As a writer, director and actor Luis Trenker, the all-rounder from the South Tyrolean Val Gardena valley, has made history
Alois Franz Trenker was born on the 4th of October 1892 in Ortisei in the Val Gardena valley as the son of a mountain farmer, and studied architecture in Vienna, but was only able to complete his studies after WWII. Those warlike times shaped his life and also influenced his later works for films, directorial work and books. His successes include movies such as "Berg des Schicksals" (Mountain of Destiny), a silent film, and books like "Berge in Flammen. Ein Roman aus den Schicksalstagen Südtirols" about South Tyrol in the Thirties, awarded as "Best book of the year" from the city of Vienna. Luis Trenker lived in different cities including Graz, Berlin and Rome before returning - in 1943 - to Bolzano where he died in 1990 at the age of 97.
The Museum Gherdëina - Val Gardena Museum has its own department with a Luis Trenker memorial collection: With great honour and pride, the museum exhibits personal objects, film prizes, various awards, photos and much more. In 1982, the Filmclub Bolzano which presents the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen every year in April, showed a large series of films to celebrate Luis Trenker's 90th birthday - his first homage in South Tyrol. In 1995, however, the fashion label "Luis Trenker" was founded in Bolzano, a mixture of traditional and young dynamic fashion...
