It was Mussolini’s idea to establish a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First World War on the site where a monument to the Kaiserjäger had already been commenced. A collection of donations throughout the whole of Italy financed the new monument. However, the architect designed a victory monument in the style of Roman triumphal arches as apologia for the conquest-hungry fascists with its insignia and an inscription, which refers to the martial tradition of the Roman Empire. It was seen as a grave insult to German-speaking South Tyroleans. After lengthy negotiations between the province of South Tyrol and the Italian cultural ministry, the high-fenced-in monument opened, in the catacombs of the building, a permanent exhibition in 2014 about events that unfolded under two dictatorships from 1918-1945, in order to improve understanding and communication.
Marcello Piacentini (born December 8, 1881 in Rome, † May 19, 1960 in Rome) was an Italian architect who was promoted to Mussolini’s first “state architect” during the Fascist regime.
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