In the following, we will give you an impression in words and pictures of how the Via Claudia Augusta has become one of the main cultural arteries of Europe over the millennia. The basis for this was the connecting road. The road enabled and promoted the ongoing exchange with people from all over the world. This naturally shaped the people living along the route and their culture(s). On another page we show you how you can discover and experience the cultural axis that connects Europe. Finally, on two pages, we present you with the whole wealth of culture(s) of the regions and places along the route in pictures and short texts.
How the Via Claudia Augusta in 1000's of years became a
Europe-connecting cultural axis
The historical road connection
as a basis for Europe's cultural axis
Already the paths of the Etruscans, Venetians, Rhaetians and Celts connected the places and regions with each other. When the Romans developed these prehistoric routes into the first road across the Alps to connect Europe, they not only connected the Danube with the river Po and the Adriatic Sea. They thus connected the north-west and north of the Roman Empire with the south and south-east. The Via Claudia Augusta connected the towns and regions along the road with the entire world known at that time. The people who lived along the route were in constant contact and exchange with travellers from all over the world - culturally and economically. People also found their way to the regions along the Via Claudia Augusta and settled there. This naturally shaped and continues to shape the regions, places, people and their cultures for thousands of years, from pre-Roman times, through Roman times, the Middle Ages, modern times, until today.
For thousands of years
international culture travels
on the Via Claudia Augusta
over the Alps
Not only numerous emperors travelled on the Via Claudia Augusta to and from their coronation. Countless musicians, painters, architects, actors and directors, composers, writers, actors, designers, ... sought inspiration on Europe's cultural axis or at the respective other end of Europe. Of course, they also left their traces in the towns and with the people along the route. Conversely, the travellers always took something with them from the places and regions they visited and travelled through. Tastes, styles, currents, fashions, ... spread along the important road. The cultural dynamism and diversity fueled by this road has always attracted and continues to attract more and more cultural workers, culture enthusiasts and patrons to the Via Claudia Augusta and through it to the south and north of Europe. In this way a street has become a main artery of culture.
The selection of pictures shows who, among other things, travelled across the Alps on the Via Claudia Augusta, what currents and peculiarities moved on it from north to south or south to north, physically or symbolically:
The selection of pictures shows who, among other things, travelled across the Alps on the Via Claudia Augusta, what currents and peculiarities moved on it from north to south or south to north, physically or symbolically:
People & Cultures:
The inhabitants of the regions along the route
as motors of the cultural main artery of Europe
The people along the route not only had open doors and interest in the characters passing through, their ideas and their work. They were and still are inspired to create culture and social commitment. Despite the low population density in the mostly alpine areas along the Via Claudia Augusta, the places along the route count many culturally and socially active people who are active in their home countries or internationally. Among them are always big names. 3 countries, 2 languages, the Alps, 10 regions, 3 climate zones bring a colourful variety of landscapes and also many cultural workers with their own philosophies and approaches. But the Via Claudia Augusta has also experienced all the major international cultural trends. Thus, Europe's cultural axis offers a unique mixture of testimonies of cultural epochs and a great variety of cultural characteristics.
A selection of culturally and socially interesting people who have shaped the Via Claudia Augusta or the regions and places along the route (if you enlarge the picture, the name appears):
A selection of culturally and socially interesting people who have shaped the Via Claudia Augusta or the regions and places along the route (if you enlarge the picture, the name appears):
A colourful firework
of culture acrossing the Alps
in all Europe
The selection of pictures gives a first impression of the colourful variety of people and culture(s) to be found along the Via Claudia Augusta. More on the following pages.
The selection of pictures gives a first impression of the colourful variety of people and culture(s) to be found along the Via Claudia Augusta. More on the following pages.
