page_title: German Youth Hostel Association
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: German Youth Hostel Association / History
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Riesenaufmarsch der Hitlerjugend im Lustgarten in Berlin am 19.8.1933! Über 80.000 Hitlerjungen und Mädchen im Lustgarten in Berlin
context_page_description: The German Youth Hostel Association or DJH is a not-for-profit, registered association. It was founded in 1909 to create an organized network of affordable and safe accommodation away from home for travelling school and youth groups and individuals all over the country. Today, the 442 youth hostels in the association still cater to school and youth groups but are also open to anyone else looking for an alternative to hotels - families, backpackers, business travellers, etc. Through the state associations it is the representative of the 442 youth hostels in Germany and thus the largest member of the international youth association, Hostelling International. The headquarters has its seat in Detmold and is divided into 14 state associations and 178 local and county volunteer associations. It has more than 2,46 million members.
  The German Youth Hostel Association is a member of the European Movement Germany.
context_section_description: By the end of the 1920s, there were over 2,300 Youth Hostels across Germany. These Hostels clearly didn’t compare to today’s standards. Often, they were no more than straw beds in “makeshift shelters,” located, for instance, in village schools that were closed for the holidays. Today, the German Youth Hostel Association runs about 442 hostels. 
  The DJH was merged into the Hitler Youth in 1933 until the end of the Second World War. In 1949 it was re-founded at Altena Castle in North Rhine-Westphalia.
caption: Hitler Youth in Berlin's Lustgarten on 19 August 1933
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