The youth hostel movement began in 1909 when Richard Schirrmann, a German schoolteacher, and Wilhelm Münker, a conservationist, saw a need for overnight accommodation for school groups wanting to experience the countryside. They started with schools being used during the holidays, and the first Jugendherberge was opened in Schirrmann's own school, in Altena, Westphalia. In 1912 a hostel in Altena Castle superseded the school-building, and a hostel still stands in the castle grounds. Schirrmann thus founded the nationwide German Youth Hostel Association in 1919. The movement spread worldwide, leading to the founding of the International Youth Hostel Federation in October 1932 in Amsterdam by representatives from associations in Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Britain, Ireland, France, and Belgium. In 1933 Richard Schirrmann became the president, but the German Government forced him to resign in 1936. Youth hostels originally differed in setup from other modern hostels, although the growing popularity of the backpacker culture forced them to adapt so as not to lose customers, most notably abandoning the idea of chores in all but a few of their locations. Youth hostels in the United States, started by Monroe Smith, are still closest to the original setup.
Modern organisation
Seventy-one National Youth Hostel Associations are members of Hostelling International, with over 4000 hostels available worldwide. Based in Welwyn Garden City in England opposite the train station and the Howard Centre, the organisation provides services for travellers and coordinates the national organisations. It also facilitates youth work and international and cross cultural understanding in conjunction with UNESCO. Hostelling International celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2012, with the first International Conference being held in the YMCA hotel in Amsterdam on 20 October 1932. 11 National Associations were present at this Conference and agreement was reached on a standard international pattern for membership cards and on minimum standards for the equipment and supervision of Youth Hostels. Founders had a strong desire that by working together Associations could assist international youth travel and pave the way for new and peaceful migration of people. Since 1946 the HI network of Youth Hostels has recorded over 1.6 billion overnights. Though the parent Hostelling International organization has charity status in the UK, not all member organizations have charity/nonprofit status. Hostelling International Canada lost a legal battle for charity status in 2008, and the YHA in England/Wales considered becoming a commercial company during a 2005 consultation partially in response to increased competition from independent for-profit hostels. With nearly four million members, it is one of the world’s largest youth membership organisation and is the only global network of Youth Hostel Associations.
First sustainability survey
In 2012, HI carried out a survey in order to monitor specifically how the network was changing and adapting to become more environmentally friendly.
