Youth hostels in Austria
The youth hostels in Austria offer a network of approx. 100 youth hostels throughout Austria . They are essentially run by two associations :
- the Austrian Youth Hostel Association (ÖJHV)
- the Austrian Youth Hostel Association (ÖJHW)
history
In 1909 the German teacher Richard Schirrmann developed the idea of a network of youth hostels . At the founding meeting of the "International Working Group for Youth Hostels" - IAJH (later IYHF) from October 20 to 22, 1932, Austria was not yet involved. With the annexation of Austria to the German Reich in 1938, youth hostels were built by the Hitler Youth based on the German model in schools in larger towns .
Austrian Youth Hostel Association
The Austrian Youth Hostel Association was founded in 1946. In the spring of 1947 the ÖJHV was accepted into the “International Youth Hostel Federation” (IYHF) at the youth hostel conference in Blaricum (Netherlands). The ÖJHV maintains over 40 of its own hostels and also contract hostels in Austria.
President
- Karl Prochazka (1946–1976)
- Heinz Kienzl (1976–1980)
- Erich Hofstätter (1980–1987)
- Günther Weninger (1988-2006)
- Johann Hatzl (2006-2009)
- Peter Kaiser (since 2009)
Austrian Youth Hostel Association
The Austrian Youth Hostel Association was founded on July 11, 1950. It emerged as a conservative counter-organization to the more union-dominated Austrian Youth Hostel Association. Initially, the ÖJHW did not have its own youth hostels, but worked with so-called contract hostels. In 1962 the first own house was built in Neusiedl am See . The Austrian Youth Hostel Association currently owns 28 houses in all 9 federal states and has agreements with a further 12 contract houses. It is also a member of the umbrella organization Hostelling International .