Guided visit to the JF Oberlin Museum
Guided visit to the JF Oberlin Museum
Waldersbach
"""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."
