<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Civic Network of South Tyrol

Welcome to South Tyrol

Culture

The cultural programme in South Tyrol is - thanks to the special interethnic situation - very various and the local population as well as the tourists enjoy the different cultural initiatives, which are offered throughout the year.
Although they have many characteristics in common, the cultural origins and forms of cultural expression of the three linguistic groups in South Tyrol are nevertheless very different, just as indeed culture in a multilingual land should necessarily be seen to be different. Different historical and social traditions mean that, depending on the characteristics of the ethnic group in question, cultural forms of expression will also be different. In order to ensure the independent cultural development of each linguistic group, each has its own administrative and organisational domain. Nevertheless, there are a number of areas, for example, in music and art, where close co-operation between all three linguistic groups results in mutual enrichment.

SchoolTraditionally the German and Ladin ethnic groups have a large number of cultural associations and organisations. Thus, for example, in the 116 political municipalities of the Province, there are 210 bands with 9,700 members, 390 choirs, 206 amateur theatres, and an array of costume, folk-dancing and music societies which, according to the principle governing subsidies, are supported by the Province. The individual cultural organisations and associations benefit from this financial support and can use it without the Provincial Government influencing the autonomy of these organizations and associations. A large number of small cultural groups and associations make up the lively cultural scene of the Italian ethnic group, and these are either subsidised by the Province or cooperate with the provincial administration.

The Italian ethnic group co-operates closely with other Italian provinces and regions, while the German and Ladin ethnic groups maintain active contacts with the German and Ladin cultural worlds. Altogether many and noteworthy activities relating to the music, literature and the performing arts of all three linguistic groups can be observed.
Thus regular exhibitions with works by artists of all three linguistic groups take place; music events such as the Festival of Religious Music, or the Festival of Contemporary Music, or music festivals in general are supported; events such as, for example, the international ballet summer course within the framework of "Summer ballet in Bozen (Bolzano)" are run jointly by the office for German and Ladin culture and the office for Italian culture.

In the field of music the Haydn Orchestra has an international reputation and every year in late summer the "Busoni Piano competition" is held in Bozen (Bolzano). Also the Music weeks of the Gustav Mahler Orchestra, held in Toblach (Dobbiaco) every year in the summer months, attracts numerous listeners even from abroad. In April 2000, the cultural programme of the province has been enriched by the inauguration of the new concert hall "Joseph Haydn" in Bozen.

Cultural associations, whose performances are multilingual in form are subsidised by the Province from both the German/Ladin and the Italian sides. The number of applicants from all three language groups for the music courses of the Provincial Institute for Musical Education has been increasing from year to year. In the school year 1999/2000 there were 12,044 children and young people from the German and Ladin language group, and 1,629 children and young people from the Italian group attending this Institute. An increased interest is also to be noticed in regard to specialised and advanced musical education, as the increasing number of pupils at the Conservatory shows. As a result of the legal requirement, passed in March 2001, the administration of the Conservatory is in the hands of the province.

More and more young people in particular are finding their creative expression in the written word. A series of literary competitions (for example the lyric award of Meran/Merano), which are organized by the different associations and societies help to discover new talents in the South Tyrolese literature world. A number of publications, often of high standard, is the result. Many South Tyrolese artists, writers and musicians from all three linguistic groups are well-known beyond the frontiers of the Province.

According to the Autonomy Statute the Province of South Tyrol has primary legislative powers in relation to culture. The legal basis for the promotion of culture is the Cultural Promotion Law of 1958 which in 1988 was amended and adapted to new requirements. In it a heavy emphasis was put on support for the arts. This Cultural Promotion Law provided for three Advisory Arts Councils, one for the German, one for the Ladin and one for the Italian ethnic group. Activities common to all three language groups are handled and assessed by a Co-ordination Committee.

As important cultural establishments and measures for all three language groups, mention should be made of the Provincial Office for Monuments, the Folk Museum and the Provincial Archives. With the adoption of the 1988 Provincial Law for the regulation of the Museums, the basis was laid for the establishments of Provincial Museums for Mines, Hunting, Modern Art, Nature, Archaeology, and others.
While the Museum of Modern Art has already been inaugurated in 1987, the Museums of Hunting and Nature have been inaugurated only in 1997. The Archaeology Museum was transferred from Castle Tyrol to Bozen (Bolzano), where the "man from Hauslabjoch", the so-called "Ötzi", the world-famous "Iceman" has been installed since January 1998. The Archaeology Museum in Bozen (Bolzano) was inaugurated in March 1998 and is visited by thousands of persons (265.000 visitors in the year 2000).

The Ladin Cultural Institute "Micùra de Rü" set up in 1977 in St. Martin in Thurn (San Martino in Badia), has also a function as a research and documentation centre for the Ladins of the Dolomites. In June 1999 the construction work for the new Provincial Ladin Museum "Ladin Ciastel de Tor" for the Ladin culture and history on the castle Thurn in St. Martin in Gadertal (San Martino in Val Badia) begun.

For South Tyrol the participation at the EXPO 2000 in Hanover together with Tyrol and Trentino was very important (on the political and economical level), because it gave them a chance to be heard by an international public. It was the first time in the history of the world exhibition that a non state organised provincial community participated at the EXPO.
Also the interregional exposition 2000, organized by Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino with its South Tyrolese part in the "Hofburg" in Brixen was an important step towards the international reputation of the South Tyrolese culture.

LibraryBesides the "Dr. Friedrich Tessmann" Provincial Library the Province possesses a broad network of 116 public libraries with over 100 branches and about one million catalogue items.
About 25 per cent of South Tyrolese regularly use the libraries and borrow yearly more than 1.6 million books and items.

The RAS (Rundfunk-Anstalt-Südtirol) ensures the reception of German, Austrian and Swiss television in South Tyrol. In order to obtain a better reception of German-speaking television programmes the RAS put into service the directional station "Hohe Scheibe" in Sarntal (Val Sarentino), through which a perfect reception of the television programmes ORF1, ORF2, ZDF and SRG as well as the radio programmes Ö1, Ö2 and Ö3 was ensured for South Tyrol.
A further improvement of this service was achieved in September 1994 through the expanded project of a directional station ring Bozen (Bolzano)-Innsbruck-Bozen (Bolzano)-Trento developed by the RAS in co-operation with the ORF and RAI, by which the (Austrian) federal region Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trento were linked in both directions so that television and radio broadcasts could be received live, put on tape and transmitted between Innsbruck, Bozen (Bolzano) and Trento. Actually, 25 years after its foundation, the RAS has 900 transmitting installations and receivers on 120 different transmitting locations.