Dosso di Sant'Agata. In addition to these small elevations, there are some large mountains around the city. To the northwest is the Paganella 6972 ft. a very beautiful mountain that overlooks the Valle dell'Adige (Adige Valley) with a steep wall called La Roda, where there are many routes for climbers; while the slope that slopes on the opposite side consists of grasslands and woods that descend towards the town of Andalo where there are ski slopes. The summit can be reached from Andalo by cable car, or on foot from Terlago or Passo Santel. Up to a few decades ago, the Cesare Battisti Refuge, now closed, was located on the top. The La Roda Refuge and a meteorological station are still open.

Almost at the foot of the Paganella is the Soprasasso (Sorasàss in dialect), a low mountain 2648 ft., but very rich in naturalistic features that includes bears and chamois. There is a great deal of historical features and remnants with the presence of many fortifications dating back to the First World War. To the north-east of the city, there is another small mountain, Monte Calisio 3599 ft., which was very important in the history of the city.

Monte Calisio was truly a “silver mine”. From this mountain, there was extracted the argentifera galena (silver). Beginning around 1200, it became the resource and the wealth of the Bishop's Principality of Trento. The Calisio was so rich in silver that the Trentino called it Argentario. There too are the remnants of AustroHungarian fortifications.

To the east of Trento, there is the Marzola 5702 ft. mountain. It separates the city and the Adige Valley from the Valsugana valley and the lake area of Caldonazzo and Levico. On the height of the Marzola, there are many fortifications of the Great War, but the main role and function of this area has always been the grazing of livestock and the care of its forest. Here there are some refuges, such as the Rifugio Prati-Bianchi, the Rifugio Maranza, the Bivacco Bailoni, and the Baita Fontana dei Gai etc. To the south-east of the city stands the imposing

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massich of Vigolana moutain 7050. On its summit there are some spires: the Madonnina and the Frate. Near the summit is the Bivacco Madonnina. La Vigolana is a kind of weather fane for the city. In fact it has always been said “Fin che ghè l’orsa sula Vigolana, no sta cavar la maia de lana» (Finché c’è l’orsa sulla Vigolana continua ad indossare vestiti invernali” (As long as there is the bear on the Vigolana continues to wear winter clothes, hold on to your woolen sweater.) In fact, the “bear” is a spot in the snow shaped like a bear and is clearly seen from the city. The last mountain around Trento is the one closest to the city, Monte Bondone 7152 ft. This mountain is very interesting from a naturalistic point of view. There is a botanical garden, bogs, prairies, forests and a rich fauna. On Bondone, there are staged important competitions: a race car race and a cycling race (named after Charlie DeGaul). On the Bondone there are also many slopes for downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. The three peaks of the Bondone are called: Cornetto, Doss d'Abramo and Cima Verde.

The city is very linked to the mountains and to mountaineering. The SAT-Società dei Alpinisti Tridentini (Trentino Alpine Club), founded in 1872, is located here; the Trento Film Festival, the world's oldest mountaineering film festival, founded in 1952; the Alpine Rescue of Trentino (Alpine Rescue), founded in Trentino in 1952 and then extended to the whole of Italy. Moreover Trento was decreed as the Alpine City of the Year in 2004. Also in Trento is the Library of the MountainSAT, one of the largest facility in the world where books and documentation on mountain and mountaineering are kept.

Written by Riccardo Decarli (Biblioteca della MontagnaSAT, Trento)

F

Family Story: Filippo Levri ilippo Levri never wanted to leave his beloved Tyrol. His parents, Onesta and Fedele, along with eight brothers and sisters provided security, companionship and field help for their chickens, cattle, goats and grain harvest. But their mountain retreat in Fiave' in the Val Giudicarie fell on terrible economic times after WW I. The AustroHungarian empire had transferred governance of the Sud Tyrol to the Italian government after 1918 and life became so daunting that even sharing a meal together became impossible. Many years later when I asked him why he would leave this stunningly beautiful mountain Eden, his standard reply was "Off en Nof". That was the morning after the war when his mother announced that the hens had only produced one egg for the nine children at the breakfast table (off en nof). Alone of the nine, Filippo decided he would seek a better life in America, even if it meant the underground coal mines of Western Pennsylvania. At least the would have fellow Tyroleans already there, like Joe Pina, to help with housing and contacts. But the pain of leaving his family and village was worsened by the thought that he might never see his beloved Ida Bonora again. It was love at first sight when he met her at a picnic at Lago di Tenno. But Ida felt called to religious life despite her parents'(Teresa and Luigi Bonora) objections. So began a 5,000. mile distant courtship.

