Waldsee (camp)
In 2009 Waldsee was recognized as a U.S. National Center of Excellence for its cultural immersion program by the American Association of Teachers of German.
[2] Waldsee was the brainchild of professors Gerald Haukebo and Erhard Friedrichsmeyer at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, USA.
Waldsee's first "adventure program," Alpenland, was held at the Rising Wolf Ranch in Montana, where villagers learned German while enjoying hikes in the mountains and horseback riding.
In 1973, Waldsee launched its first study abroad program, offering backpacking and biking trips to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Horst Köhler, the former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, was the official patron (Schirmherr) of Waldsee, as was his predecessor, Roman Herzog.
World leaders have endorsed Concordia Language Villages, notably former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea attended Waldsee for six summers.
[3] Waldsee offers one-, two- and four-week living and learning experiences in German language and culture for beginning through advanced 7- to 18-year-olds.
It has also been featured in such media as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Basler Zeitung, ZDF German Television, CBS American Television, The New York Times, Time, German Life Magazine, Oskar's and Deutschland magazines, and been the subject of award-winning journalistic essays and various doctoral dissertations.
Waldsee's non-credit programs include programs that focus on producing FM radio broadcasts at a live radio station, learning about Swiss culture in tandem with the nearby French village Lac du Bois and the Italian village Lago del Bosco, learning about the environment, performing improvisational theater based on medieval lore and legends, and exploring German grammar in depth.
There is also Café Einbeck, where villagers can sample candy, soft drinks, and other foods from Europe or listen to a jukebox playing German-language music.
Waldsee travels abroad to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with smaller groups of high school students studying German in their summer for credit.
[5] The fixtures are German, and the house helps to introduce students to the "new Germany" as well as preparing them for responsible and ecological citizenship in the global community, the mission of Concordia Language Villages.
The modern house itself pays homage to the Bauhaus school of 1920s architecture, and floor-to-ceiling windows recall the symbolic transparency built into West German government buildings post-World War II.
[6] Additionally, the western half of the lower level of the structure is tucked into the slope, enabling natural insulation based on the soil.
