Overtourism debate: Museum director compares Florence to prostitute – travel

It’s like that sometimes with a lover. The butterflies in your stomach, the longing, the joy of seeing you again, the rush of emotions when the time comes: Yes, wonderful! But the catch is: As soon as you move in together, you start to see things you hadn’t noticed before: she doesn’t tidy up, leaves everything lying around, watches too much TV, and spends her money on strange clothes. Of course: she is still beautiful and spontaneous, funny and inspiring. But everyday life!

And that brings us to a lover that many Germans have. No, it’s not made of flesh and blood, it’s more made of marble, espresso and Barolo, a sense of style, a sense of art and nonchalance. Her name is Italia, and there is hardly a German who hasn’t fallen for her.

If it is still cold and nasty in the north, it can be bright and spring-like, say in Arco or Trieste. You sit outside, drink good, cheap espresso or maybe a white wine? The locals do it that way too, and they seem to pay homage to this damn work god less strongly, or at least in a more relaxed way, than is the case in Bella Germania.

So far, so known. But what if such and such a German suddenly lives and even works here? Well, sometimes love cools down, or at least the German guest workers feel compelled to say one or two critical words. And that can have bad consequences for the relationship.

Cecilie Hollberg, the German director of the Galleria dell’ Accademia in Florence, an art museum where Michelangelo’s David can also be admired, recently found out about this. Ms. Hollberg, who has lived in Italy for a long time, said in her accent-free Italian at a press conference: “Una volta che una città è diventata meretrice sarà difficile farla tornare vergine.” This means something like: Once a city has become a whore, it will be difficult to make it a virgin again. Florence, a whore!

The newspapers and some politicians were just waiting for this. The culture minister saw it as an “insult to all of Italy,” and former Prime Minister Renzi demanded an apology and resignation from the Germans. Hollberg had resorted to the drastic words out of love! Because she explained what she was interested in: She wanted the city not to be overwhelmed by tourism and to be there for its own citizens, especially since there were hardly any normal shops left and everything was designed for tourists. “If you don’t slam on the brakes now, then I don’t see any hope anymore.”

With more than five million tourists and 380,000 inhabitants there may be a grain of truth in it, many Florentines also know that, but a German who says that is of course “inaccetabile”!

What’s more, the German Eike Schmidt, who ran the Uffizi Gallery for years, also spoke out about the city’s deterioration, which sparked no less outrage. He also presumably acted out of love.

And so the old saying (not from Goethe!) still remains valid: The Germans love the Italians, but don’t respect them. And the Italians respect the Germans, but don’t love them.

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