The background of "La Planée" as far it could be
reconstructed by us.
The eastern part of La Planée is owned by our association which
supports the work with the youth in the district of Heidenheim
(Heidenheim is located in the southern Germany, near Ulm) and is
used as summer camp area.
Question: How did we find "LaPlanée"?
Answer: For many decades the protestant youth
association in Heidenheim has organized summer camps for children
and adolescents.
Through various circumstances (see ralated homepage) we searched
1999 for our own ground and found "La Planée".
In the following year we build a place where camps can take
place. The camps are fully booked. This was only possible because
countless volunteers helped for a reconstruction and improve the
situation step by step each year a bit more.
The participants like the rural area and the possibilities for
adventures and outdoor activities without end.
Question: Has "La Planée" a christian
history?
Answer: La Planée was founded by Christians!
After the Reformation, there was a movement by very pious people
who are called Anabaptists. They rigorously opposed violence and
were therefore consistent conscientious objectors.
But that was unthinkable due to the royal law, which led to the
banning of the Anabaptists. For the Anabaptists there was only the
opportunity to emigrate to America or to search for the Count of
Salm. This was still a small kingdom in the midst of France, the
region of present-day departments of Vosges and
Meurthe-et-Moselle.
For excursions in the vicinity of La Planées we come again and
again on his tracks, such as the ruins of the Chateau de Salm in
Pierre-Percé, about 5 km west of La Planée. This man was the
Anabaptists gracious-minded and allowed them to stay under the
condition that they be land reclaimed and made it fruitful.
The result was probably in the 19th century La Planée. A family
of Anabaptists cleared of the forest and created so this beautiful
glade, and founded a wood-processing operation, a saw mill and
manufacturing of brushes.
Question: What was previously here?
Answer: La Planée served probably from the
middle of the 19th until the middle of the 20th Century, more than
one hundred years, as a saw mill and manufacturing of brushes.
After the Second World War, it served several decades as the
"Colonie de vacance," it was also a holiday center for children
during the summer holidays. Over 60 orphans and handicapped
children spent their holidays here, the first 4 weeks the boys,
then the girls. The employees lived in the house on the opposite,
where today Mr. Blanc lives with his family; he operates the store
"Simplement Nature”.
The "Colonie" closed in the 80th and stood empty for many years.
Occasionally soldiers did there "soldiers Retreats". At the end of
the'80th a family bought the entire property, the house was not
inhabited and only selectively repaired.
Only when our association bought this land and buildings in the
year 2000 life came back into the shack, even if only in the warm
season. Many volunteers ensured that within a few years this
dilapidated property became a "comfortable" place for summer
camps.