{"id":1,"date":"2014-04-02T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clfoto.net\/gelatodiet\/?p=1"},"modified":"2014-03-08T16:19:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-08T15:19:59","slug":"poet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/clfoto.net\/gelatodiet\/poet\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the poet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piazza Walther is dominated … by the big statue of Walther von der Vogelweide. He was a wandering minstrel and celebrated Middle High German lyric poet from the Middle Ages who may or may not have been born in Bolzano.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

… It hasn’t always been that way, though. As I mentioned, until 1918, Bolzano was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but was annexed by Italy after the war. In the 1920s, after Mussolini took over, he implemented repressive policies against the German-speaking population, aimed at increasing the Italian presence and culture in the region. Not surprisingly, Walther, a Tyrolean hero, didn’t really fit in with that plan, and Walther the statue was banished to a small park near the Talvera River. His plaza, where we’re standing right now, ultimately became a parking lot.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, by the 1960s, the parking lot was finally moved underground, and Walther triumphantly regained his rightful place in a peaceful and automobile-free square.\u00a0Today, Walther still gazes out over the visitors to his square, majestically rising above the fray, be the fray tourists, road races, or the occasional festival.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 from the chapter “Welcome to Bolzano” \u00a0in \u00a0Life on a Gelato Diet<\/em><\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t