The former

Casa del Fascio A ''casa del Fascio'', ''casa Littoria'', or ''casa del Littorio'' () was a building housing the local branch of the National Fascist Party and later the Republican Fascist Party under the regime of Italian Fascism, in Italy and its colonies. ...

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

(also ''Casa Littoria'') was built between 1939 and 1942 in a rationalist style on a project by the architects Guido Pelizzari, Francesco Rossi and Luis Plattner, as the seat of the Italian Fascist Party and its collateral organisations, in Piazza del Tribunale (german: Gerichtsplatz; formerly Piazza

Arnaldo Mussolini Arnaldo Mussolini (January 11, 1885 – December 21, 1931) was an Italian journalist and politician. He was the brother of Italy's Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and a Fascist himself. He was also the brother of Edvige Mussolini and the broth ...

). Since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it has housed the State Financial Offices and other state bodies operating in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

. The convex-shaped building relates to the opposite Justice Palace, built between 1939 and 1956 to a concave design by Paolo Rossi de Paoli and Michele Busiri Vici. The former Casa del Fascio bears a monumental

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

designed and sculptured by Hans Piffrader, placed above a large balcony, with

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

on horseback in the centre and in the act of the

Roman salute The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...

and telling the story of the "triumph of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

", a work commissioned by the Fascist Party itself. It consists of 57 panels of variable width, 2.75 metres high, placed in two superimposed rows, for a linear development of 36 metres, an area of 198 square metres and a total weight of about 95 tonnes. These dimensions probably make it the most impressive bas-relief made during

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and still exposed to the public. Despite being state-owned and continuous protests by German-speaking South Tyroleans, the relief remained untouched for decades. In 2011, the Italian

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

Sandro Bondi Sandro Bondi (born 14 May 1959) is an Italian politician. He served as minister of culture from 2008 to 2011, in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. Biography Bondi was born in Fivizzano, province of Massa-Carrara, Italy. He first attended school at Lau ...

finally agreed to a contextualisation or removal of several fascist era remains in the province during negotiations with members of parliament of the

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (german: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy. Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP ha ...

about an upcoming

vote of no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. In 2017, like the Bolzano Victory Monument, the Piffrader frieze was also subjected, on the initiative of the South Tyrolean Provincial Administration and on the basis of a joint historical commission proposal,''La piazza del Tribunale di Bolzano e il fregio di Hans Piffrader sull'edificio degli Uffici finanziari. Relazione'', June 9, 2014
/ref> to an intervention of

historicization The principle of historicization is a fundamental part of the aesthetic developed by the German modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. In his poem "Speech to Danish working-class actors on the art of observation", Brecht offers a vivid po ...

and

recontextualization Recontextualisation is a process that extracts text, signs or meaning from its original context (decontextualisation) and reuses it in another context. Since the meaning of texts, signs and content is dependent on its context, recontextualisation ...

, on an artistic project by Arnold Holzknecht and Michele Bernardi, with the affixing of an illuminated inscription bearing a quotation from the philosopher

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...

in three languages (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Ladin Ladin may refer to: * Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language *Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy See also *Laden (disambiguation) * Ladino (disambigua ...

) — "No one has the right to obey" — as opposed to the fascist dogma of ''Believe, obey, combat'' (Credere, obbedire, combattere) still present on the bas-relief. An infopoint has been installed on the square itself, with explanatory texts in four languages, explaining the history of the building, Piffrader's work, the more general urban context and the quotation by Hannah Arendt.

Bibliography

* Frei, Mathias (2005), ''Hans Piffrader 1888–1950. Entwürfe zum Relief am Gebäude der Finanzämter in Bozen = Bozzetti per il rilievo del Palazzo degli Uffici finanziari di Bolzano'', Bozen, Südtiroler Künstlerbund (in German). *Strobl, Wolfgang (2015), "Mussolini im Gewande Neros. Subversives und Zensur in der Kunst einer Grenzregion des faschistischen Italien (Zu Hans Piffraders Fries für die Casa del Fascio in Bozen)." ''Geschichte und Region/Storia e regione'', 24, nr. 2, pp. 170–84 (in German). * * * * Di Michele, Andrea (2020), "Storicizzare i monumenti fascisti. Il caso di Bolzano." ''Geschichte und Region/Storia e regione'', 29, nr. 2, pp. 149–67 (in Italian); also in English transl. (2022), "Fascist Monuments on the Border. The Case of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol", in Andrea Di Michele, Filippo Focardi (eds.), ''Rethinking Fascism. The Italian and German Dictatorships,'' Berlin/Boston, de Gruyter, pp. 247–74. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110768619-013. * Cento Bull, Anna; Clarke, David (2020), "Agonistic interventions into public commemorative art: An innovative form of counter-memorial practice?" ''Constellations. An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory'', Vol. 27, Wiley 2020, pp. 1–15. * Belmonte, Carmen (2021), "Art contemporain et préservation critique des monuments du fascisme en Italie. Un «iconoclash» à Bolzano." In Laura Iamurri, Luca Acquarelli, Francesco Zucconi (eds.), ''Le fascisme italien au prisme des arts contemporains. Réinterprétations, remontages, déconstructions.'' Rennes: PUR Editions, pp. 203–17. *

References

External links

Official Website
*
Susanna Turco, ''Così a Bolzano hanno "smantellato" il bassorilievo gigante di Benito Mussolini''

L'Espresso ''L'Espresso'' () is an Italian weekly news magazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies; the other is ''Panorama''. Since 2022 it has been published by BFC Media. History and profile One of Italy's foremost newsmagazines, ''l ...

, November 6, 2017. *
F. Sa., ''Così capovolgo il monumento del duce''

Il Fatto Quotidiano ''il Fatto Quotidiano'' (English: "The Daily Fact") is an Italian daily newspaper owned by ''Editoriale Il Fatto SpA'' published in Rome, Italy. It was founded on 23 September 2009 and was edited by Antonio Padellaro until 2015, when Marco Trav ...

, June 21, 2018. * Invernizzi-Accetti, Carlo (2017),
A small Italian town can teach the world how to defuse controversial monuments
'.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, December 6, 2017. * * {{Coord missing, Italy Buildings and structures in Bolzano Monuments and memorials in Italy Italian fascist architecture Government buildings completed in 1942 Tourist attractions in South Tyrol