Mountains in war

This exhibition opened at the Museo Geologico delle Dolomiti in Predazzo on Friday, June 24.

There is a paradox in the environment in wartime: nature is as ubiquitous as it is invisible. On every topographic map, photo, drawing and sketch there is a silent landscape that hosts human affairs. From 1915 to 1918, the protagonists of the Great War were machines, animals and men, who lived in the mountains of the Alpine front for four long years, unconsciously transforming it into what we know today. But was it really like this?

From Friday, June 24, at the Geological Museum of the Dolomites in Predazzo, the exhibition MOUNTAINS IN WAR deals with events related to the First World War from an unusual perspective. The focus is on nature, the shape of the mountains and the way in which man used them to build a vast common stage, a link to the alps that transcends geography and uses the traces of war to generate, over time, a collective heritage. The opening marked the beginning of summer activities at the museum where, until September, there will be activities, workshops, lectures and excursions to explore the local geology.

Conceived and curated by Marco Avanzini and Isabel Salvador from the MUSE Science Museum - Trento, MOUNTAINS IN WAR is promoted and organised by MUSE, Science Museum of Trento, Fondazione Dolomiti Dolomiten Dolomites Dolomitis UNESCO - Rete del Patrimonio Geologico (Provincia autonoma di Trento), Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto. Other collaborators include Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra di Rovereto, Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali - Ufficio Beni Architettonici, Archivio di Stato di Trento, Università di Trento – DICAM, Corso di Laurea in Ingegneria edile-Architettura, Società Geologica Italiana, ISPRA - Istituto Superiore per la Protezione and the Ricerca Ambientale, Geologische Bundesanstalt di Vienna.

The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections that address the Dolomites as a natural site for the conflict; the adaptation of science and technology to the practical demands of the war; the militarisation of the landscape; the damage to the mountain environment from heavy artillery; and the traces left by the conflict, which today document one of the most dramatic episodes in history.

The Natural Stage

 Alpine regions were occupied and organised by people from different backgrounds. Population growth caused the inhabitants to plough increasingly steep woods or at higher altitudes to gain fields and meadows: the natural landscape was transformed gradually into a landscape forged by human activities. Yet before the war the mountain was almost empty. Few roads and railways crossed a territory which had endless paths. Italian, German, Ladin and many dialects resounded in the Dolomite valleys where the perception of being part of one great empire was scarce.

The Studied Mountain

In 1915 the Great War prompted the creation one of most extreme fields of combat: the mountain peaks. Never before had a war been fought in such a harsh environment, where the geography made direct attacks impossible and the climatic conditions sometimes proved an insurmountable obstacle. Geography, geology, climate and the physical characteristics of these environments represented a major constraint in the development of tools and strategies. The First World War forced the scientific world to redirect their efforts from pure science to the pragmatism of war needs. And, while science pervaded the war, the war became important to the world of science. This "scientific mobilisation" accelerated and fostered important developments from an organisational point of view, with long-term consequences.

The Tamed Mountain

The First World War brought about a deep and widespread "militarisation of the landscape" already begun in previous years. It radically altered the methods that local people had hitherto adopted in using their pastures and woods. In the years immediately preceding the conflict and during the four years of the war, the construction of mule tracks, roads, emplacements, armoured forts, huts, aqueducts and cableways invasively marked slopes previously untouched by man and radically and permanent transformed the views of many Dolomitic areas.

The Wounded Mountain

Total war had a devastating impact on the lands where it was fought. The most obvious damage was caused by the use of explosives and the new, powerful heavy artillery, capable of causing craters, landslides and mudslides, as well as detaching enormous blocks of stone, forever changing the physical form of ridges and hills.

The Mountain That Remembers

The "war landscape" has been largely absorbed by the work of generations and time. Today we can perceive the traces of the war, especially in mountain environments (where the slopes still show the furrows of trenches and explosions). The remains of fortifications, preserved due to public involvement, document one of the most dramatic episodes in the mountain’s history.

Source: www.trentinograndeguerra.it 

Costs:

full price ticket: € 3,50

reduced price ticket: € 2,50

family ticket: € 3,50 / 7,00 (1 or 2 parents with children up to the age of 18)

Free entry with Trentino&FiemmE-Motion Guest Card

The full price ticket allows a reduced price admission to the MUSE