Rovereto has a good claim as any to being the epicentre of Fascism. It was a crucial battlefield in the Italo-Austrian war of 1915-1918, the crucible in which Fascism was forged (Mussolini was injured in that war, just as Hitler was wounded in the trenches). It’s also the birthplace of Fortunato Depero, one of the founders of Futurism, whose manifestos praising speed and machinery fed into Fascist aesthetics.
Indeed the Rovereto war museum preserves the uniform of the “Lombardy Cyclists”, a regiment which numbered many Futurists in its ranks; similarly, the Rovereto art gallery boasts one of the greatest collections of Futurist/Fascist art in the world.
And so it was, when my Rovereto sightseeing was done, I sat outside a bar, drank a cold Forst beer, and asked myself: Where have all the Fascists gone?
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