Historically, going back to when few people could read, merchants, tavern-owners and artisans have marked their businesses with graphic signs indicating what’s going on there.
Last summer, in Bolzano, Italy, we found a larger than usual number of signs, old or old in style, and wondered whether Bolzano’s location near the border between Italian and German might have something to do with their popularity. Even the city has two names, Bolzano and Bozen.
Regular store signs tended to be bilingual also…
This sign belongs to a restaurant called Weisses Rossl, or White Pony. In Italian it’s Cavallino Bianco. But you can find it (and a great meal) without words. Below it is the Gasthof zum Pfau—as you might guess, ‘Pfau’ is peacock in German. While Weisses Rossl has been there for centuries, Pfau is in an Art Nouveau building one of few in the city.
Down the street from Pfau, we find the sign of the Iron Hat, or Eisenhut, and further down, the Moonshine Hotel (Mondschein/Luna), both ancient.
The Roter Adler’s Red Eagle is down the street from a baker with a specialty.
Here’s a place to get a trim…and another to buy the tools to do your own. The title image shows another cutlery shop.
A locksmith and keymaker does business here, with an elaborate sign…
But I can only guess who works here!
