Ladin

During your holidays in Val Gardena and in other valleys of the Dolomites, you will notice time and again that the people living there speak a language that is only remotely similar to Italian. Ladin is the third official language in South Tyrol, along with German and Italian. The approximately 40,000 Ladins take great care to ensure that the Ladin language is also passed on to their children: thus, they learn Ladin at school. Ladin language courses, dictionaries and literature also ensure that the fascinating language is preserved.

Researchers do not always agree on when a language is a dialect and when it is a language in its own right. What is certain is that Ladin developed from the language of the Raetians, who populated the Alpine region before the Romans came and tried to establish Latin in the region. This gave rise to a language of its own, in which various influences were mixed.

The Ladin of Val Gardena, Val Badia, Val di Fassa, Livinallongo del Col di Lana and Ampezzo differ from valley to valley. Each valley has its own so-called local colour: the Ladins of Val Gardena, for example, understand around 60-70% of the Ladin spoken in Val Badia. And Graubünden Romansh, which is predominant in parts of Switzerland (Friuli, Graubünden), has even more linguistic peculiarities. There are also differences between the valleys in Switzerland.

The Ladin language contributes a lot to the self-confidence of the people who live in the regions where it is kept alive. Ladin mythology and other cultural peculiarities ensure that your holiday in the Dolomites allows you to immerse yourself in a world that is both cosmopolitan and sympathetically traditional. Perhaps you would even like to learn a little Ladin yourself and contribute to keeping this language alive.

Did your holiday in Val Gardena make you want to learn Ladin yourself? If you want to master the basics of Ladin during your next stay in the Dolomites and talk to the locals in their language, you can either take a free Ladin online course, attend a Ladin course for beginners on-site or use the two modern textbooks that introduce you to the language. There is also an audio course with stimulating language exercises.

Examples: English - Ladin

• good morning: bon di
• thanks: de gra
• South-Tirol: Sudtirol 
• I love you: te é gën
• goodbye: a se udëi
• hallo: (h)oi
• yes: sci 
• please: prëibel

You can listen to how Ladin sounds here.

The Ladins are not only a linguistic community but – as recent research has shown – even an ethnicity in their own right. While the Ladins in the Dolomites define themselves primarily by their language and their culture, recent studies have found that the genetics of the population in the Ladin villages also differ from those in surrounding villages. This means that the genetic makeup of the Ladins may still contain elements of the genetic makeup of the people who settled in the Alpine region before the Romans conquered it. The Ladins living in South Tyrol, Trentino and the province of Belluno cultivate a fascinating tradition. The epic of the legendary "Kingdom of Fanes", a very rich mythology and a very typical way of building farmhouses will certainly make you want to get to know the Ladins better during your next holiday in the Dolomites.

If you feel like learning more about the Ladin language, the traditions of the Ladin-speaking population and the history of the Dolomites, a visit to one of the museums in the Ladin valleys is worthwhile. The lovingly designed museums are wonderful excursion destinations for the whole family. Embark on a journey to the time before the Romans and find out what influence the course of history had on the inhabitants of the Alpine region.

Museum Val Gardena - Museum Gherdëina

In the centre of Ortisei, the Ladin Museum awaits you with a collection that gives you a historical overview of the history of the nature and culture of the Dolomites. In addition to the geological formation more than 200 million years ago, the focus here is on the Ladin culture. The traditional woodcarving art of Val Gardena, the works of the famous filmmaker Luis Trenker and the life of the farmers of Val Gardena today are also thematised on exhibition panels with the help of artefacts and brought closer to interested visitors in a vivid way.

Museum Ladin Ciastel de Tor near St. Martin in Thurn

At Thurn Castle near St. Martin in Val Badia you will find the Ladin Museum, where you can get extensive information about the language, history and culture of the Ladins. The castle, which was built in 1230 and expanded in the following centuries, specialises in presenting the history of the Ladins in such a way that interested people of all ages can understand the fascination of this culture. More recent history, such as the effects of the First World War on the Ladin population, is also repeatedly dealt with in special exhibitions.

Museum Ladin Ursus ladinicus in St. Kassian

With your ticket for the museum in Thurn Castle you can also visit the museum in St. Kassian – so why not just visit both museums on one day? While nature and the culture of the region are the focus of attention at Thurn Castle, the museum in St. Kassian is mainly about a Ladin of a special kind: the Ursus ladinicus, a cave bear that lived in the region about 40,000 years ago. Bones and teeth provide information about the habitat of this interesting animal. In the museum you can also see fossils and many other finds that reveal the history of the Dolomites.

Ladin Museum in the Val di Fassa

The Ladin Museum in the Val di Fassa uses modern technology and interactive elements to teach visitors young and old about the history of the Val di Fassa. Whether it's the rise of the Val di Fassa as a tourist region, the valley's role in the First World War, fascinating legends or living customs – 17 stations with more than 70 short films offer you a wonderful opportunity to get to know the Val di Fassa and Ladin culture as a whole. If you still haven't had enough, you can go researching in the museum's extensive library, try out a VR game or relax and enjoy a cinema film.