Personalities from Ortisei in Val Gardena
Luis Trenker
Most probably it does not need a special introduction. Surely you know the hearty mountaineer and narrator from his numerous films, his television appearances or his many books, which all have only one subject, his beloved mountains.
In his long life it has always been his concern to make these extraordinary Dolomite mountains accessable to as many people as possible and to pass on his own mountain fascination to others.
Luis Trenker was born on 4th of October 1892 in St. Ulrich, and despite his eventful life and great achievements he has always been deeply bonded to his country and its compatriots.
Luis Trenker died on 12th of April 1990 in Bolzano at the age of 97. He will always be rememberd not only by the local population but also by the many guests.
Famous films:
- Mountains on fire - Berge in Flammen (1931)
- The Mountain is calling - Der Berg ruft (1938)
- Summer lightning around Mary - Wetterleuchten um Maria (1957)
Quite an interesting detail that should be mentioned: Luis Trenker was the uncle of the dance pioneer Giorgio Moroder.
Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder, his common name is “Hansjörg Moroder”, was born on 26th of April 1940 in Ortisei in Val Gardena. He is producer, songwriter and composer, has world-wide achievements that have been honoured with 3 oscars, three grammys and four golden globes. Moroder is considered the inventor of the synthesizer disco music.
Well-known film music as producer
- 1978: Midnight Express by Alan Parker with Brad David, Randy Quaid
- 1983: Flashdance by Adrian Lyne with Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri
- 1984: The title song Neverending Story from The Neverending Story Part 1
- 1984: Metropolis by Fritz Lang (with the music of Giorgio Moroder)
- 1986: Top Gun (the song Take My Breath Away with the Berlin Band)
- 1990: The Neverending Story 2
Giorgio Moroder is the singer of the famous song Máh-Ná-Máh-Ná, which had been introduced for the first time in the Italian documentation “Sweden – hell or paradise?” in 1968, and afterwards been forgotten. However, the song gained world-wide fame from 1977 onwards, when it was played in the Muppet Show.
Giorgio Moroder moved to Los Angeles, but in 2005 he was appointed Commendatore by the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The title Commendatore is a special Italian title of merit, which is classified higher than the title Cavaliere.
Carolina Kostner
Carolina Kostner was born on 8. February 1987 in the provincial capital Bolzano (South Tyrol). She is a figure-skater, respectively twice European champion in figure-skating.
In 2003 she started her continuing presence at the European Championships with a fourth place. 2005 she got third place at the figure-skating World Championship in Moscow, 2007 first place at the figure-skating European Championship in Warsaw, and she could defend the first place also in Zagreb in 2008.
Grown up in Ortisei in Val Gardena she is the nice second degree of the former sucessful skier Isolde Kostner. 2006 she was the flag-bearer at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin for Italy, which was then the host country.
Isolde Kostner
Isolde Kostner war born on 20. March 1975 in Bolzano and is a former sucessful skier. She is the most successful sportswoman from the Val Gardena.
As an athlet she was specialised in the alpine disciplines „Downhill“ and „Super G“, where she won three Olympic medals and became twice World Champion. Twice she won the Ski World Cup in Downhill.
During her career she won 15 times the sought-after first place at World Cup Races (12 in Downhill and 3 in Super-G) and 51 times she stood on the pedestal.
