As of: January 31, 2024, 8:57 a.m
By: Kilian Bäuml
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Press
Split
Florence is very popular with tourists, but if a German museum director has her way, too many come.
She therefore draws a controversial comparison.
Florence – Florence is considered one of Italy's cultural cities and attracts around five million visitors a year.
Too many tourists, according to Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia museum in Florence.
The woman from Germany draws a drastic comparison to prostitution and receives a lot of criticism for it.
“Once a city has become a prostitute, it is difficult for it to become a virgin again.
If the brakes are not put on now, there is no hope left,” says the museum director, criticizing mass tourism in Florence.
A statement that many Italians feel hit by - the response is correspondingly great.
Cecilie Hollberg directs the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, whose most famous work is the statue of David.
© Montage: Maurizio Degl' Innocenti/dpa/Imago
Florence compared to a “prostitute”: huge media coverage and criticism from all sides
The culture minister of the government in Rome, Gennaro Sangiuliano, described the comments as “serious and offensive for all of Italy”.
and announced that it would consider “appropriate” measures.
Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi – former mayor of Florence – even brought up the possibility of resigning.
Emotions ran high.
Italy was also in a similar rage because of a German tourist who wanted to take a photo with the Neptune Fountain in Florence.
And the deputy mayor of Florence, Alessia Bettini, went one better.
If Florence is a prostitute, the question arises as to whether the city's residents are "children of a prostitute" and tourists are "customers of a prostitute."
Hollberg later apologized and explained that she loved the city and had simply chosen the wrong words.
She told broadcaster
Rai
: “I have no desire to offend anyone – and especially not the Florentines.”
Cecilie Hollberg
The historian Cecilie Hollberg has been at the helm of the Galleria dell'Accademia museum in Florence since 2015, whose most famous work is the David statue by Michelangelo.
The 57-year-old's previous professional positions included Dresden, Hanover and Braunschweig.
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Mass tourism in Italy: Florence should not be “crushed by tourism”.
With her statements she wanted to draw attention to the responsible approach to mass tourism in Italy.
Tourism was also the topic of the press conference in which the museum director expressed her controversial comparison.
Among other things, she said there: “Florence is very beautiful.
I would like it to go back to its residents and not be crushed by tourism.”
After all, almost 400,000 people live in Florence and almost ten times as many holidaymakers come every year.
The large number of travelers also affects prices in Italy.
However, Florence is far from the only city in Italy struggling with the influx of visitors.
This is why even larger groups of tourists are banned in Venice.
(kiba/dpa)