Description: Cësa da Four in Ortisei Val Gardena
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The name of the house ‚Cësa da Fëur’ indicates that an oven once stood here (Ladin ‘fëur’). In this case, it refers to a lime kiln that stood directly on the bank of the river Cuëcenes in ancient times. The old Cësa da Fëur building, this venerable house in typical Retoromansh style, likely dates back to the time the parish church of St. Ulric was constructed (around 1796). Parts of the house were probably even older.
Vincent Demetz senior (1802-1882) was a merchant by profession. He came into possession of Cësa da Fëur through his marriage in 1834 to Marianna Purger. She was the sister of Johann Babtist Purger, the then-mayor of Ortisei and builder of the road to Val Gardena. On the church square, in the center of Ortisei, Vincent Demetz senior ran a general store. Salt and tobacco were the main goods, but he also sold wood carvings. The handicraft of wood carving dates back to the 16th century in Val Gardena.
In the next generation, Vincent Demetz junior (1849-1887) continued the family business and passed it on to his heir, Franz Demetz (1880-1959). The latter was a highly respected businessman in Val Gardena, a dealer in wood carvings. He not only changed the name of the business to ‘Vincenzo Demetz Figlio’, but also began to sell ecclesiastical art such as statues and sculptures, crucifixes, figures of saints and even altars, in addition to the usual wooden toys like the world-famous wooden dolls and chess pi