Return Home (IYHF)
The founder of the youth hostel movement was Richard
Schirrmann, a German school teacher. In 1901, he was assigned to
a coal mining area. Appalled by the misery of his students, he
developed the techniques of the "roaming school" ... a
walking trip into the countryside to teach his students by direct
observation. By 1909 the trips began lasting several days. Caught
by a storm, they found shelter in a classroom and the concept of
a network of student "youth hostels," utilizing empty
schools, was born.
From here the German movement grew rapidly and achieved 2,123
youth hostels with more than 4.5 million overnights by 1932.
Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the
British Isles, Ireland, France and Belgium quickly followed suit
and added another 600 youth hostels to the network. In 1932 the
first meeting was held in Amsterdam and the International Youth
Hostel Federation was formed.
Isabel and Monroe Smith of the United States attended the 1933
conference and opened the first youth hostel a year later in
Northfield, Massachusetts. Within a year, a network of more than
30 hostels was operating in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Prewar European political currents overshadowed much of the
international youth hostel movement in the 1930s. During the war,
some parts of the European youth hostel system continued to
operate, as well as a small network of U.S. hostels, especially
those around Washington, D.C. Britain expanded its own hostel
network, while Australia and New Zealand started their
organizations.
The post war IYHF efforts were dedicated to reconstruction of
Western Europe, facilitation of international youth travel,
training and exchange of hostel managers, and the reestablishment
of a youth hostel system in Germany. The 1950s brought expansion
into new continents: Asia, Africa, and South America. The
Federation began to convene annually to meet the challenge of
slowed growth. It developed field study centers, cultural
centers, and recreational activities for hostelers in and around
the hostel facilities.
The movement flourished among the developing industrial
countries in the 1960s. The youth culture demanded higher
standards, and the movement responded. In the 1970s public
awareness and use of hostels increased rapidly. New hostel
facility standards, operating policies and an extensive travel
program improved the quality of the hosteling experience.
Today, there are 5 million members and 5,000 hostels in 70 countries.