Sie wünschen? Desidera?

Serving staff are central figures in the hotel and catering trade as well as in tourism. They act as hosts and are responsible for looking after the guests. They also welcome and seat the guests, bring menus, make recommendations, take orders, serve food and drinks, while always maintaining a friendly attitude and never losing sight of the general picture. Waiters and waitresses are the first point of contact for the guests. They represent the business, the host country and, in the long run, contribute enormously to the way people enjoy and behave themselves.

With its special exhibition "Sie wünschen? Desidera?" – What would you like? – the South Tyrolean Museum of Tourism is offering visitors a view into both the historical development of the waiting profession and the various life situations and duties of the serving staff. At the forefront of the exhibition is the difficult relationship that waiters and waitresses have with their guests, with particular attention paid to the communication between those serving and those being served. The exhibition takes this as its point of departure, presenting content not – as is so often the case – by means of long text displays, but rather in the form of film projections.

Visitors sit down at set tables in various establishments and are served by six representative waiters and waitresses. In addition, the two-storey coach house at Trauttmansdorff Castle has been converted into a dining room. On the menu are stories from the inner life of the service profession, garnished with numerous historical objects. The intention is to draw visitors' attention to the role of the waiter in the catering trade. As a representative of the host country, the waiter contributes to defining the culture of taste and behaviour. The exhibition, accommodated in the Coach House of Trauttmansdorff Castle, offers a view of the historic development of the figure of the waiter, his duties and his living conditions.

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