Historical Museum of the Alpine Regiment – Trento, Italy

Museum Storico Delle Truppe Alpine

Museo Storico degli Alpini entrance – Trento, Italy

Foundation Alp Acropolis – Historical Museum of the Alpine Corps it reads on the entrance of the museum. It is dedicated to “Le Penne Nere”, or “The Black feathers”.
The origin of the “Black feathers” dates back to the year 1883. The infantry unit specialised in mountain warfare received a “flame Verdi” patch (a patch with green flames), making the corps stand out of the regular Italian Infantry. Together with their “Cappello Alpino” (alpine hat), they got a more distinctive look. The hat soon received the nickname; “bombetta”, which stands for “small bomb”.
On the Cappello Alpino hat, they wore a black and grey leather band with the black feather of a raven, which had to be carried at all times.

It is a lovely museum, free of charge, but please donate something to keep the museum going. In front of the museum entrance are some guns, a Skoda Houfnice gun (howitzer) and a Cannone DA 47/32 amongst others.

The Cannone da 47/32 M35 in front of the museum – Trento Italy

Outside the museum “Storico Delle Truppe Alpine” entrance – Trento, Italy

Exploring around the museum you’ll see more guns, shells and a lot more interesting objects. Noteworthy are a horse drawn car used by the mountain troops and a mortar standing right beside a field kitchen.
The inside of the museum is surprisingly well filled up with items from both world wars. Many pictures are shown from the Alpine Forces, guns, machine guns, some helmets and uniforms and more reminders of this specialized unit.

Alpini hat and medals of Ugo Peterlongo at Museo Storico degli Alpini – Trento, Italy

A Walther P 38 in the center at Museo Storico degli Alpini – Trento, Italy

Next to a nice medal collection I saw my first “krummlauf” barrel (or is it just bend). It didn’t belong to the famous German STG44 though. It looked more like a K98 version.

A “Krummlauf” curved barrel in museum Storico Delle Truppe Alpine – Trento, Italy

View inside the Storico Delle Truppe Alpine museum – Trento, Italy

It is a nice museum with a diverse collection. In the back of the museum is a reminder for the fallen soldiers. Their names are carved in the walls. The museum itself isn’t too big though. It takes about an hour and a half of your time. Still a nice collection with items from both world wars.

Visit Museo Storico Delle Truppe Alpine

Remember you are in Italy, the museum probably closes for siesta. I don’t know if the gate to the memorial hill closes at this time as well, it doesn’t seem likely.If you like to visit the museum and the memorial, here is the museum address:

The museum has changed a lot over the years, check out the website for opening times and collection.