Filippo would return every 3-4 years to help his family financially and to see if Ida had changed her mind. Eventually her parents would allow him to visit on Sundays to accompany the family to Mass at Madonna delle Grazie followed by a picnic. The challenge for Filippo was to hike the 25 km. from Fiave' down to Varone di Riva del Garda in time to escort Ida to the 10 AM Mass, then socialize with her and her family and still make the return trek up the mountain before nightfall made the Ballino Pass treacherous. Always dressed in his Sunday best, of course. After ten years of these return visits from America, Ida finally agreed to become his wife and later to follow him to Yatesboro, PA with 3 babies (Elvio,Fedele,and Elidio) under the age of two to start a new life

in America. Fortunately there were fellow Tyroleans like Della Bellotti already there to help with the needs of the infants. In the spirit of honoring and re-living this courtship experience, Filippo and Ida's youngest son, Jimmy and wife, Margaret retraced Filippo's steps from Varone to Fiave' with their dear cousin, the recently deceased, Luciano Bonora.

The year was now 2015, not 1925, and what took Filippo less than 8 hours walking round-trip took his son and daughter- n-law more than 12 hours -ONE WAY. Such was Tyrolean courtship love! But what glorious views of mountains and meadows, lakes and snow-capped peaks, Tyrolean food including canederli, apfel strudel, polenta with contorni along the mountain paths. We even took Dad's short-cut, the GOLA, up the mountain paralleling the Cascata di Varone in order to shorten the dizzying 111 switchbacks between Garda and the Ballino Pass.

This ends the story of a mountain man from Fiave' and a wannabe nun from Varone, meeting,courting long-distance and marrying in Riva,Italy. Their loving marriage produced 5 sons in Rural Valley, Pa. who went on to their American careers in Chemistry (Elvio), the priesthood (Fedele),the auto industry (Elidio), insurance business (Louis) and medicine (Jimmy). Filippo died in 1967, Ida in 1985 generating 25 grandchildren for this new worldAmerica. Written by Dr.James Levri, Sarver, PA

The boys left to righ: Louis. Elidio, Elvio and Fedele Mama Levri (Ida Bonora), Papa Levri (Filippo) holding Jimmy

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T

Il Bosco-the Woods ...Continued he felling of trees, especially in the "black forest", was entrusted to the woodsmen. The lumberjacks normally worked in teams of ten men. They rose at dawn and returned at sunset, because they had to walk, often along steep paths, the place where the trees were to be felled. Sometimes, the place to be reached was so far from the village that it was not possible to go home every day. Then, the woodsmen remained in the woods for several weeks. To shelter from the cold and the rain they built huts: simple structures of poles on which were fixed large sheets of bark, cleverly detached from the first trees felled. To sleep they spread a bundle of fir branches on the ground.

The work of the lumberjack began with the delivery of trees to be felled by the forest ranger. The boundaries of the area in which the trees to be felled were clearly marked. The trees to be felled were marked: the forest ranger detached a piece of bark at the base of the tree, a

few inches from the ground and gave a sign in the wood with the forest hammer. This sign remained on the block and allowed to check that only the marked trees had been knocked down. Then the forest ranger took another piece of bark from the trunk, three or four feet off the ground and stamped the hammer again. This sign was visible from afar and allowed the woodsmen to easily identify the trees to be felled. The cut of the trees could be done "satin" or "chosen"; in the first case, all the trees of an area were cut down, in the second one only a part of them felled. On the flat or slightly sloping land, the trees could be cut at the base. On steep slopes, on the other hand, you had to leave logs at least three feet high, to prevent the formation of avalanches. On steep slopes, it was often preferred to cut trees in narrow and long parallel strips. Before breaking down the tree, the lumberjack carefully studied the inclination of the trunk and the arrangement of the branches. In this way he could

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understand in which direction the tree would fall and he could decide whether it was appropriate to push it to fall in a different direction. It was an important evaluation: the tree, falling, could ruin the trees that did not have to be cut down or could break, losing part of its value. The lumberjack also had to make sure that the tree fell into a comfortable position to continue the work and, above all, had to avoid putting the lives of his comrades at risk.

The lumberjack's experience was decisive. Sometimes, it was necessary to climb up the trunk to cut the branches so that the tree, falling, did not get entangled in the branches of the neighboring trees.

In this case, the work was more difficult and dangerous, because the fall of the tree could become unpredictable.

In the most distant times the woodcutters cut down trees using only the ax. The ax has a long handle that grips with two hands and a long and narrow blade, so as to penetrate deep into the wood. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the saw has spread. The saw is a toothed blade even six or seven feet long and even six or seven inches wide. The ends of the blade are bent into a ring and the two handles are fixed in the rings. Before starting the saw, the woodcutters used a deep and deep cut at the base of the tree with the shutters. This cut was made in the direction in which the tree was wanted to

fall. Then, on the opposite side, they cut the trunk with the saw. When the saw blade had completely entered the trunk, they inserted it into the cut of the wedges.In this way, the cut was slightly enlarged and the saw could flow effortlessly. Otherwise, the weight of the trunk would have blocked the blade. The wedges were then also used to push the tree to yield in the desired direction.

