Museo della Grande Guerra in Marmolada (Passo Fedaia)

The Great War Museum at Passo Fedaia preserves objects recovered from the high-altitude front on the Marmolada, where fighting took place between 1915 and 1917.

Why it matters

The retreating Marmolada glacier has gradually exposed belongings left by soldiers in the ice. The De Bernardin family collected these objects and opened a private exhibition in 1997; the collection became a museum in 2004. The Trentino Grande Guerra network describes it as a substantial collection documenting the White War.

What to notice

The objects include machine guns, artillery shells, a rock drill used to bore into ice and stone, a field telephone, a trench periscope and personal effects such as sewing kits and identity tags. A reconstruction of a trench position and historical photographs place the objects in the context of the front.

Context and history

After Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, trenches, tunnels and gun positions were built across the Dolomite peaks. On the Marmolada, Austro-Hungarian forces excavated the Ice City, a network of galleries inside the glacier that contained depots, kitchens and sleeping quarters. The moving ice forced continual repairs and eventually erased the complex. The museum's collection, assembled by Andrea, Dino and Sandro De Bernardin, preserves objects returned by the glacier and donated by private individuals.