From May 24 to 30, 2026, the Department of History Didactics at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg held a field trip on the topic “Italy during World War I, under Fascism, and under German occupation (1915–1945): History, Memory, and Education.”
Led by Nadja Bennewitz (M.A.) and Leonard Stöcklein, 19 students in the history teacher-training program traveled to Bolzano, to the “Totenburg” war cemetery at Passo Pordoi, the Museo della Guerra in Rovereto, the former Nazi transit camp at Fossoli near Carpi, as well as to Cumiana and Turin. The focus was on sites of remembrance where the history of World War I, Fascism, and the German occupation of Italy can be traced.
History Education in Practice
The goal of the field trip was to equip the teacher education students with both subject-specific and pedagogical competencies. The aim was to enable them to independently prepare, conduct, and follow up on field trips with school classes to historical memorial sites in a professionally sound manner.
Culture of Remembrance in Bolzano
In Erlangen’s South Tyrolean sister city of Bolzano, the group examined the fascist exploitation of Italy’s victory in World War I. Using the Victory Monument as an example, along with other structures and urban planning changes, it became clear how the Fascist regime symbolically anchored its rule in public space. In addition, the “Italianization” of South Tyrol, colonial discourses, and the fascist wars of conquest of the 1930s were discussed.
Historian Dr. Hannes Obermair provided students with insights into the distinct German- and Italian-speaking cultures of remembrance that persist to this day in the city of Bolzano.
German War Crimes and Remembrance in Cumiana
In Cumiana, the focus was on the repression of the Italian resistance and the grave war crimes committed by the SS against the civilian population. Political scientist and author Marco Comello led the group to the historical sites and explained the consequences of the massacre, which continue to shape local memory culture to this day.
The group also discussed German perpetrators, the often inadequate legal accountability for the crimes, and ways to address these issues in history classes. Journalist Alberto Custodero reported on his research into an SS member involved in the massacre who lived undisturbed in Erlangen after the war. A special connection exists between the two towns through the sister-city partnership between Erlangen and Cumiana, which has been in place since 2001 and has focused, since its inception, on the shared remembrance of the massacre of April 3, 1944.