Piz Giumela Kaiserschützen Commemoration

A ceremony of remembrance and reconciliation

The Piz Giumela Kaiserschützen Commemoration is one of the most poignant and deeply felt events in the Trentino-Alto Adige calendar of remembrance. Held every first Sunday of September in the village of Peio, in Val di Sole, it honors the soldiers who fell in the mountains during the First World War. The initiative is organized by the Pejo Museum "1914-1918 The War at the Doorstep" together with the Municipality of Peio and the Autonomous Province of Trento.

The origins: the 2004 discovery

The commemoration is rooted in a specific event. In 2004, the retreating glaciers of Piz Giumela revealed the bodies of three Austrian soldiers from the Kaiserschützen units, who fell on September 3, 1918, during high-altitude combat. This discovery inspired the idea of an annual ceremony, transforming the memory of those young men into a universal message of peace. The Kaiserschützen were an Austro-Hungarian army corps specialized in mountain warfare, playing a key role in the 'White War' fought on the peaks of the Ortler-Cevedale range.

The event program

The commemoration traditionally spans three days, from Friday to Sunday. Sunday is the focal point: a solemn procession departs from the Peio sports field toward the former Austro-Hungarian military cemetery of Colle San Rocco. There, a Holy Mass is celebrated, followed by official speeches, the blessing of the graves, and the laying of wreaths. The ceremony concludes with a rifle salute by the Schützenkompanien.

• Friday: Cultural evening at the theater featuring stories, readings, and testimonies about the Great War.
• Saturday: Ascent to the summit of Piz Giumela with a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the discovery.
• Sunday: Gathering, procession, Holy Mass, speeches, blessing of the graves, and wreath-laying at the Colle San Rocco cemetery.

The delegations

Each year, the event brings together representatives of armies that were once adversaries, now united in remembrance. Participants include delegations from the Austrian Black Cross (Österreichisches Schwarzes Kreuz), the Kaiserjäger and Kaiserschützen, the Schützen, and numerous Alpini sections, alongside civil authorities from the Municipality of Peio and the Autonomous Province of Trento.

A message of peace

The profound meaning of the event is expressed by the motto that accompanies the commemoration: to unite what was once divided. In an era marked by new conflicts, the ceremony at Colle San Rocco renews the call to set aside nationalism and work together to resolve disputes. For visitors, the Piz Giumela Commemoration is also an opportunity to discover the Val di Pejo, its thermal baths, and the War Museum, a guardian of the memory of the Alpine front.