Katharina Weiss

Stories of women who worked in the hospitality industry in South Tyrol in the last century. From the jukebox, from the first television in the village that attracted many guests, to the first buses from Germany in the fifties and the boom in the eighties - the history of tourism shows the development of South Tyrol from a post-war country to today's highly developed tourist destination. The six women come from different places and give insights into the time of the tourism boom through their memories. Their stories, experienced in a time of upheaval and departure, also tell of a new role for women in South Tyrolean society - with all its sunny and dark sides. The baristas and waitresses, as they were called then and still are in some cases, have always had several roles to play, such as serving and advising, but also psychologist or decorative element. The arc is spanned from the simple waitress, exploited and all too often harassed, to the young entrepreneur who fulfils her dream of setting up and running her own business. Bars, inns, restaurants, alpine or ski huts, no matter how diverse the hospitality industry develops, the friendliness and responsiveness of the female staff in service and kitchen have always been the decisive factors of tourism. "Fräulein, bitte zahlen" recalls beautiful, but also funny and sad moments in the everyday life of those women who have decisively shaped tourism in South Tyrol.