Finally, the trunk was cut into pieces, normally about four yards long. The ends of the pieces were smoothed; so they could be dragged with less effort and not chipped if, sliding along the slopes, they hit stones or other trunks. Written by Luca Faoro, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina

When the tree had finally fallen, the lumberjacks cut the branches and removed the bark. To cut the branches they used the ax. The scure ax has a handle shorter than the regular ax and a wide and short blade. The branches were cut with one or two blows of the ax at some distance from the trunk. Then the spikes that protruded from the trunk were cut. To avoid being hurt by spikes, lumberjacks often wore cloth gaiters..The bark was removed with the ax, or with the debarker. The peeler is a chiselshaped or crescent-shaped blade attached to a long handle. The blade was pushed between the bark and the wood, so as to detach large portions of bark. The trunks without bark were wet with sap and therefore very slippery. In order not to fall, the lumberjacks put crampons under their shoes.

Proverbs-Wisdom Stories Scure-Tree axe

Segone- Big Saw

Martello Forestale-Woods hammer

El prim gadàgn l è il sparagn The first gain is the saving.

Dal cantàr se conòs l` osèl e l`om dal zervel From the singing one knows the bird and a man by his brain Asen bèn vestì no `l sconde le rèce A well dressed donkey cannot hide his ears Chi se lòda s` embròda One who praises himself deceives himself Tal el pare e tal el fiòl So the father so the son

A chi no vòl far fatighe, el terèn prodùs ortiche For one who does not work hard, the field yields weeds Enfin che ghè vita, ghè speranze As long as there is life, there are hopes

The Osteria-Wine and Proverbs 25

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Family Stories: Formaini-Grazzi

y father, Guido Formaini, her stories and experienced born in 1897, left the her gentle nature. I came to Tyrolean Alps at an early know and love every Zia age, traveling to the U. S. and Zio and dozens of first and settling in the town of Brandycamp in cousins and I developed a Western Pennsylvania. The coal industry strong connection to my boom soon drew him to Yatesboro, PA entire extended family. where he spent the majority of his workI spent every day that suming years in the coal mines. He always kept mer with cousins, being typties with his Tyrolean family, sending letical Italian teens: “helping ters and packages and traveling back to the ourselves” to fruit from Trentino town of Cavrasto when finances neighbors’ campi (fields), permitted. During his stay in Cavrasto, he riding motor bikes and fell in love with my mother, Adelaide hanging out in the piazza.

Grazzi, and they married in 1931 in Santa We hiked the mountains in Croce del Bleggio. After living for a few search of stelle alpine (edelyears in Cavrasto, my father returned to weiss) and herded cows to Back: Luigia Grazzi, Egidio Formaini, Carlo Grazzi, Ida Grazzi, the U.S. to work and save money. In 1938, La Malga (Alpine pastures). I Basilio Grazzi, Giovanni Grazzi Front row: Anna Grazzi (standing), Adelaide Grazzi Formaini my mother and oldest brother (then 5 year worked daily in Balbido at (seated holding son Beniamino Formaini ) old Beniamino) boarded a ship bound for the Panificio (bakery) owned the states. Adelaide left behind her entire family of origin by my Zio, delivering bread with my Tosi cousins to nearto join my father and begin their family life together in by towns. The lasting friendships and strong family America. One year later, my brother Eugene was born bonds formed during the summer of 1965 continue to and it would be another nine plus years until my birth in this day.

1948.

Prior to our departure that August, Zio Basilio Grazzi The paesani in our neighborhood had surnames like made me promise to always stay connected with my Caresani, Brena, Caliari, Brochetti, Gosetti, Maffei and Trentini family. It is a promise I have kept. Over the next Bellotti and we all spoke the Tyrolean “dialetto” (dialect). 26 years, I stayed in touch through letters and phone Our basements had homemade sausages hanging from calls. Three months before my brother’s death from ceilings and oaken barrels of homemade wine. Fresh ALS in 1990, I helped Benny return to Cavrasto, the breads, imported cheese, salami, and olive oil were deliv- place where he was born. In 1993, we took our children ered weekly from the “Italian store” 12 miles away. My and my brother Eugene and wife Mary to meet their father, like other Tirolesi, passionately tended to his gar- Trentini family. Our children returned again 4 years later den and hunted deer and small game to accompany the and have made lasting ties to their “cugini”. polenta he made in the parol (copper pot). We felt con- My wife and I continue to travel to the Trentino region nected to our neighbors, not by blood, but by the lan- for a few weeks every 2-3 years to visit family. In that guage, traditions and stories told about Trentini families. time we have experienced the loss of all my uncles, all Life was good. Then at the age of 9, my life changed but one aunt and a few cousins. Each time we return, we with the untimely death of my mother. My father, age 60 visit our relatives, pay tribute at the graves of those who at the time, quit his job to raise me. My brother Eugene have died and meet new family babies born since our last was now working and Benny was serving in the military. trip. We have an ongoing commitment to research our Our small family was suddenly smaller. In the summer genealogy and record the family history to pass on to our of 1964, at age 16, I traveled with my father to Cavrasto children and grandchildren. Fulfilling a promise made for 3 months and a new, previously-unknown world over 50 years ago, I continue to speak the dialect, pracopened up for me. We stayed with my father’s nephew, tice the traditions and tell the stories of our Tyrolean Valentino Tosi, in the house where my parents had lived family so they will never be forgotten. when first married. I met my 80 year old Nonna Written by Guido Formaini of Kittanning, Pennsylvania Annunziata (Bellotti) Grazzi, visited her daily, listened to (cavrasto@comcast.net) 26

