Research projects

Taking as its starting point the regional development of tourism, the Touriseum investigates the cultural history of tourism as a global phenomenon from the point of view of both visitors and locals.

The architecture firm Brüder Ludwig

Since 2024, the Touriseum – South Tyrol Museum of Tourism – together with the University of Innsbruck, has been managing a research project titled "The Brüder Ludwig Architecture Firm." The focus of the investigation is the construction activities of the brothers Alois (1872–1969) and Gustav Josef Ludwig (1876–1952). Originating from Brünn (today: Brno, Czech Republic), they opened offices in Munich and Bolzano after their training with Otto Wagner and in the USA, and as Brüder Ludwig, they built numerous villas until World War I, including some for the writer Thomas Mann. In Vienna, they realized a large administrative building near Schwarzenbergplatz, and in South Tyrol, they created notable grand hotels such as the Parkhotel Laurin in Bolzano and the Palasthotel Wielandhof in Gossensass. In 2022, original plans by the Brüder Ludwig were rediscovered in Merano, and a year later, they were donated to the Touriseum. Of historical importance to tourism are also the family connections of the architects. Alois Ludwig’s father-in-law was the industrialist Friedrich Wannieck (1838–1919), also from Brünn. He was not only a long-time guest at the Merano spa but also the builder of a villa and a supporter of local fruit and wine cultivation. With him, radical political ideas arrived in South Tyrol, which, together with his biography, form the subject of a dedicated research section.

Further information: https://innovation-forschung.provinz.bz.it/de/projekte/architectural-office-ludwig-brothers-munich

Contakt project management: Priv.-Doz. Dr. phil. Bettina Schlorhaufer, bettina.schlorhaufer@uibk.ac.at

Contakt Touriseum: Sabine Viktoria Kofler, MA, sabine.kofler@touriseum.it

Tourism in South Tyrol from 1961 to 1983

The 1960s and 1970s marked an epochal turning point for South Tyrol in many respects: the elaboration and adoption of the South Tyrol Package laid the foundation for the Second Statute of Autonomy in 1972; at the same time, tourism advanced to become a pacemaker industry in those years, it created new jobs, brought investment into the region and brought about a new consumer culture. It created integration and separation, led to ruptures, offered unimagined opportunities, and shaped mentality and identity. In 1960 South Tyrol counted 3.7 million overnight stays, in 1980 it was already 17 million.

The research project of the Touriseum aims to critically illuminate these years of social awakening and the metamorphosis of South Tyrol's economic and cultural life, and to explore how the contact between the German-Austrian economic miracle and Italy's "miracolo economico" in the "hinge region" of South Tyrol led to a retarded boom and an increase in prosperity for broad sections of the population..

Past research projects

Tourism in South Tyrol from 1961 to 1983

Behind the scenes from 1880 to 1939

Archive of contemporary witnesses since 2013

Responsible contact

MARION LADURNER