The Chancellor Merkel visited Messner's museum

Rome - German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the newly opened museum of Italian mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner at the start of her vacation in northern Italy. On Monday, she arrived at the museum built in the Kronplatz resort at an altitude of 2275 meters with her husband Joachim Sauer, DPA reported today.
    The sixth Messner museum, whose building was designed by the famous British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, was opened last Thursday. The seventy-year-old Messner was not at the museum during Merkel's visit, but the German government leader had previously met him on mountain hikes. Messner's daughter Magdalena guided her through the museum.
    "It is unique due to the combination of location, view, and architecture," Messner said about the museum, where he is a passionate collector of mountain-related artifacts. Visitors can admire, for example, the pitons and ice axes of famous climbers and see how climbing equipment has evolved over the last 150 years.
    Merkel often spends her vacations in Italy. She enjoys visiting the island of Ischia during Easter, while in the summer she prefers hiking in the South Tyrolean mountains. Like last year, she will spend this summer vacation in the Sulden am Ortler resort, ANSA reported.
    The first official appointment after her vacation awaits Merkel on August 12, when her cabinet meets again. Even during her vacation, she must stay informed or call other government leaders about current crises. For instance, on Sunday she spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu about Ankara's approach to the so-called Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
    The Chancellor typically heads to South Tyrol (Alto Adige) for about a week, right after attending the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. She then spends a few days in the Uckermark region in northern Germany, where she has a house.