STORIES OF TRENTINO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

We asked various descendants of Trentino emigrants to tell their stories firsthand, emphasizing how their origins have guided and influenced them in life. This would not have been possible without the active and cordial collaboration of the “Trentini nel Mondo” Association, founded in 1957, working for social solidarity and as support for aggregation and assistance for Trentino migrants and their descendants. The figure we present in this issue is Paolo Chesi, who lives in Nuremberg and is originally from Val Rendena.

My name is Paolo Chesi, I was born in 1958 in Nuremberg, Germany where I currently live. I have a knife shop on Bindergasse, a street in the old town. In 2022 I celebrated 120 years of activity and on this anniversary the city Chamber of Commerce awarded the shop a certificate of merit and the local newspaper, «Nürnberger Nachrichten» dedicated an article to me entitled Die Meister der scharfen Klinge (The masters of sharp blades). They were two initiatives that gave me great satisfaction, which I shared with my entire family, starting with my wife Antonella and my son Raffaele, who work with me in the shop. In fact, it is thanks to the family that this important goal was achieved: my immediate family and my family of origin.

My grandfather Paolo left Fisto in 1902 to arrive in Nuremberg where he opened a knife grinding workshop

My roots are in Val Rendena, which has always been famous for its "moleti", as knife sharpeners are called in the valley, and who have a very original history. In the past, the inhabitants of the valley spent the summer months working the land and raising cows in the mountains and then, in autumn, accompanied by a son or grandson, they moved to the big cities, such as Bergamo, Milan and Piacenza where they sharpened knives and scissors throughout the winter. Then in the spring they returned home to Rendena.

At the end of the 19th century there was a period of severe poverty in the valley and many left Val Rendena, heading towards Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, or even went overseas, where they sought their fortune as knife sharpeners.

My grandfather Paolo, together with two of his brothers, left Fisto, a hamlet of Spiazzo, in 1902 to go to Innsbruck and then to Munich, before finally arriving in Nuremberg, where he found the place to open his knife grinding workshop.

My father Vittorino began working in my grandfather's shop when he was eighteen. On January 2, 1945, during the Second World War, Nuremberg suffered a massive bombing, which destroyed it completely. The house and shop were also damaged. With great determination my father rebuilt them together with one of his brothers.

I know what it means to live as a foreigner which is why I help those who come to Germany looking for work and new opportunities

In 1980, the year in which I finished vocational school where I had learned to be a knife grinder, I began to work alongside my father: when he died in 1987, I took over as owner. Together with my wife we have expanded the shop, making it increasingly specialized, and we have modernized the laboratory, in which kitchen and gastronomy knives are sharpened as well as scissors for tailors and hairdressers, razors, lawnmowers and other gardening tools.

In the old town of Nuremberg, there are businesses selling second hand objects, including knives and cutlery. When customers arrive asking to restore kitchen and table knives and cutlery in terrible condition, dating back decades, it gives me particular joy to see their satisfaction at the end of the job, when I return the items they brought restored back to life.

If I look back, I must say that my activity has given me a lot of satisfaction, above all because I have carried on a profession that is very close to my heart. In 1987 there were eight shops similar to mine in Nuremberg: now I am the only one left. And I'm happy because the business definitely has a future: in fact, luckily, I was able to pass on my same passion for this type of work to my son Raffaele, who is twenty-eight years old, just like my father had done with me. Raffaele attended an artisan academy and passed the Meisterprüfung (the craft master's exam) with excellent results.

I met my wife during my holiday periods in Trentino

Looking back, I must recognize that as a child I was lucky that both my parents, father Vittorino and mother Angela Villi, also born in Fisto, in Val Rendena, wanted to raise me bilingual. When I went to kindergarten at the age of three, I only knew Italian. In those years, hanging out with my German peers, I learned their language. I remember that in elementary school, in the school we attended, there were only two foreigners: myself and a Spanish boy. It was a difficult and tough experience, which like other episodes that occurred in the following years, contributed to shaping my character.

I understand what it means to live as a foreigner in a country and this is why I dedicate part of my free time to helping those who come to Germany in search of work and new opportunities. Not only the people from Trentino or Italians, obviously, but all those defined as "asylum seekers" and who generally must face big problems with the German bureaucracy. I help them to find accommodation or a job, make family arrangements, but above all to learn the language.

Even though I was born in Germany, my relationship with Trentino is strong, deep, and if I manage to cultivate it, it is also thanks to my wife, Antonella Collini, also from Val Rendena, from Spiazzo to be precise. We met during my holiday periods in Trentino and married in 1987. In addition to Raffaele, we had two daughters: Silvia, born in 1989 and Martina, in 1991, thanks to whom we became grandparents of Elia and Valentina. We managed to raise our three children bilingual: they speak both German and Italian perfectly and they too are very attached to Val Rendena. Martina lives in Belgium, while Silvia and Raffaele live in Nuremberg.

Thanks to them and our relatives in Trentino, we have a social and family life both in Nuremberg and in Val Rendena, and this is a privilege that makes me a truly lucky person.

Paolo Chesi

Paolo Chesi (right) and his wife Antonella Collini receive a certificate for 120 years of activity

Paolo Chesi with his son Raffaele in their shop

Paolo Chesi’s grandfather in an antique photo