Richard Schirrmann

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Born in Grunenfeld (Gronovko), Prussia, as the son of a teacher, Schirmann studied to become a teacher himself. In 1895 he received his qualification, and was sent to Altena, Westphalia, in 1903. In 1907 he first published his idea of an inexpensive accommodation for young people, after he noticed the lack of such places on a school trip when he had to spend the night in barns or village school buildings. Schirrmann received considerable support and donations, and in 1907 he opened the first youth hostel in the recently reconstructed Altena castle.

World War One

Schirrmann had done his military service as a young man of 21, and again two years later, and was a reservist in the "Landsturm" (Territorial Army). On the outbreak of war, he volunteered for service in the German Army, and was posted to the Western Front. He survived four years of active service, was promoted in 1915 to be a non-commissioned officer, and was awarded the Cross of Merit for Front-Line Fighters. But his four years of active service brought about a profound change in his outlook on world affairs, particularly a Christmas truce between French and German troops in 1915.

In December 1915, “When the Christmas bells sounded in the villages of the Vosges behind the lines .. something fantastically unmilitary occurred. German and French troops spontaneously made peace and ceased hostilities; they visited each other through disused trench tunnels, and exchanged wine, cognac and cigarettes for Westphalian black bread, biscuits and ham. This suited them so well that they remained good friends even after Christmas was over.” Schirrmann was in a regiment holding a position on the Bernhardstein, one of the mountains of the Vosges, and separated from the French troops by a narrow no-man’s-land, which his account says was “strewn with shattered trees, the ground ploughed up by shellfire, a wilderness of earth, tree-roots and tattered uniforms.” Military discipline was soon restored, but Schirrmann pondered over the incident, and whether “thoughtful young people of all countries could be provided with suitable meeting places where they could get to know each other.”

The German Youth Hostel Association

In 1919 he founded a nationwide youth hostel association, and in 1922 he retired from teaching to focus entirely on the youth hostel movement. From 1933-1936 he also led the International Youth Hostelling Association ( now Hostelling International), but was forced to resign by the Nazi government. After World War II, he worked on the rebuilding of the German association, for which he received the "Bundesverdienstkreuz" in 1952.

Schirrmann died in Grävenwiesbach (Taunus) in 1961.

References

*"Richard Schirrman: The first youth hosteller:" A biographical sketch by Graham Heath (1962, International Youth Hostel Association, Copenhagen, in English).