Who is Katharina Johanna Zeller, the mayor of Merano who refused to wear the Italian tricolour sash?

Little or no news until yesterday, now viral on the media and social media. Katharina Johanna Zeller , 39, a lawyer and former deputy mayor, rose to prominence for having almost refused to wear the tricolor sash during the handover ceremony: she is the new mayor of Merano , in the province of Bolzano . It can be said that her gesture has met with rather unanimous dissent, from right to left. There are even those who have accused her of contempt , a crime that is punishable by the penal code.

Zeller belongs to the German linguistic group, her electoral campaign had insisted a lot on the defense of the interests of the German and Ladin linguistic groups in the area. In the elections she was elected with 57.4% , defeating the outgoing mayor Dario Dal Medico , supported by civic lists of the center-right . Zeller instead is a representative of the Sudtiroler Volkspartei (SVP) , an autonomist group of South Tyrol, she received a broad consensus also thanks to the support of the candidate of the center-left Ulrike Ceresara and of the Democratic Party. The latter did not fail to condemn the mayor.

The new mayor of Merano, Katharina Zeller, took off her tricolor sash before even taking office. A shameful and dishonorable gesture. The sash represents the Republic, the citizens, the responsibility that one has chosen to assume. Whoever rejects it is not worthy of pic.twitter.com/OjWAUkdVKB

— 🅾️sservaMy👁️☮️🌈👠 (@OsservaMy) May 19, 2025

"This episode should not be loaded with ideological ( ethnic ) content, because it was, instead, the reaction of a young woman to the perception of being treated in an arrogant and overbearing way by a male who was a few years older - declared the president of the Province of Bolzano Arno Kompatscher - who among other things previously during the election campaign had not spared her a few low blows. She was annoyed by the fact of being ' dressed ' as well as 'run over' in this way and with this attitude and reacted in an uncomposed way. But wanting to paint Zeller as "anti-Italian" is incorrect and far from reality. The newly elected mayor did well to clarify immediately that she did not want to offend anyone with her spontaneous gesture in a situation that was difficult for her".

The outgoing mayor Dario Dal Medico, centre-right, offered her the sash, along with an enormous key , the symbol of the city of Merano, as can be seen in the video that has had considerable media coverage. “Are you sure I really have to?” Zeller asked. The images show Dal Medico putting the sash on the woman anyway, who immediately took it off and took the keys. Zeller defended herself: she said she was ready to wear the tricolour sash on all occasions when she would have to do so as mayor, and argued her refusal as a gesture foreign to local practices and culture for the inauguration ceremony. She also made some observations about Dal Medico’s behaviour.

FROM

Web Editorial Team