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Encantio-Prized Wine of Avvio n the southern border of the Trentino, the Adige River flows placidly between the two narrow strips of land formed from its deposits of soil from the dolomitic peaks above. On the right bank lies Avio, Home of Enantio. On those narrow pieces of land, vines have been cultivated since the first century A.D. Pliny the Elder, traveling along the Via Claudia Augusta had occasion to sample the local wine, which was then known as 'Lambrusco of the serrated vine'. The wine was later renamed Enantio to distinguish it from the Lambrusco of the plains of Padua.

the spring and often the last to be picked – even after the first cold spells have caused the leaves to change color.

The wine reached its peak production in the decades after World War II. Today, the production is limited to some isolated acres in the valley. The vines are now supported on trellises which allow the grapes to mature in full sunlight. These vines have resisted the dreaded vine disease phyllosera and continue to produce

abundantly.

The wine is in the same category as Merlot, but does not require aging. If drunk in the year of production, it has a robust, if not harsh quality, high in acidity and astringency. With aging, it mellows with hints of violets and cherries. Further aging, brings out whiffs of bay leaf or mint, and depending on the barrels, perhaps a slight taste of coffee or licorice. It is a dry, complex wine, deeply red in color. The best wine is bottled under the 'Reserve ' label. Once bottled the wine has a very long shelf life.

In the cellars of the local populace, some of the 'Reserve' bottles are stored for years, only to be opened on special occasions. In fact it was customary to lay aside a few bottles upon the birth of a son, so that it might be uncorked at his wedding feast!

For Avio and its people, the wine reflects their land, with its background of stern mountains and the beauty of the sweetly flowing river. This wine evokes emotions to those who have the pleasure of drinking it.

Avio’s Castle-The vineyards of Encantio

The locals, however call it “Ambosca” or “Zicolaa`'.

The dialectic name reflects the deeply serrated leaf of this vine. In the woods around Avio, some isolated wild vines have been found and studies have confirmed the ancestry of the Enantio vine, one of the first to bud in

Valeria Bongiovanni & Francesco Penner at the Cantina Bongiovanni

Written by Francesco Penner, Unita` Viticoltura, Fondazione Edmund Mach

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Vineyards of Encantio in the Vallagarina

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Family Story: Serafino Agosti

erafino Giovanni Agosti was in Acquafredda, in the Province of born in 1893 in Scanna di Livo, Brescia, not far from Ebe’s extended Val di Non, Trentino, then a part Pedroni family in Guidizzolo and of Austro-Hungarian empire. He Remedello. Serafino and Ebe lived in a was the youngest of seven chilcaseficio (cheese factory) with about 25 dren of Danielle Davide Agosti and Anna families. This is where their first child, Giudita Agosti. Serafino attended school Lino Davide (John) was born in 1920. until the mandatory age of 14 and then Due to the poor economy and the lure of became a cheese maker, traveling as far as better opportunities, they emigrated to Zurich, Switzerland to sell his products. He America to join Serafino's older brother, played accordion in a band with his brothDaniel Candido Agosti, who had left two Serafini Giovanni Agosti-1918 ers and and may have met his future wife, years earlier. Serafino, Ebe and Lino Ebe Aldina Pedroni, when the band took the ferryboat departed from Naples in 1921 on the steamship “Regina which plied the Lago di Garda. d'Italia” and sailed into the New York Harbor to begin

He was conscripted into the Austria-Hungarian army during The Great War. Although Italy was a member of the pre-war defensive Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy was not consulted on the invasion that started the war. Instead of joining them, the Italian governSerafino & Ebe Agosti-1918 ment negotiated a better deal from the Allied powers to obtain the region of Trentino after the war.

Serafino, foremost a Trentino-Tyrolean, was asked to fight against an alliance that included the country of Italy which would have been emotionally conflicting. Serafino became a prisoner of war in Russia. The date of Serafino’s marriage in early 1918 indicates that he was likely one of those POWs who were released from Archangelsk. According to oral history, his camp was liberated by the English but he had no food for the journey home, which took 28 days by boat and foot. Barely recognizable when his emaciated frame returned, he had resorted to chewing on a piece of his boot leather during his trip. He passed a dead cow along the trek; upon reaching home, he found out that his brother, who was also a recently released POW, had tried to eat what must have been the same carcass!

Scanna di Livo, indeed, became a part of Italy after the war. He soon moved to Ebe’s region of Lombardy, where they married in Casalmoro in 1918. They settled

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their American dream. Lino was 21-months old when he stepped off the ship at Ellis Island. The family reunited in Lafferty, Ohio where Serafino found a job working with Daniel in the coal mines. Serafino couldn’t find work making cheese in Wisconsin, possibly due to prejudice against Italian immigrants or since they only made “American” cheese. Ebe often muttered that Americans didn't know how to make cheese!

