Museum Gherdëina occupies the Cësa di Ladins in Ortisei, in the Dolomites, and has been open since 1960. Two floors cover the art and natural history of Val Gardena: woodcarving of the last three centuries, old locally made wooden toys, paintings by valley artists, archaeology from the Stone Age onwards, fossils and minerals, and the local flora and fauna. The building is the seat of the Union di Ladins de Gherdëina, the organisation that works to keep the Ladin language and heritage of the valley, and it holds a library of Ladin language and culture as well.
Museum Gherdëina
Luis Trenker — mountain film director, actor and climber, born in Ortisei in 1894 — has his medals, film prizes and papers here, given to the museum by his family in 2004.
- Accessibility
- Wheelchair-accessible entrance, seating and parking.
- Parking
- Two paid car parks nearby: the closer one about 80 m from the museum, the second about 130 m, on gravel. Wheelchair-accessible parking available.
- Transport
- Antoniusplatz bus stop, about 66 m from the entrance.
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday 10:00–18:00. Closed on Sunday.
What makes it special
Four centuries of Val Gardena woodcarving stand in one line here: the Trebinger and Vinazer workshops at one end, at the other the 120 figures donated by the daughters of Albin Pitscheider. The rooms change subject as you move through them. Original sculptures taken out of the church of St James, an altarpiece painted in 1751, then a room of Dolomite geology where a reconstructed ichthyosaur skeleton sits among ammonites, coral colonies and minerals from Mont Sëuc. Upstairs come the old wooden toys of the valley, jointed peg dolls in every size, made between 1750 and 1940, and a section on prehistory: flint tools from Plan de Frea under the Gardena Pass, worked around 7000 to 5000 BC. Dense, for a village museum, and local right through.
Good to know
- Specialist by nature — Ladin culture, valley woodcarving, Dolomite geology. One visitor marked it down as a museum for those already interested in the subjects.
- Indoors end to end — the exhibition runs over two floors of the Cësa di Ladins, which makes it a wet-weather option and a break from the slopes.
- Toilets are in the building, and the room of old wooden toys is the part of the museum that holds children.
- The house is shared — the Cësa di Ladins also holds a library of Ladin language and culture and the seat of the Union di Ladins de Gherdëina.
Getting there
The museum sits in the centre of Ortisei, so the last leg is short whichever way you arrive: buses stop within sight of the building, and the nearest car parks are barely further — a walk of a couple of hundred metres at most through the village. The door belongs to the Cësa di Ladins, which houses the Ladin library and the Union di Ladins de Gherdëina alongside the museum.
Best time to visit
Best: a wet day, or an afternoon taken off the slopes in winter. The whole visit is indoors, and one visitor got round it in an hour.
Avoid: Sunday, when the museum does not open.
Ortisei runs on skiers in winter and walkers in summer, and this is one of the few rooms in the village that reads the same whatever the weather does outside.
Sun & daylight
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Frequently asked questions
What is inside Museum Gherdëina?
Two floors: sculptures from the church of St James, woodcarving from the Trebinger and Vinazer workshops onwards, paintings by valley artists, a natural history room with local fossils and minerals, old wooden toys of Val Gardena, the prehistory of the valley, and the Luis Trenker archive.How long does a visit take?
One visitor got round it in an hour. The collections spread over several rooms on two floors, so allow more if woodcarving, toys or Dolomite fossils are what brought you.Is it worth it with children?
The museum is set up for children, and the room of old wooden toys — jointed peg dolls made in the valley between 1750 and 1940 — is the part that works on them. Toilets are in the building.Can wheelchair users visit?
Yes. The entrance and seating are wheelchair accessible, and there is wheelchair-accessible parking.What is the Cësa di Ladins?
The house the museum stands in. It is the seat of the Union di Ladins de Gherdëina, which keeps the Ladin language and heritage of Val Gardena, and it holds a library specialised in Ladin language and culture.