Riva del Garda

On the upper end of the Lake Garda you´ll find the beautiful place named Riva. The foothills of the Dolomites and the deep blue lake form a wonderful backdrop. Surrounded by mountains, the air here is fresher, the water clearer and the lake even bluer than anywhere else.

n 1901 10,000 tourists came to visit this place; in 1906 they were already 37,000, mainly from Austria and Germany. At the Hotel du Lac, situated directly at the lakeside promenade, people like Thomas Mann, Max Brod or Franz Kafka had spent their holidays. In 1897 Kurt von Schuschnigg first saw the light of day in Riva. He will later be the Austrian Chancellor who before 1938 had fought against the Austrian annexation without success.

Riva belongs to the Trient region which had been, with a few breaks, for almost 400 years under Austrian or rather Hapsburg influence. In 1511 emperor Maximilian ordered that the „Fürstbistümer“ (bishoprics) Trient and Brixen should form a confederation with Tyrol; and from 1803 to 1918 the Trentino, the principality of Trient, had been one of the 16 crown lands of Austria. During this time the Trentino provided 7 out of 52 members of the Innsbruck Landtag (state parliament).