October 2022. As we wanted to test Trenitalia‘s Frecciarossa 1000 service from Paris to Milan, we planned a rail trip around it. From Antwerp to Paris with Thalys, the ‘Red Arrow’ to Milan and once in Italy continuing to Trieste and Bologna. The return trip took us to Basel in Switzerland to enjoy SBB‘s panoramic coach and Germany‘s Rhine route to Cologne. From there we got back to Belgium. 

Trieste is located near Austria and Slovenia and over the centuries, it changed hands many times, as this overview on Wikipedia illustrates.

1. Roman Empire, pre 395.
2. Western Roman Empire, 395–476.
3. Byzantine Empire, 476–567
4. Lombardy, 567-788.
5. Francia, 788-843.
6. Middle Francia, 843-855.
7. Patriarchate of Aquileia, 855–952.
8. March of Verona, 952–1081.
9. Patria del Friuli, 1081–1203.
10. Republic of Venice, 1203–1378.
11. Patriarchate of Aquileia, 1378–1382.
12. Holy Roman Empire, 1382-1809.
13. Austrian Empire, 1804–1809.
14. First French Empire, 1809–1814.
15. Austrian Empire, 1814–1867.
16. Austria-Hungary, 1867–1922.
17. Kingdom of Italy, 1922–1943.
18. Third Reich’s Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK), 1943–1945.
19. Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, 1945–1947.
20. Free Territory of Trieste, 1947–1954.
21. Italy, 1954–present. 

That’s quite a list. It reminded us of the complicated history of Gdańsk in Poland, which was the Free City of Danzig between 1920 and 1939. In Gdańsk the Museum of the Second World War enlightened us on that history. 

So we looked for a similar museum in Trieste. The Diego de Henriquez War for Peace Museum could fit that bill. In Italian: Civico Museo di guerra per la pace “Diego de Henriquez”.

Diego de Henriquez

Diego de Henriquez, a name later Italianized to Diego de Enriquez (Trieste, February 20, 1909 – Trieste, May 2, 1974), was a scholar and collector of relics, especially war relics. From 1969 the city collaborated with the collector for the creation of the Civic Museum of the War for Peace, which was opened in 2014, after his death.

De Henriquez came from Spanish nobility and his family had a Habsburg naval tradition. Growing up in Fascist Italy and was a Blackshirt for Benito Mussolini. 

In 1940 he was called to arms. Refusing to take active duty, he was then placed as a private in the Border Guard. Thus, in March 1941 he will end up in the XXV Timavo sector, at the Principe di Piemonte (Prince of Piedmont) barracks in San Pietro del Carso, today Pivka, in Slovenia. 

There, although degraded to a simple soldier, he was put to work in the administration offices where, after the invasion of Yugoslavia in April, he assists the command in the management of the occupied territories. After a few months he manages to get promoted to corporal; at this point, driven by his passion for war technology and historical collecting, he asked and obtained from his friend and superior, colonel Ottone Franchini, the authorization to recover Yugoslav and Greek war prey to create a war museum. He was given the rank of sergeant, a truck and three men employed by him, and was authorized to move throughout the Northeast military region to find ‘warfare’ or ‘polemological‘ material and documentation.

When the Allied Forces came in, he somehow convinced them to let him collect the artefacts. That collecting forms the base of the museum. 

War for Peace Museum

The displays inaugurated in buildings no. 3 and 4 of the former Duca delle Puglie (Duke of Apulia) barracks in Via Cumano 22-24 on July 28, 2014 constitute the first part of the overall Diego de Henriquez War Museum for Peace within the same complex as houses the Natural History Museum. 

“Diego de Henriquez’ aim of offering a strong indication of a comprehensive approach to the issue of war, aimed at overcoming the very concept of conflict in the name of a conscious humanitarian striving towards peace is thus taking form”, the website says. 

“This is not a war museum in the common sense of the term, but a museum of 20th century society in conflict with its own demons and horrors, on the long and hindered journey towards a yearned-for, lasting peace.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Timothy (@bqtim)

Concept

The exhibition currently open has been inspired by the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of World War I commemorated in 2014. 

Passing through the entrance, where two late-19th century firing tests on armoured metal plate anticipate the themes of the atrocity of war and the technological efforts always undertaken by humankind for its conflicts, the ground floor of the large hangar 3 introduces the visitor in the permanent display entitled ‘1914-1918 the funeral of peace‘, dedicated to the history of the WWI.

A large part of the space is given over to large-calibre guns and vehicles from the period, accompanied by explanatory texts, and is divided into different sections marked by progressive numbers.

By following these in order, visitors can discover more about the most important issues of the war, thanks to the use of infographics.

The first section, which picks up on the name of the whole display, is dedicated to the assassination in Sarajevo and the funeral procession accompanying the bodies of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sofia Chotek, along the streets of Trieste from Piazza Grande to the Meridionale (Southern) railway station.

Section 2 is called ‘World at War‘ and section 3 is dedicated to propaganda. Thee are war propaganda posters and Emperor Franz Joseph I‘s blue jacket. 

his is followed by the large section 4, ‘Trench warfare‘ in which are analysed the weapons, equipment and tools used by soldiers in this particular type of war of position, so typical of the First World War. 

Section 5 invites reflection on the important topic of Industrial warfare and in particular on the inevitable increase and intensification of war production during the war years. 

Section 6 illustrates one of the saddest pages of Italian history, namely the defeat at Caporetto of October 24, 1917.

The visit on the ground floor ends with section 7, The last front, describing the final stages of the conflict up to the battle of Vittorio Veneto, and the conquest – for the Italians – of the cities of Trento and Trieste, together with the armistice of Villa Giusti.

Upstairs

Upstairs, section 8 opens a parenthesis on Trieste at war, 1914-1918, divided into several sub-sections that outline the history and fate of the city from the period immediately before the outbreak of war until its end: 1913, last year of peace, 1914, July 26th, 1915, May 23rd, Life in wartime, 1918, November 3rd. 

The next sections are ‘Trieste under Fascism‘, ‘1939-1945‘, ‘Trieste at War‘, ‘From Allied Military Government to Italy‘, ‘De Henriquez and his Museum‘. 

This last section focuses on three important periods in the life of Diego de Henriquez, which are inseparable as regards his activities as collector: his youth, from the time of his birth to employment in Adriatica di Navigazione; a later period from his being drafted into the army in 1941 with the XXV Settore di Copertura Timavo to administration of Trieste by the Allied Military Government, passing through Italy’s surrender on September 8, 1943 and the negotiations for surrender on the part of the Germans in early May 1945.

The third and last period, From the post-war years to the present, which ends with the tragic death of de Henriquez (Trieste, May 2, 1974) and the subsequent fate of the collections to the present day. 

Two panels offer a concise overview of ‘The Century of War‘, highlighting the most significant conflicts from 1894 to 2016. 

A visit

An odd museum, the War for Peace Museum showcases some interesting artefacts. The artillery is fascinating. But the upstairs rooms interested us the most as it explained Trieste during Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of Italy, the Free Territory of Trieste and The Italian Republic. 

You’ve visited in less than two hours.

Paris – Italy – Basel 2022

1. REVIEW | Restaurant Le Train Blue at Paris-Gare-de-Lyon.
2. REVIEW | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 Paris – Milan in Business Executive.
3. REVIEW | Just Hotel Milano.
4. FYRA NOSTALGIA | Trenitalia Frecciargento Milan to Trieste on the ETR 700 ex-Fyra.
5. REVIEW | Grand Hotel Duchi d’Aosta.
6. TRIESTE | Miramare Castle.