Man has left a number of ancient marks in the Cinque Torri-Averau area since the early traces of seasonal settlements of shepherds and woodcutters and the alterations of the environment that followed.
An unpublished collection of 47th vintage postcards of Cortina and surroundings, from the 20's to the 50's .
In 1917- Parade of the Standschutzen , back to Cortina after Caporetto.R
Chapter 18 - The first decade of Fascism
In 1939, Italian ski Championships take place in Cortina for the seventh time; yet it is the first time they are organized by the FISI itself ( Italian federation of winter sports). The fascist press talks about them at length and with inspired words. The ski-trail "duca d'Aosta" , 4459 m long down the Tofane is considered "the most perfect downhill slope existing in Europe". The two cross-country skiing tracks are much appreciated as well as the three ski jumps which make Cortina "the best resort for snow sports " in Europe. In a show of neologisms the small town is called "sciopoli d'Italia" ( the ski-town of Italy).
Again in 1935, podestà Vacchelli launches the new toponymy of the town, but he encounters some difficulties with the prefecture about the street named after Paul Grohmann, being a foreign name. The obstacle is overcome only after a large amount of information on the Vienna alpinist is provided, yet mainly because its inauguration will take place on the occasion of the II International Congress on mountaineering.
1936 witnesses another "storm": the "casa del fascio" (a seat for the local fascist branch). The first formal requests made by the section of Cortina for the new building indicate 29 rooms to house the seventeen offices of the party. A real phalanstery. The podestà manages to handle the problem since the works should be entirely funded by the Commune which has no reserves. This problem too will be postponed from one year to the next, from one party ruler to the next, until the war will completely cancel it.
Yet, 1936 witnesses a fortunate event too. On the 20th January, "64th day of the economic siege", the Notiziario di Cortina is born, a daily issue published by the tourist bureau. The disturbing message on the title page continues in the dedication "our thoughts go to his majesty the king, to the Duce, and the troops operating in Eastern Africa". The war season has begun and tourism bears all the consequences. The names of foreign visitors gradually disappear from the "guest-lists" that used to be published in the papers.
In 1939, the year of the entrance into war with the Nazis, some unpleasant measures are taken, known as "migration of the foreign-born citizens". They are specially devised by the two dictators themselves to carry out the ethnic cleanup in the formerly Austrian territories of Alto Adige. Strangely enough, Cortina gets involved because, on the basis of wrong information, probably given by the prefecture, the town is declared a "mixed language area". Doubtless, a striking forgery since Italian has always been the language spoken in Cortina. The rebellion of the party leads to a petition of signatures and patriotic declarations that a committee, sent to Rome on this purpose, hands over to the Duce; yet no result is obtained. Therefore, a referendum is held and results show that the citizens opting for Germany are fewer than 4%, out of 3,600 voters. This is, however, a shocking event that further tears the town apart. In winter, Cortina goes in the papers for a more peaceful matter: the great Faloria cable car is officially opened. It had been named after the prince of Piedmont because people hoped Umberto di Savoia would inaugurate it. It is , instead, Edda Mussolini, habitual guest of Cortina, daughter of the Duce and wife of minister of foreign affairs Ciano, who cuts the ribbon. She is surrounded by worshipping authorities in their fascist uniforms. It is one of the most daring lift facilities in Italy, which opens new and wider ski-slopes, which Cortina was desperately in need of.
In 1940, the war climate is felt even in Cortina for the restrictions on the consumption of sweets, oil, butter, milk and lard – which oblige hotel owners to appeal to their imagination – and mainly for the prohibitions like that on meat which cannot be served, save for the entrails, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. No exception is made, not even for the hotels hosting the athletes of the ski world championships of February 1941. Actually, we should not call them international because all the Countries which are at war against Italy are not taking part. There are nine nations present: Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Switzerland, Hungary, and Germany. The cost of these "reduced" championships amounts to 655,246 lire entirely paid by the government, after the Commune has pointed out its inability to meet the expenses due to a meagre budget.
Hotel guests are mainly officers on leave who, for secrecy reasons, can declare only their names and surnames, but not their grades or corps, or places of origin. Despite all the problems, as many as 45 hotels and meublés open to the public in the summer of 1942, for different reasons hotels Falzarego, Marmolada, Pocòl, Fileno and Sole and meublés Mariella and Igea remain closed.
In the winter of 1943, only a dozen hotels are open. To the many restrictions already in force and the sequestration of all copper objects, including hotel pottery, a further one is added on coal, which makes heating rather difficult, if not impossible. In summer, however, the ministry of the interior is concerned about the "standard of life in tourists resorts". A lengthy instruction, issued "so that the discipline be more faithful to the present situation", forbids variety shows, small orchestras, room service, and all events, but for sports ones. Add to this, the prohibition to circulate for "women wearing long or short trousers, both on foot or by bicycle".
On the 26th July, 1943 the farce becomes a tragedy. Without making too much noise, the Wehrmacht occupied nearby Alto Adige. On the 12th September the Germans reach Cortina to spread throughout Italy. The three provinces of Bolzano, Trento and Belluno are designated as "zone of Alpenvorland operations" and annexed to the Reich. As a result , the young are called up in the German army.
In 1944, while the frontline from the south of Italy is advancing, Ampezzo becomes a hospital town. Schools, hotels, and almost all the villas are requisitioned to receive the wounded coming by train to Calalzo where they are transferred onto the small train of the Dolomites.
For the community it is a time of sadness and thoughtfulness for the constant trickle of death announcements that the war brings into the families. The victims will be 51, 31 of them on the Russian front, and 10 civilians. On 2nd May, 1945 American troops march into Cortina. The war was over.
