What were holidays like 150 years ago? Discover everything about tourism and holidays in the Casa Wassermann (Haus Wassermann) in the Alta Pusteria. This 15th century building served as a holiday accommodation for Isabella di Borbone-Parma and her staff when it was still a residence of the Von Kurz Lords. From 1892 to 1977 it housed the café and pastry shop of the Wassermann family who set up an interesting ethnographical collection over time. In 1989 the building was renovated by the municipality of Villabassa and the Province of Bolzano and today it hosts the Museo del Turismo (tourism museum) of the Alta Pusteria.

On the first floor you can visit an exhibition of old restaurants and thermal baths. Another important topic of the museum is the construction of the Val Pusteria railway line in the 19th century which was a true game changer in the history of local tourism. Thanks to this project it took passengers only one day to travel from Fortezza to Vienna or vice versa. Thanks to this new, fast connection the area of the Alta Pusteria became easily accessible also for the Austro-Hungarian royals and other important guests from the North of Italy. Painters and musicians used the amazing landscape of the Alta Pusteria as a source of inspiration for their creative works, whereas mountaineerers were enchanted by the magnificent Sesto and Braies Dolomites already in the 19th century.

The second floor is devoted to the societal tourism of the end of the century and to the collections of the Wassermann family. The exhibition includes about 18,000 copies of death pictures. The Alta Pusteria tourism museum is listed among the 12 culturally interesting places of South Tyrol established by the Culturonda associatioin. Here is how to reach the museum: the building is situated along the state road in Villabassa (strada statale), about 25 km from Brunico. Near the church of Villabassa you can find the stop of bus no. 402 from Brunico to San Candido and back.