• Print
• E-Mail
• Feedback

08/26/2009

Everyone enjoys wallowing in memories of summer vacations and holidays with friends, but for many Germans a holiday is not complete without the customary stay in a youth hostel, or "Jugendherberge." And this week the venerable institution is celebrating its centenary, with hundreds of events all across the country being held to celebrate 100 years of what became a global movement.

The first permanent youth hostel opened on Aug. 26, 1909 in the Altena Castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It was built by a teacher named Richard Schirrmann who came up with the idea of a low-cost hostel while he was sheltering from a thunderstorm one night during a school trip with his class.

Despite its early associations with the Hitler Youth Movement, the concept of a budget-oriented hostel with a homey-feel has remained largely unchanged over the past century.

The Great Outdoors

An emphasis is frequently put on the environment, with many hostels promoting ecological sustainability and conservation of resources. Guests are encouraged to spend their days outside, pursuing activities like hiking and cycling, and the first hostels were even closed during the day, preventing guests from staying indoors.

Still today, hostels -- which usually have bunk beds in dormitories to encourage socializing amongst guests -- intend to give city youngsters the opportunity to get away from their urban homes and enjoy the great outdoors. As travelling and so called "inter-railing" increasingly became part of the youth culture towards the end of the 20th century, the number of hostels in Germany boomed.

Urban Success

Today the hostel culture has become an international movement with over 90 youth hosteling associations spread over 80 countries comprising more than 4,000 hostels. Originally limited to the hills and the countryside, thousands have also sprung up in towns and cities across the world.

Some of Germany's most famous hostels include Berlin's 'Ostel' -- which promises a taste of what life was like in communist East Germany -- as well as Colditz Castle in Saxony, a former jail for prisoners of war during the Third Reich.

Chains of hostels have also thrived in the past decades, with some cities reporting a higher average income per room for hostels than hotels. The independent hostel industry seems to have escaped the financial crisis largely unscathed, unlike the top-end hotel industry that has been hurt badly by companies cutting corporate travel and many wealthy tourists not spending as much on accomodation as they have in previous years.

Scotland's largest hostelling association, SYHA reported a 60 percent surge in booking this year after launching its first television advertising campaign. "Hostelling has always been about affordable travel for all and friendly communities - values which are recession-proof," SYHA's head of sales and marketing, Louise Nowell, told the Scotsman newspaper.

International Jubilee

The German Youth Hostel Association (DJH) is another of these umbrella societies. Last weekend it hosted a huge party in Altena Castle attracting hostel-lovers from all over Europe. During an official celebration that took place at the beginning of August, a commemorative coin and stamp were presented by the DJH.

But in the same way in which the hostels themselves have surged beyond Germany's borders, so will the festivities marking the anniversary. Dozens of hostels around the globe are hosting Open Door programs to promote hostels in the countries where they have not yet been established. And Australia's Youth Hostel Association (YHA) has launched a competition giving participant the chance to win 100 nights in hostels across the country.