Luserna (

Cimbrian Cimbrian (, ; ; ) is any of several local Upper German varieties spoken in parts of the Italian regions of Trentino and Veneto. The speakers of the language are known as in German. Cimbrian is a Germanic language related to Bavarian most ...

: ''Lusérn'', ) is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

in the northern

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

region

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol ( ; ; ), often known in English as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its shorter Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige, is an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy, located in the ...

, located about southeast of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

. As 2021, it had a population of 271 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics (; Istat) is the primary source of official statistics in Italy. The institute conducts a variety of activities, including the census of population, economic censuses, and numerous social, economic, a ...

. Luserna is part of the Magnificent Community of the Cimbrian Highlands ( Altipiani Cimbri) together with the municipalities of Lavarone and Folgaria. In the tourist sphere it is part of the Alpe Cimbra. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Lusérn borders the following municipalities:

Caldonazzo Caldonazzo (, ) is a ''Communes of Trentino, commune'' in Valsugana, in Trentino, northern Italy. The nearby Lago di Caldonazzo, Lake of Caldonazzo is the source of the Brenta (river), Brenta River. History Caldonazzo was first mentioned in ...

Lavarone Lavarone (in the local dialect Lavaronese "Lavarón", in Cimbrian "Lavròu", in German, outdated "Lafraun") is an Italian municipality with 1,194 inhabitants in the autonomous province of Trento. It is part of the "Magnifica Comunità degli Altip ...

Levico Terme Levico Terme (''Levego'' in local dialect; ''Löweneck'' in German; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a town in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. As of 30 June 2012, it had a population of 7,668 and an are ...

Pedemonte Pedemonte is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends ...

Rotzo Rotzo () is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern-eastern Italy. It is east of SP350 road, and is part of the Sette Comuni The (, ) are seven that formed a Cimbrian enclave in the Veneto region of north-east Italy. The ...

and

Valdastico Valdastico (, ) is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, north-eastern Italy. It is east of SP350 road, on western ridge of the Sette Comuni The (, ) are seven that formed a Cimbrian enclave in the Veneto region of north-east Ita ...

Cimbrian culture and language

Luserna-panorama from Forte Belvedere-Gschwendt

Lusérn is the centre of Cimbrian language and culture. In the 2021 census, around 68,8% of the people of Lusérn stated

, an

Upper German Upper German ( ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area (). History In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High German time, East F ...

dialect of the

Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...

, to be their first language. The Cimbrian spoken in Lusérn is a slightly different dialect from Cimbrian spoken elsewhere.

Point of interest

The village of Luserna has seven restaurants and one little hotel, four museums (one of them is an old Austrian's Fortress) and four thematic trails that tell Cimbrian legends and stories. They are passable by families and mountain bikes, and in winter they become paths suitable for snowshoeing.

Story

Luserna was founded around the year 1400 from

Bavarians Bavarians are a Germans, German ethnographic group native to Bavaria, a state in Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as Bavarian language, Bavarian, native to Altbayern ("Old Bavaria"), roughly the territory of the historic Electo ...

populations coming from nearby Lavarone who decided to stay and live here. In 1780 Luserna became independent from Lavarone. Until 1918 it was included in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, precisely in the County of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. During the last years of the 1800s it became famous for its tradition of bobbin lace and thanks to the Austrian administration, it had both German and Italian schools. After the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy and with the advent of fascism, the people of Luserna were forbidden to speak Cimbro. This is because one of the dogmas of fascism was to Italianize every village and culture. This caused the phenomenon of the Options, an agreement between the Third Reich and the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

to distribute the Mochen, Cimbrian and German populations who had lived for millennia in the ancient county of Tyrol, which later became the region of Venice Tridentine. After the Second World War, thanks to the

Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement The Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement was a bilateral treaty that was signed by the foreign minister of Austria, Karl Gruber, and the prime minister of Italy, Alcide De Gasperi, on 5 September 1946. Recognized by international law, it granted the Ger ...

, the Cimbrian linguistic minority of Luserna became part of the autonomy basis of the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Trentino - South Tyrol Region. In 1987 the Mocheno Cimbro Institute was founded and in 2001 the Cimbrian language was officially recognized within the regulations for the protection of Trentino linguistic minorities. In 2008, provincial legislation was implemented to protect the Ladin, Mochena and Cimbrian linguistic minorities settled in the Autonomous Province of Trento. Thanks to it, the Cimbrian community of Luserna now enjoys one of the most complete regulations in Europe.

Demographic evolution

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Notes and references

External links

* Cities and towns in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Borghi più belli d'Italia {{TrentinoAltoAdige-geo-stub