Later, with Serafino in poor health, the family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Serafino and Ebe had a second child there, Lydia Mary, in 1923. Serafino died of esophageal cancer in 1926, possibly related to coal mining and his earlier poor health in the POW camp. He left his widow with two small children who fortunately survived and thrived. If Serafino were alive today, he’d count 10 grandchildren, 20 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren who’ve spread the Agosti name from Pennsylvania to Washington to Alaska!

Written by three Grand Children of Serafino: Tam Agosti Gisler of Anchorage, Tam and John Agosti of Seattle, WA

Lago di Garda Band-Serafino is middle up front with a hat and his accordion

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Montanara-The Mountain Girl he Montanara, considered one of the most famous mountain songs, is inspired by the Ladin legend of Soreghina, the daughter of the Sun, even though the words of the song just mention this story. Alpineer Toni Ortelli, born in Schio (province of Vicenza), but resident in the valleys of Lanzo, at Pian della Mussa, heard this song perhaps from the voice of a shepherd, and transcribed words and music; he dedicated the song to the memory of his friend Emilio Bich, an Alpine guide who fell from Punta Zumstein of Monte Rosa on August 4, 1927. Then maestro Luigi Pigarelli from Trento, harmonized the song for four voices under the pseudonym of Pierluigi Galli

Lassù per le montagne tra boschi e valli d'or fra l'aspre rupi echeggia un cantico d'amor.

"La Montanara, uhé! si sente cantare, cantiam la Montanara, e chi non la sa?"

La Montanara

Lassù sui monti dai rivi d'argento una capanna cosparsa di fior era la piccola, dolce dimora di Soreghina, la figlia del sol.

lUp there in the mountains Amid forests and valleys of gold Amid rugged rocks there echoes A love song.

La Montanara, uhè!

You can hear sing, Let's sing the Montanara And who doesn't know it?

Up there in the mountains among silver streams A hut covered with flowers was the small, sweet abode of Soreghina, a daughter of the Sun.

The Legend of Soreghina

One day, while Soreghina was in the middle of meadows, found a young man lying on the ground unconscious. This young man was a brave warrior called the Eye of the Night, cast out of the kingdom of Fanes(woodland creatures) because, in love with the princess Dolasilla, had dared to ask for her hand to the King. During the escape he fell from a cliff above the Val di Fassa. Soreghina took care of him and the two young people fell in love, got married and lived a happy life. Soreghina lived with Eye of the Night in a log cabin, located in the sunniest spot in a clearing in front of Mount Vernèl. The happy days, though, passed fast and the autumn came with the first fogs and snow on the peaks. In the afternoon of a chilly day a foreign warrior, friend of the Eye of the Night came to the house of the couple. The two men spoke for a long time on the sidelines. Soreghina, taken by curiosity listen to the their speeches. So she approached the door of their room and heard the words of the Eye of Night: he felt bound to her by devoted and eternal gratitude, but he always carried in his heart the indelible image of the princess Dolasilla. It was already night when the friend left, and Eye of the Night began to be filled with remorse for his hidden feelings, a betrayal of the sweet Soreghina. Then, regretting his lack of loyalty, he went to see his bride who was definitely sleeping, as always, in the middle of the night. He opened the door, and Soreghina, who was listening to their discussion regardless of the passage of time, fell into his arms lifeless. The dark night had surprised Soreghina awake; inexorably the prophecy had been fulfilled. The tears and the pain of the Eye of the Night, that desperately begged forgiveness were useless.

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Mi Son Tiroles...!

am Tyrolean! The secular history of Trento and Bolzano, quite documented, presents us with acts and curiosities truly interesting. Since it is a border region, the culture of the Southern Tyrol, but essentially the Trentino area, has very specific particularities but also characteristics which occurs in other regions of Europe. Surely everyone has the right to look at history with their opinions, but there are documents that denounce the bad faith and the useless provocation of those who say "Our ancestors felt Trentino and not Tyrolean". Not enough are the street and town signs and the fascist monuments full of hatred that since 1920 dot the whole territory of Trento and Bolzano and unfortunately are still defended by some "defenders" who believe it is right the thing to mix the concepts of Italian nationality and mystical nationalism. The Italian Tyrol, understood as part of the Tyrol where Italian is spoken, is a secular reality, documented and very rich in culture to know and value!

Suffice it to say that the communities founded by 19thcentury emigrants in Brazil and Argentina are called "Novo Tirol" (New Tyrol), "Tyrolean Colony", "Tyroleans", "Tyrol" and not "New Trentino". In many places where there are descendants of "Trentino" emigrants, the dialect of Trentino is called 'dialèt tirolés'.

Also in the United States the descendants define themselves Tyrolean. The documents of the emigrants always present the terms "Tyrolean" or "Tyrolean Italians" because, in fact, they were Tyrolean who spoke Italian and the use of the term Italian Tyrol is already found in ancient texts as in the "History of the princely county of Tyrol" of 1780.

