Autonomous Province of Bozen - South Tyrol – Abteilung Generic

On the one hand, the term culture includes the various arts like literature, theatre, dance, music, fine arts and film. On the other hand, also the material and immaterial traditions (architecture, crafts, language, customs) belong to culture as well as the organisation of the lebensraum, the gastronomic culture and everyday life in general.
The first common point which the Rhaetoromans of Graubünden and the Dolomite Ladins have, are the Rhaetians. The current stand of research about this legendary tribe and about the conquest of the Alps by the Romans is documented in many museums and publications. The various steps of Christianisation and the political development in the Medieval Times is, among other, graspable due to the numerous churches, monasteries and castles. Many aspects of Alpine culture in everyday life have been transmitted up to our times: traditions in the crafts, religious and secular festivities, professional and social characteristics.

The central, common cultural heritage of the two linguistic groups is undoubtedly their language itself. Its oral use had first of all practical and habitual reasons; besides, the language has always been needed to transmit songs and narrations. The oldest Rhaetoromance script fragments in Rumantschia date back to the 10th century. The literary tradition gained foothold in the Rhaetoromance-speaking valleys of Graubünden in the 16th and 17th century, at the times of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. In the territories of the Dolomite Ladins, the first written Ladin documents can be found in the first half of the 17th century; the first literary works, however, date back to the middle of the 19th century. Today the two regions display a remarkable variety of authentic literature in the different idioms and in Graubünden increasingly also in the standard language.

Theatre, dance, folk music and choral singing are cultural branches which have developed or at least consolidated in Rumantschia and Ladinia in the 19th or early 20th century during the national movements. Nowadays they represent the basis for various cultural occasions and for the maintenance of the Rhaetoroman roots.
There are several cultural exchanges between the Dolomite Ladins and the Rumantschia, for example in the literary scene , but also in form of films and reports in the mass media. Especially new and innovative cultural projects in the field of rock and pop music or in the young film scene could increasingly be used to foster a cultural exchange across the borders.