The Mill Museum is located in Aldino, near Bolzano. It is an open-air museum that offers an important insight into the local rural life of the past. Grain cultivation was once very widespread here, thanks to the many water-powered mills.
Aldino lies on the Regglberg plateau and, until 1959, could only be reached via steep mule tracks. The inhabitants lived in isolation and therefore had to be self-sufficient. This led to the development of grain cultivation and the construction of mills that harnessed the power of the streams. After the main road was built, the mills were gradually abandoned.
Two mills have been restored and can be visited: the Thal Mill, which contains machinery for grinding cereals, and the Matzneller Mill, which houses a pearling machine (used to remove the husk from barley grains), a fulling hammer (used for beating and felting wool and shredding fir bark for tanning), and a carding machine used to clean and disentangle wool.
The Mill Museum also includes a blacksmith’s workshop, built in 2001, featuring a forge, various tools, a lathe, a hammer and a hydraulic bellows.
The Mill Museum can only be visited on a guided tour, which must be booked at least four days in advance. The tour lasts about 1.5 hours, plus approximately 40 minutes for the round trip to the starting point.
Opening hours and period
Guided tours of the mill complex start from the centre of Aldino or from the fire station.
The museum is open from May to October.
For organisational reasons, booking is required for all guided tours. Please contact the following person at least four days in advance: Magda Ploner – Tel. (+39) 0471 88 68 32
In July, August and early September, a guided tour takes place every Saturday at 10 a.m., starting from the car park at the Aldino fire station. In these cases, no reservation is required.
How to get there
From Ora or Egna, take the main road or the provincial road towards Val di Fiemme until you reach the junction for Aldino–Pietralba. From there, follow the provincial road for about 6 km to Aldino. The second road on the right, after the industrial area, leads to the village centre. Parking is available in the main square or below the town hall.
Mill Museum
Piazza del Paese, 41 Aldino
Tel. (+39) 0471 88 68 32 (Magda Ploner)
