"Alpen unter Strom" – “The energy of the Alps "

"Electricity and railways in Trentino between the nineteenth and twentieth century": this is the theme chosen by the Provincial Archive Office of Trento and the State Archive of Trento to give their contribution to “Alpen unter Strom - The energy of the Alps”, the exhibition that will be held from 20 February 20 to 20 March 20 will be open at the S.A.S.S. - Sass Underground Archaeological Space - in Trento, Piazza Cesare Battisti (Tuesday - Sunday from 9 to 13 and from 14.30 to 17.30. Closed on Mondays; free admission).

This travelling exhibition was opened in Munich in October 2013, then was shown in Freiburg (Baden-Württemberg), St. Gallen, Coira, Bregenz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Bolzano; after Trento, it is scheduled to be finally shown in  Milan (13 April - 13 May).
Twenty-seven panels present a few examples of the use of hydroelectric power in the nineteenth and twentieth century in the territories belonging to the Association of Alpine Regions (ARGE ALP). The project is the result of a collaboration between the archival institutions operating within each region, each of which has dealt with a specific subject, chosen according to the documents it owns.

Thus, here are the topics that have been dealt with:

Bavaria: the introduction of electricity in Ruhpolding; Baden-Württemberg: the building of  the hydroelectric plant in Laufenburg on the Rhine; Swiss canton of St. Gallen: the hydroelectric plant in Kubel; canton of Grisons: two cases of popular opposition to the construction of works connected to the exploitation of hydropower; Vorarlberg: cooperation with neighbouring regions in the development programme concerning this sector; Tyrol: the hydroelectric plant in Achen; Salzburg has brought to light the dramatic experience of forced labor under Hitler's Reich during World War II for the construction of the power plant of Kaprun; South Tyrol: spread of electrical energy in this area; Lombardy: electrification of the city of Milan.

Trentino, represented by the Provincial Archive Office of Trento and the State Archive of Trento, has chosen the theme of the electric railways or "tram tracks"  built or just designed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the aim of connecting valleys to towns.

In this respect, the Provincial Archive of Trento preserves the archive group " Electric railways and tram tracks in Trentino (1899-1958)"; it was preserved at the State Archive of Trento until 2001, and then given to the Autonomous Province of Trento for custody and maintenance (D.Lgs. 15 dicembre 1998, n. 506).