Wie lernten Triestiner einmal Deutsch? – Grammatiken der deutschen Sprache für Italiener in der Biblioteca Civica von Trieste (vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zum ersten Viertel des 20. Jahrhunderts)

The article focuses on some grammar books published between the 18th century and the first quarter of the 20th century that are available in the Trieste City Library. Trieste belonged to the Habsburg Empire until 1918 and played an important role as its most important port. As a result, knowledge of German also represented an added value for the population. Our interest is in the way German was learned in Trieste at that time by looking at the most widely used grammars. Until the beginning of the 20th century, grammar books had three main features: 1. the predominant presence of Italian as an indispensable aid to learning German, 2. translation exercises, especially from Italian into German, so that the use of certain frequent phrases could turn into translation routines, and 3. lists of vocabulary for learners to memorise. At the turn of the 20th century, the content of readings and exercises changed. There was a transition from topics of a general nature, including literary ones, to topics that attempted to impart cultural knowledge in the broadest sense, which also reflected the change in the socio-political climate.