FS E655 482Bressanone Trentino-Alto Adige Bressanone

Note the two languages on all signs. Bressanone is the Italian name, Brixen the German name of this town. 'Sottopassagio' (sign on the left) means underpass/tunnel while the German word is 'Unterführung'. The entire province was once Austrian and so is the German language actually the main language in this province. Only the Italian railways maintain the Italian language as their first one and place German as second language.

In the last year, in some town of Alto Adige/Sudtirol (for example Bolzano) the italian became the main language because the number of italian increased in the years, but actually the german remain the main language... Two summer ago, an hotel in Salorno (very near between the border between Alto Adige and Trentino) answer to me at the phone in German.. It was very wired!