Cultural South Tyrol - the most fascinating, museums near Hotel Tyrol

The Women's Museum describes the history of woman with clothes and fashion trends, with accessories and everyday objects; tells about the life of past epochs up to the present. In the womens's museum you can experience how the corset, literally, has constricted the woman into a role; in what manner the miniskirt has revolutionized not only the ideals of women; how skirts were blowing up during skiing, and who is wearing the trousers.

In addition, different cultural events are conducted at the museum. A women-specific library is also available.

As the centrepiece of the Messner Mountain Museum, MMM Firmian in Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen addresses the subject of man’s encounter with the mountains. In a setting dominated by the various peaks between the Schlern and the Texel range, the museum is spacious enough to be organised as an itinerary between the various works of art, installations and relics that it houses. The paths, stairs and towers lead visitors form the depths of the mountain, where their origins and exploitation are brought to life, and the religious significance of the peaks as an aid to orientation and a bridge to the beyond, to the history of mountaineering and the alpine tourist industry that we know today. Annual exhibitions are also held.

The museum is at the Sandhof Inn in the Passeier valley, the birthplace of Andreas Hofer. It tells, in a lively and entertaining way, how a bearded innkeeper and cattle-dealer became a Tyrolean folk hero. The museum´s open-air exhibition represents a typical farmstead of the Passeier valley. The historical buildings house a collection of traditional objects, films and music collection offering a glimpse into the lives of the people.

The Iceman on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (South Tyrol, Italy) is one of the world’s best-known and most important mummies. Never before had an archaeological find caused such a media sensation. Journalists speculated wildly about the Iceman’s life and death; he became a major figure of caricaturists and a subject of TV shows.

One journalist even alleged that the whole thing was a hoax and that someone had planted an Egyptian or Peruvian mummy at the scene of the find. In order to deal with inquiries from the press and the scientific community, the Research Institute for Early Alpine History was set up at Innsbruck University.

The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

In 1993, exactly 100 years after Peter Mitterhofer passed away, the town of Partschins gave his old son a proper memorial, by opening a small museum in Toell. In 1997 the museum moved to the new built "Teisenhaus", situated in the center of Partschins near the church. On the 31st of May 1998, the new museum was inaugurated officially.

The very modern architecture underlines the special importance of the museum for Partschins. The "shop window" - as it is named locally - over the main entrance, invites the visitor into the museum, and at the same time, connects the interior of the museum with the church square outside. The interior of the museum has four different levels, which creates a lot of interesting perspectives. With the introduction of new forms of demonstration, like dioramas and the use of new media of communication, the director of the museum, Mr. Kurt Ryba, succeeded in making the presentation of the historical development of the typewriter a delightfull experience.

Trauttmansdorff Castle near Meran (the former holiday residence of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria) is today home to an enjoyable experience: the South Tyrol Museum of Tourism, or Touriseum for short. It is the first museum in the Alpine region dedicated exclusively to the history of tourism. Interactive displays take visitors on an exciting journey through time that tells the story of 200 years of tourism from the point of view of both tourists and locals alike. Mechanical theatre shows, detailed models, films, audio: the Touriseum is anything but a dusty old museum full of tedious texts.