Many are the Austrian peculiarities in the Tyrolean culture, but more correct would be to say Central European, that is, of the territory of the ancient Hapsburg monarchy. Not only in food, music and architecture, but also in the history of well-known personalities such as the nones Carlo Antonio de Martini, father of the Austrian legislation, Archbishop Paris Lodron, native of Nogaredo in Vallagarina and founder of the University of Salzburg , or of the Professor Eduard Reut-Nicolussi, born in Trento of a family originally from Luserna in the Cimbrian plateau, which did so much for the rights of the German-speaking South Tyrol. This story that "mixes" Italian and German aspects is found in documents, in surnames, in many dialectal terms, in customs and traditions.

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The Alpine culture is a rich mosaic made also by the constant contact between neighbors, and the culture of the historical Tyrol presents both regional and local peculiarities: Venetian type in the Valsugana, Lombard in the Giudicarie, Romansh in the Venosta Valley, Bavarian in the lower valley of the Inn, German in the Lech valley, Slave in the Osttirol. As well as in neighboring Switzerland, peoples who speak different languages live together in the historical Tyrol. We look at the typical cuisine of the German Tyrol and Trentino and obviously the "coincidences" of the Knödel and Canederli, Krapfen and Cròfen, Sauerkraut and Cràuti, Polenta and Plenten are not random, as are the similarities of the Gróstoi and Blatln type, Fregolòti and Spätzle, Strangolaprèti and Spinatnockerl, not to mention traditional "Trentino" dishes such as Polenta with Gulasch, Stollen and Strudel.

But not only in the flavors of cooking, but also in other cultural and social contexts such as the Christmas Market and Christkindlmarkt, Desmontagada and Almabtrieb, Sagre and Kirchtag, or in the architecture of the Erker that are found both in Trento and Bolzano or Innsbruck.

La Pàiris and Bairisch are two names for the same traditional dance to the south and north of the Brenner Pass, as well as the Stiriana and the Steirischer Landler, the Waltz and the Polka. Obviously the traditional costume of other times has some particularities in every valley, but there are some "aesthetic masters" with many similarities both with the Bavarian one, but also with the Bellunese one. The mountain culture is presented according to the dictates that do not correspond to national borders. The dialectal expression braghe de coram for the Lederhosen can say something about traditional clothing in many valleys of the historical Tyrol.

To affirm that all this is "folklore" does nothing but confirm the authentic culture of Trentino because folklore is the complex of traditions, customs, customs and the most authentic way of manifesting a people. And the Tyrolean people have a fantastic culture, all to be rediscovered. Writen by Prof. Dr. Everton Altmayer-Treze Tílias - Brasil Editor’s note: Professor Altmayer is a prominent voice and force in the Brazilian community attesting to their Tyrolean history and ancestry and continues to research and document this culture. He has often detailed his Tyrolean narrative in the Trentino press.

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Genealogy Corner # 7

o bury someone more recently deceased.

This is simply a matter of practical necessity (there simply isn’t enough space), rather than religious dogma.

Parish Cemeteries vs. Frazioni Cemeteries In larger parishes with many frazioni (hamlets) spread out over a wide area, you often find small satellite churches serving these communities, some of which might have cemeteries of their own. Sometimes these are larger than the parish cemetery, and they might even contain some older graves. So, when you visit Trentino, be sure to ask whether there is more than one cemetery in the parish, as you might discover your ancestors were buried in their frazione.

Women’s Names on Trentino Gravestones As women in Trentino retain their maiden surnames throughout life, most gravestones will reference both maiden and married surnames. There are three common conventions for doing this: • ‘Nata’ (or ‘N.’). A married woman may be referred to by her married name, followed by her maiden surname, prefixed the word ‘nata’ (or its abbreviation ‘n.’), which means ‘born’. Example: Maria Serafini, nata Onorati.

• ‘In’. Conversely, a woman’s birth name might be written first, followed by her married surname prefixed by the word ‘in’. Example: Maria Onorati, in Serafini.

• ‘Vedova’, ‘ved’ or ‘v.’. If a woman’s husband predeceased her, the stone might give her birth name, and then her late husband’s surname prefixed by the word ‘vedova’ (‘widow’), ‘ved.’ or simply ‘v.’ Example: Maria Onorati, ved. Serafini.

If you’d like to learn more about cemeteries and how they can aid your research., visit my blog at www.TrentinoGenealogy.com, where you will find a more detailed article on this topic, with many photographs of Trentino graves and a video of the beautiful monumental cemetery of Trento. And as always, I invite you to join our thriving Trentino Genealogy group on Facebook.

Last time, we discussed how to record death dates in your family tree. So, this month, it seemed logical to follow up that topic with a discussion on using cemeteries to grow your family tree, and how to tap into the rich historical information they may hold.

Working with ‘Virtual’ Cemeteries

Using ‘virtual’ cemeteries, such as Find-A-Grave (www.findagrave.com) for research has become increasingly popular in recent years. But while such websites can be helpful, they have several limitations. Their content is not provided by the cemeteries themselves, but by the users of the website, which can result in many inaccuracies. So always be sure to follow up whatever information you might find on such sites.

Most of the memorials on Find-A-Grave are in US cemeteries. I strongly encourage all you Tirolesi descendants to start entering the graves of any family members who were buried in Trentino.

