100 Years of Hostelling
Along with our counterparts across the world, we are celebrating
the 100th birthday of hostelling!
Mikael Hansson, the Chief Executive of Hostelling
International, explains, "We are 100 years old! On 26th
August in 1909 Richard Schirrmann, a German teacher, and his pupils
were caught in a thunderstorm during a hiking trip and found
shelter in a school building in the Bröl Valley. The headmaster let
them use a classroom and a farmer gave them some straw to sleep on
and some milk for their evening meal. That stormy night was when
the worldwide youth hostel movement was founded and today, 100
years later, people are celebrating this anniversary all over the
world."
Our Scottish Hosteller magazine
includes a feature about the history of international
hostelling.
