History Intersoc VZW/ASBL
The Belgian Association Intersoc has been organising, since the summer of 1949, holidays in Switzerland at affordable prices for affiliates of Mutualités Chrétiennes Belges, the largest health insurance organisation in Belgium with 4,5 million members. Shortly after the end of World War II Jules Deprins, then secretary of the Association in Mechelen, along with the brothers Adolf and Hans Heuberger, organised the first holiday camp for over 1000 young persons in the Melchtal in Switzerland. The aim of the founders was to introduce Belgian youth, especially lowland dwellers, to the unspoilt beauty of the Swiss mountain environment. The same motive drives the holiday programmes of the Association today, which provide the means for active relaxation for the mind and body in healthy surroundings.
Understandably, during its 49-year existence there has been an important evolution in the scope of Intersoc's activities. The original idea of providing holiday camps for the young has been expanded to include adults, children, families, and older-age groups; and, to the original lodgings in the military hospital in the Melchtal have been added increased accomodation in family hotels and youth camps in several regions of Switzerland, such as the Hotel Stahlbad in St. Moritz and the Maloja Palace in the Oberengadin. The one essential feature in all this growth, which now covers about 80 different localities in Switzerland, has been that all the situations chosen are in the heart of an alpine environment.
For those who participate in the activities of Intersoc the focal point is the attraction of the mountains, which not only symbolise the beauty of Switzerland, but also represent a mythical presence to people who are familiar only with the plains and the sea. Although cliffs suitable for rock-climbing exist in the areas of Namur and Lüttich, the highest point in the Ardenne mountains is only 700 metres above sea-level.
The intention of Intersoc has not been to turn their holiday guests into mountain-climbers equipped with ropes and ice-axes. Those who wish to become mountaineers either join the Belgian Alpine Club, or attend courses at a Swiss Mountaineering School. The main emphasis has always been to provide the means whereby over 3 million people of every age group could obtain an introduction to the alpine world and its inhabitants, and acquire some familiarity with the means of travel in mountain regions both in summer and in winter. The qualified guides who accompany guests on short mountain tours explain what preparations are required, and point out the dangers that could arise, besides describing other interesting aspects, such as the rare alpine flora and fauna. Emphasis is placed on group rather than individual performance. Intersoc provides its guests with the equipment that they require for these tours, the highlight of which is a 2-day trip involving a night spent out at one of the 60 or so mountain huts for which reservations are made in advance. It can be said without any doubt that, thanks to the pioneering and continuing activities of Intersoc, about 35 percent of all Belgians have had the opportunity to make at least one visit to the alpine world of Switzerland.
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