Inaccuracies on Gravestones of Immigrants

When personally visiting a US cemetery where your ancestors were laid to rest, it is important to bear in mind the limitations you may encounter. Cemeteries in America often lack detail, frequently having only the date of death, without any birth information. They can also be FULL of mistakes. Information on gravestones is supplied by a surviving member of the family. Back in their ‘old country’, the family would have had access to the original documents via their local parish priest. But without that historic connection, the family will often mishear, misunderstand or mix up places, names or events. So, again, it is important to follow up all information obtained from gravestones in immigrant cemeteries.

Why There Are No Ancient Graves in Trentino When visiting Trentino for the first time, many people are disappointed because they cannot find the graves of their great-grandparents and beyond. The truth is, although most of these parish churches are many centuries old, most gravestones are likely to be no older than about 80 years.

This is because in many European countries, coffins are exhumed at some point after burial (the exact time seems to vary from parish to parish) and the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary. Then, the same grave is ‘recycled’ and used LYNN SERAFINN is an author, marketing consultant and genealogist specializing in the families of the Giudicarie, where her father was born in 1919.

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P

Nos Dialet . . . Our Dialect # 19

rofessor Altmayer of Brazil, a fierce advocate for the Tyrolean history and traditions of Brazil, and a scholar in regards to the languages of the Tyrol, has written an article for this Filo`(Mi son Tiroles) in which he suggests and illustrates that the dialect of the Trentino (once the Tyrol) has elements, words and expressions that are derived from our Austrian history. Hence, as I struggle to present effectively the language and sound of the dialect of our people, I wrote to representatives of the Ladini, Cimbri and Mocheni to give me a hand to provide examples of this Germanic presence. Stay tuned !!!

A repeated point of clarity... Italy did not always speak what we can call “Italian”, At the time of the “unification of Italy”(that did not include the Tyrol), in 1861, 97.5% of “Italy” spoke dialects and dialect only. However, we had a unique advantage in that as of 1774, Maria Teresa had all the children of the Tyrol stay in school until they were 12 years old. Hence, unlike most of the newly formed Italy, we were “bi-lingual”i.e. our dialect and Italian. What is now Italian was an action of the new state that did a einie mini mini moe between the written language of the Venetian author Goldoni and the Tuscan author Manzoni. Tuscan was chosen and became the official language of this new state. The saying is...lingua Toscana nella bocca Romana. The Tuscan dialect with the Roman pronunciation. Please make the effort to go the website to hear the sounds and nuances of how our people communicated. Website http://www.museosanmichele.it/alfabeto-delle-cose/ COMPARISONS The importance of comparisons (Beautiful as...;Sleep like…Ugly as…have been from time immemorial the significant way that a linguistic community interprets their realities dur come n cròz falso come Giuda hard as rocky cliff treacherous like Judas nar come na gatta scoada go as broom beaten cat ènrabià come n bis angry like a insect òsar come en bègal famà come n lupo shout as a criw hungry like a wolf ridar come en paiazo fresca come na rósa laugh like a clown fresh as a rose tremàr come na fòia gras come n porcèl tremble as a leaf obese like a pig zidiós come le mosche scur come la bóca del lóf annoying like mosquitos dark as the mouth of a wolf lustro come en spè nar d`accòrdo come can e get along like a shiny like a mirror lònga come la fam gat long lasting like hunger DIALECT SHOW & TELL La Casa Houses throughout the Tyrol had come features or nomenclatures..Let’s look to the illustrations on the opposite page, observe their labels of the items. Starting from the top and going left to right…We will cite the dialectal word in the illustration and translate literally it into English.

era- spaces above the living areas where hay is stored scalera-rack to dry cereals and corn cobs quadro dal fèn-hay bin scalot-small movable ladder capela-hat or the top of the gerla basket or-the edge as da squiciàr-threshing table cof-a bundle of cereal stalks assembled and stored capeta-decorative border bachèta-horizontal cavalet-saw horse brancol-tines of hay pitch fork made from branch forcàt-hay pitch fork made from tree branches stamp-vertical elements of a basket fónt/fónd-bottom fèr dal fèn/fèr par taiàr el fèn pès-a scale suspended with load and counter weight

march/pès/pèso-counter weight for farmer’s scale Cestel dal fen-hay basket batarèla-round stick tied to a handle to beat cereals còrda-rope flèr-hay and cereal stalk beater baston-handle of cereal stalk beater manach-handle getaròl-grain scoop manecia-handle taiapaia-straw cutter casa-chest channeling straw into the blades sach-sack val-screen basket to separate grain from chaff lama-blade machina par taiar la paia machina dala paia-names of the straw cutter

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

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Grappa...Q & A...Continued

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Editor: This Q & A is the second installment of the Grappa lesson.The material is presented from the Q&A of the Grappa Institute of Trento. Review the previous installment...for a Quiz!

Are the methods of distillation all the same?

