Liechtenstein

When the river Rhine broke through its dyke in 1927, Liechtenstein’s best land ended up under sand.

More than a third of the most fertile ground lay under water for months. When the water drew back, sand, stones and debris covered the fields up to two metres deep. With no money to rebuild, there was talk of people having to emigrate.

The following spring, more than 700 volunteers arrived from some twenty countries, among them French and German soldiers who ten years earlier had faced each other in the trenches. They were not paid. With picks, shovels and wheelbarrows, they cleared the sand away.

Two months later, the first fields were green again. No one had to leave the country.