HOW DID HOSTELS GET STARTED?
Hostels have probably been around for over a thousand years as a low cost place for a traveler to stay for the night. The hostel movement as most people know it, however, was started by a German school teacher named Richard Schirrmann back in the Summer of 1907. It was at this time that Nette School began providing overnight accommodation to young travelers. Each night the classrooms were cleared of desks and chairs and thin straw sacks were placed on the floor for the travelers. As was the custom, each hosteller in the morning helped to put the school back together and sweep the straw from the floor. The philosophy as stated by Mr. Schirrmann was this: “Suppose that the thoughtful young people of all countries could be provided with suitable meeting places where they could get to know each other! That could and must be the role of our youth hostels, not only in Germany, but throughout the world, building a bridge of peace from nation to nation!
Hostels have probably been around for over a thousand years as a low-cost place for a traveller to stay for the night. The hostel movement as most people know it, however, was started by a German school teacher named Richard Schirrmann back in the Summer of 1907. It was at this time that Nette School began providing overnight accommodation to young travellers. Each night the classrooms were cleared of desks and chairs and thin straw sacks were placed on the floor for the travellers. As was the custom, each hosteller in the morning helped to put the school back together and sweep the straw from the floor. The philosophy as stated by Mr. Schirrmann was this: “Suppose that the thoughtful young people of all countries could be provided with suitable meeting places where they could get to know each other!
