Piazza Walther square

About Piazza Walther square

The square Piazza Walther, the social gathering place in Bolzano with its statue, has had a very lively history. It was built in 1808 upon order of Maximilian Joseph I, then King of Bavaria.

Soon the name of the square was changed for the first time to become Piazza Giovanni after the name of the archbishop John of Austria. It was only in 1901 that the square was dedicated to Walther von der Vogelweide. After World War I, when Alto Adige became part of Italy, the square was named after the King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II and the monument to Walther, erected in 1889, was relegated to a peripheral park, Rosegger Park, during the fascist time. After World War II the central square in the historical centre of Bolzano was given back its original name "Piazza Walther". However, the monument to Walther built with Lasa marble was brought back to its original location in 1985.