Church fortresses were always places of refuge for the Saxons, an ethnic German minority in Romania. A famous descendant of the Saxons, the singer and musician Peter Maffay transfers the concept to the present: With the “Fundatia Tabaluga”, the Romanian subsidiary of his Peter Maffay foundation, he realized in the Romanian village of Radeln a holiday home for traumatized children on the grounds of an old fortified church. The old rectory has been restored and will be used in the future as recreation room, and another part of the vicarage serves as home for children and carers. Already this summer, the first guests are expected. The holiday home should become an international meeting place not only for Romanian children but also foreign groups.
The new holiday home is not only shelter for children but also protects the environment: a modern gasification boiler uses carbon dioxide-neutral fuel wood to produce environmentally friendly heat. In addition, a solar thermal system covers the hot water supply in summer. The waste water is cleaned by a soil filter sewage treatment plant. In Germany, such sewage plants turned out to be easily installed and reliable in operation. In Romania, this plant is the first of its kind and shall be exemplary and determining for rural areas. So far, only ten percent of the rural population of Romania are connected to sewage treatment plants. Therefore, it is intended to establish more such soil filter treatment plants. www.petermaffaystiftung.de