The principle of distillation is the same. It consists in boiling a liquid, then cooling it and condensing the vapor. However, there are various distillation processes. The discontinuos method is the most classic one: the retort is is filled and heated and while the collected vapor is condensing the tops, tails and the heart are separated(cut). Then the remains are eliminated and the retort is refilled and the process starts all over again.

In the continuous method the apparatus (disalcoholator) is fed continuously with fresh marc(the solid residue of skins, pips and stalk which remain after the grapes have been pressed for wine making) producing a lowstrength grappa with all the impurities (flemme). which, in turn, continuously entrs the rectifying column where the alcohol is concentrated. The tops, tails and heart are cut by drawing them off at various heights of the long column.

Recently a mixed or return system has been introduced which consists in redistilling the “flemma” obtained by the disalcoholator in classic double boilers (Bain Marie).

These are loaded and unloaded in a discontinuous way and the separation of the tops and tails is done manually according to the experience of the master distiller.

Each method, chosen according to the batch to be distilled, has its own prerogatives and if properly carried out, with excellent raw material, they all produce appreciable results.

What does “Bain-Marie” mean?

Once upon a time a fire was lit under the retort to heat the marc. This however required the maximum attention because it was not easy to regulate the intensity of the flame. “Bain Marie” means the retort is immersed in heated water or steam that transmits the heat to the marc and brings it to a boil. By this method the marc is heated in gradual and uniform manner, the vapor has the right time to enrich itself with alcohol and aromas and the grappa is smoother and more fragrant.

Nearly all the distilleries in Trentino have adopted this method of distillation, which takes a long time, but ensures a better quality.

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How are Grappas Classified?

Grappas are clasified according to age and the following processes:

Young or White grappa: bottled at the end of distillation, or after a period of “rest” in steel or glass vats. It has not been transformed in any way and it is colourless with a delicate aroma and a dry, direct, delicate, clean taste.

Reserve or Vintage Grappa:bottled after it has aged for at least 18 months in oak casks. It has a pale straw to reach its amber colour and a smooth delicate taste; Aromatic Grappa: obtained from the marc of aromatic grapes.e.g. Moscato, Traminer, Muller Thurgau, etc.

Aromatized Grappa: obtained with the addition of herbs, roots or fruit that give it particular aromas and fragrances, e.g. gentian, mugo pine, asperula, bilberry, raspberry, etc.

What are Monovarietal Grappas?

Monovarieal ae those obtained from the march of single grape variety.

Are Monovarietal Grappas always the best?

Grappas obtained from mixed march are generally also good quality. Putting march of different grapes in the boiler produces aromas and fragrances that add to the typicalness of Trentino Grappa.

Our Partners are . . .

Alberto Chini, President of Father Eusebio Chini Museum, Segno Italy Alberto Folgheraiter- Author, journalist and specialist in Trentino culture, Trento Christian Brunelli. Teacher & Technical Consultant, Cornwall, NY Dr. David Tomasi, Professor at St. Michael’s College. Colchester, Vermont Tomaso Iori, Museo della Scuola, Rango, Val di Giudicarie Luca Faoro, Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Daniela Finardi, Communications Dept.- Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina. San Michele Ricardo di Carli -Biblioteca della Montagna-SAT, Trento Alexander DeBiasi Trentino Sviluppo SpA Verena Di Paoli.Writer, Researcher, Scholar, Terlago

Our Contributors are . . .

Veronica Coletti, Teacher, Lynn Serafinn, Geneology specialist,UK Guido Formaini, Kittaning, PA Dr. John Fevri-Sarver, PA Carol Aleman, Bernarston, MA Lynn Serafin, London UK Monica Gosser, Trento Monte Bondone APT Professor Everton Altmayer, Brasil Tam Agosti Gisler of Anchorage Pam & John Agosti of Seattle, WA

Photo Credits

Rango’s Entrance Porticoe

Rango’s Church

Trento Marketing; Alexander DeBiasi; Monica Gosser;APT of Trento Bodone;Alberto Folgheraiter; Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina; Francesco Penner;Photo Archivio: Faganello, Provincia di Trento;Luisella Decarli;A. Garzetti;Gianni Zotta;F. Delliguanti;P. Geminiani; M. Simonini;G. Cavuli;Daniele Mosna;Bruno Faganello

Rango’s Fontana

RANGO del Bleggio-Possibly the oldest village in the Bleggio of the Val delle Giudicarie dating back to 1000. It was declared by the Italian government as Uno dei pi belli Borghi d`Italia-One of he most beautiful hamlets of Italy (I would rather say the Tyrol!).It is the cherished homestead of my ancestors probably from the millenium. It is an example of rural architecture of the Tyrol with its porticoes and passage ways. Through Rango passed Charlemagne and the armies of the Condottieri and from Rango there emigrated so many of its village to the coal fields of the USA.The mountains behind it..Val Marza.were the fortified positions of our Austrian Hungarian army. At those heights, dugouts were dug for the soldiers. Along the narrow sentiero militare, the military path, there is an abundance of Stelle Alpine, the Edelweiss, the blossom of snow, the symbol of Alpine people, smiling down at the village while the fortifications protected them during the Great War. 35

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