"""It's behind you, my grandma would say...""
Annie Banzet's favourite spot
It was 1946 or 47. I was 13. Back then I lived in Barembach and we went - it was a great adventure at the time! - on the train to Fouday. Then we climbed to the top of Solbach. And there, for the first time in my life, I saw the village of Waldersbach. Nothing else. But I had a very strong feeling that I can still sense today. It's as if this place brought back something familiar inside me. Something happy.
A while later I told my grandma about it who lived in Lafrimbolle (57) on the other side of the Donon. And in local patois she said: ""Oh yes! It's back there."" Nothing else. We didn't used to talk much. It wasn't until later that I found out my ancestors were from Belmont and Neuviller, my beloved Ban de la Roche.
So 40 years later, in 1986, I went back to my roots to live in Waldersbach with my husband during retirement then I became a volunteer at the Oberlin Museum. The shock I had as a child was a premonition for me. The Pastor's blood ran in my veins. And I became passionate about this exciting man. It's more than a museum; this slice of humanist culture and education (world-famous yet not well-known among the valley's locals) encapsulates a real philosophy of life, community and the closeness that is so cruelly lacking today. I've long loved introducing people to it. And I hope that locals and visitors alike learn and appreciate it more. Because I think they'll see some of themselves in him."
Annie Banzet's favourite spot
It was 1946 or 47. I was 13. Back then I lived in Barembach and we went - it was a great adventure at the time! - on the train to Fouday. Then we climbed to the top of Solbach. And there, for the first time in my life, I saw the village of Waldersbach. Nothing else. But I had a very strong feeling that I can still sense today. It's as if this place brought back something familiar inside me. Something happy.
A while later I told my grandma about it who lived in Lafrimbolle (57) on the other side of the Donon. And in local patois she said: ""Oh yes! It's back there."" Nothing else. We didn't used to talk much. It wasn't until later that I found out my ancestors were from Belmont and Neuviller, my beloved Ban de la Roche.
So 40 years later, in 1986, I went back to my roots to live in Waldersbach with my husband during retirement then I became a volunteer at the Oberlin Museum. The shock I had as a child was a premonition for me. The Pastor's blood ran in my veins. And I became passionate about this exciting man. It's more than a museum; this slice of humanist culture and education (world-famous yet not well-known among the valley's locals) encapsulates a real philosophy of life, community and the closeness that is so cruelly lacking today. I've long loved introducing people to it. And I hope that locals and visitors alike learn and appreciate it more. Because I think they'll see some of themselves in him."
