This unusual holiday home in the Vosges was designed to resemble a Swiss makeshift barrack from the post-war period
Anyone who is prepared to be transported back to the post-war period seventy years ago by the' Swiss Donation barrack' will be confronted with a repressed chapter of that time, which only older Vosges residents can remember from their own experience.
The overnight stay becomes a living history lesson and offers an opportunity to reflect on the attitude to life of the post-war years, when a large part of the homeless population lived in emergency shelters like this one provided by Switzerland.
Their houses had been destroyed during the Second World War and the men were taken to Germany for forced labor. A stay in the' Schweizer Baracke' offers a retro experience with a return to the essentials.
During their stay in the prefabricated wooden temporary accommodation, guests can immerse themselves in a playful way in precisely this time, which was marked by loss and hard everyday life, but at least promised hope for a new beginning.
The furnishings are reduced to the bare essentials. Two small bedrooms for four people, plus a kitchen with an enamelled stove (wood-burning stove) to cook small dishes or to heat water for dishwashing. When the weather is cool, the warm stove forms the heart of the new home, around which people like to gather.
Looking out of the window of this scaled-down reconstruction, one sees a farm in reconstruction and - as an allusion to the former liberators - a military truck driven against the tree by the Allies and then abandoned.
Everything was recreated in detail to give the interested guest a fascinating leap into the past. The founder of the connected adventure park spent years in such an accommodation himself. The "Schweizer Baracke" has simple toilets and a wash basin. The water for washing must first be heated in the boiler on the stove. For more comfort, guests will find their own private bathroom and toilet in the community building just a few steps away.
The aid organisation 'Don Suisse pour les victimes de la guerre' (Swiss Donation for War Victims) was created in February 1944 by the Swiss Federal Council to help the European population affected by the war. Swiss subsidies from state funds and private donations flowed until 1948.
When the Germans withdrew from France, they had pursued a burned earth policy and devastated everything on their way. The last 800 inhabitants of Bresse, mainly women, children and the elderly, were evicted from their more than 85% destroyed city on a winter night during the 'Exodus of Blancfaing'.
The Swiss designers helped assemble the first emergency barracks, then they passed on the plans and their know-how to the inhabitants so that the homeless population could build their own temporary accommodation. As none of these houses have been preserved in their original state, this realistic replica was created on the park grounds on the basis of original photos.
The property, which is authentically furnished with many contemporary 'props', provides two
rooms with the first bed 55” and second two beds 47”,
adjoining living room with real wood stove. Moreover, it is also fitted with private
secluded garden and terrace with a view of the surrounding mountains of the Vosges.
Learn more on provider's website
and book your unique stay here
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen