Small but resilient

The Cimbrian language

This Germanic language spread through the highlands - as well as in Luserna, it was also spoken in Lavarone and San Sebastiano, and even in the neighbouring Veneto region, in the Plateau of the 7 Comuni (Asiago, Enego) and the 13 Comuni of Lessinia (Verona).  

Over time, however, the language has been better preserved in Luserna than in other places.
This is thanks to its isolated location, and also due to the fact that Trentino, unlike Veneto, was ruled for centuries by the Bishopric and then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where German was spoken, until the end of the First World War.  

The Cimbrians are a small population who are very attached to their land, and very proud; they describe their language as "how we speak" (bar ren aspe biar). So for them, the language implies belonging, a "we". It is a language of affection, spoken in families, which was most often passed down from mothers to their daughters and sons, mainly orally.

The role of women

Indeed, the women of Luserna were often left on their own during the warm season, when the men, who started as woodcutters and then specialised as stonecutters, went away for months to work abroad in German-speaking countries, or down in the valley.

The women looked after the house, the children, the vegetable gardens and the fields, and collected wood and stockpiled it along with hay and preserves in preparation for the long winter. They were the ones who managed this subsistence economy, in close contact with the rhythms of nature, and with stories. Legends that speak of forest and water dwellers, such as the Anguane and the Sambinélo, or figures originating in pre-Christian Germanic mythology, such as Frau Pertega (Berchta or Perchta in other places), who lives in a cave and takes care of the children yet to be born in barrels full of water.

Stories were passed down on winter evenings spent gathered together in the stables for warmth. Women would also chat while doing household chores, and during another activity they came up with to supplement the family income, embroidering bobbin lace.

Passing down a culture

Today, there are not many Cimbrians in Luserna - around 260 people. Several live down in the valley, where there is more work, but in general they prefer not to leave their home, which they care deeply about. Passing on their language and customs is therefore becoming difficult due to increasing depopulation, which is also driven by a desire for a more modern, less rural lifestyle - something that even here has become established since the end of the Second World War. 

The Kulturinstitut Lùsern, Istituto Cimbro, therefore first and foremost works for the protection of the linguistic minority implemented by the Statute of Autonomy of the Province of Trento. They make use of many tools to preserve and spread the language: Cimbrian courses, a kindergarten in Cimbrian language, the production of the TV news channel Zimbar Earde, publishing books and magazines in the language, both for adults and children, and even bobbin lace courses and explorations of Cimbrian traditions.

Let's get acquainted

The Lùsern Museum, the Haus von Prükk Museum House and the Pinacoteca Rheo Martin Pedrazza Art Gallery, which are all in the village, are the first places to visit to get to know the Cimbrian culture: every year, the museum holds an exhibition on a different theme, based on things that are important to the people of Luserna: the Wolf, mountain herbs, etc... Meanwhile, at Haus von Prükk you can see and learn about the daily life of a typical family up until just a few decades ago.