Ladin language and culture in South Tyrol

In South Tyrol there is also a third language group, Ladin. It is the oldest language in the Dolomites region, having originated during the Roman conquest of the Alps. From the mixture of Celtic or Rhaetian culture with Latin, Ladin emerged as early as the first century AD. Ladin was then the most widely spoken language in the Alps, spoken from the Danube to Lake Garda, from Ticino to Trieste. Only when the Bavarians and Lombards invaded the Alps during the migration period and settled there was Ladin pushed back and eventually only able to survive in a few remote and protected valleys.

For a long time, Ladin was classified as an Italian dialect, which is of course completely wrong, as Italian only came about a few hundred years after Ladin. Today, however, Ladin is fully recognized as the third official language and as a regional administrative language in South Tyrol. It is taught as a compulsory subject in schools, and there are magazines and books in the Ladin language.

Currently, there are about 30,000 native Ladin speakers, making the Ladins one of the smallest language groups in Europe. There is a close linguistic relationship between Ladin, Romansh in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, and Friulian in Friuli. In South Tyrol, Ladin is spoken in the Val Gardena and the Val Badia – altogether by about 4% of the population; other "language islands" – each with its own idiom – are found in the Fassa Valley in the province of Trentino, and in Livinallongo and Ampezzo in the province of Belluno.

Anyone interested in the Ladin language and culture should definitely visit the Ladin Cultural Institute "Micurà de Rü" – named after the Ladin linguist Micurà de Rü, alias Nikolaus Bacher (1789 – 1814) – and the Museum Ladin in San Martino in Badia in the Val Badia. At the Museum Ladin, one can learn about the history of the Ladins, about the settlement of the Dolomites since the last ice age, about geology, handicrafts, and the history of tourism, and of course also about the language itself. For holiday guests, even 'crash language courses' in Ladin are offered!