Dr. Josef Noldin (1888 - 1929)

The attorney-at-law Dr. Josef Noldin was a citizen of Salurn and an outstanding symbolic figure of the resistance against the fascist regime and its infamies.

He was politically active, and is regarded as a forerunner in the fight against the forced Italianization of South Tyrol and for the endangered rights of ethnic Germans. In the Unterland district, he was a leader in organizing the so-called “catacomb schools” – the covert German-language instruction given in secret schools. In 1927, he was arrested by the fascist regime and “confined” in (banned to) the island of Lipari in the south of Italy.

In late 1928, he was released ahead of schedule from his ”confinement” and returned – a physically broken man in poor health – to Salurn, where he died in 1929 as a consequence of a malaria-like sickness.

In mid-December of each year, the Josef Noldin Memorial Celebration is held in Salurn.

In honor of Dr. Noldin, the five rooms in the Manor were named after persons closely associated with Noldin: The “Carl and Amalie” room is named after Noldin’s parents. The “Pepo and Mela” room was given the pet-names of Noldin and his wife. And the “Ida,” “Helena,” and “Anneliese” rooms were named after his sisters.

The history of the Noldin Haus

The Noldin Haus – in which Dr. Josef Noldin was born – was renovated and converted into a lodging in 1977 with financial support from the government of the province of Tyrol and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education.

On account of its modern conference rooms, the spacious Aula (auditorium), and its comfortable guest rooms, it soon became a center for various different German-language clubs and associations and a popular meeting place for people from the north, east, and south of historic Tyrol.