Luxembourg youth hostel headquarters
The Luxembourg Youth Hostel Center (fr: Centrale des auberges de jeunesse luxembourgeoises ) is a non-commercial association that operates youth hostels in Luxembourg . It is a member of the umbrella organization Hostelling International and was founded in 1946. The association currently operates ten youth hostels with a total of 1,097 beds. In 2007 the association recorded 141,452 overnight stays and 3,665 members.
Youth hostels in Luxembourg today
- Befort (80 beds, not open all year round)
- Burglinster (53 beds, open all year round)
- Echternach (118 beds, open all year round)
- Hollenfels (94 beds, open all year round)
- Fels (77 beds, open all year round)
- Lultzhausen (112 beds, not open all year round)
- Luxembourg (city) (240 beds, open all year round)
- Schengen / Remerschen (148 beds, open all year round)
- Vianden (66 beds, not open all year round)
- Wiltz (109 beds, not open all year round)
History of Luxembourg youth hostels
Foundation of the Luxembourg Youth Hostel League
While Richard Schirrmann opened the world's first permanent youth hostel in Germany as early as 1912 and further youth hostel associations were established in other countries from 1920, the first youth hostel in Luxembourg was only opened in 1933. On the initiative of Professor PJ Müller and the then General Secretary of the Association of Cities and Tourist Centers of the Grand Duchy, Jérôme Anders, the first all-year-round hostel with 34 beds each for boys and girls was built in an uninhabited villa in the Steinfort ironworks in the middle of the village. Although the tourist season was drawing to a close when it opened, 54 overnight stays were counted in the first year. On April 19, 1934, the founding meeting of the Ligue nationale luxembourgeoise pour les auberges de la jeunesse took place. Shortly after it was founded, the grand ducal court promised the patronage of Prince Jean and Princess Elisabeth of the new youth organization . The government and the Arbed company supported the league's activities, the former with a grant of 3,000 francs as start-up aid, the latter with a gift of 250 steel beds. Efforts to open more hostels have also been intensified. In 1934 a second youth hostel opened in an old school in Remich, as well as others in Clervaux and in the castle of Mersch. At the time, the admission of boys and girls in one building was revolutionary, even if the bedrooms were strictly separated. The Luxembourg Youth Hostel League immediately became a full member of the International Youth Hostel Federation .
In 1935 another hostel was opened in the Luxembourg City Stadium. In addition, the city gave the youth hostel league an office in one of its buildings. In the same year, youth hostels were added in Martelingen and Wiltz. The Schüttburg near Kautenbach followed in 1936 as the largest hostel in the country, with over 200 beds, and the Born and Rodingen hostels, as well as in Vianden in 1937. In the meantime, there was also a youth hostel directory for the Grand Duchy and the league was allowed to organize a program in the then still new medium of radio . The number of overnight stays doubled from 8,770 in 1936 to 16,290 in 1937.
The founding of a club for youth hostel users (the so-called “Ajists”) on October 9, 1939 was just as significant. The club's aim was to liven up the youth hostels by offering animation and activities.
Although the league was chaired by PJ Müller, the later chairman Carlo Hemmer is considered to be the driving force during the founding phase of the association, which already had 309 members in the first year. In spring 1940, despite the outbreak of the Second World War , the first edition of “De Kompass”, the official organ of the Luxembourg National League for youth hostels, was published on Carlo Hemmer's initiative.
Re-establishment after the Second World War
With the occupation of the Grand Duchy by the Wehrmacht on May 10, 1940 , the constant development of the youth hostel was also put to an end. Carlo Hemmer made the following written notification to the international association: " 1940 - Dissolution by the German occupying power and confiscation of all property including the archive, misuse of the houses ". In 1945, after the liberation of Luxembourg by the US armed forces , nothing was left of the pre-war youth hostel network. The houses were either destroyed or used for other purposes. But in the same year, before the end of the fighting, some former members began to rebuild the international association. In Luxembourg, too, former Ajists had set about rebuilding the youth hostel movement in order to offer the youth a network of politically neutral accommodations in which tolerance and international understanding were part of the model.
The first hostel network of the post-war period consisted of six accommodations: Ettelbrück , Luxemburg Pfaffenthal, Neumühle, Rodange, Wiltz and, for a short time, Born again. With these six hostels and a total of only 148 beds, 10,446 overnight stays were achieved in 1946, mainly by Belgians, who are currently the only nation to be allowed to enter Luxembourg without any problems.
In November 1946, the provisional committee convened the founding assembly of the Luxembourg hostel system to be renewed. The name Centrale des auberges de jeunesse luxembourgeoises (CAJL) , which is still valid today, was chosen as the new name for the former Ligue nationale luxembourgeoise pour les auberges de jeunesse .
In 1947 the old hostel in Vianden was reopened and in Echternach and Clervaux wooden barracks from the wartime military stock were made available as a temporary solution. In 1948 the opportunity arose to rent the castle in Hollenfels, which was vacant after the war and threatened with decay, for an impressive 2,700 francs a month. In their free time , the Ajists set about building the castle by hand in their work teams so that it could accommodate guests again from 1949.
In 1949 the first full-time employee was hired for the secretariat. A tenth inn was added in the middle of the Grevenmacher vineyards. As a result, the number of members rose from 457 to 733 in 1949 and the number of overnight stays from 19,159 to 33,551.
Conservative criticism
Despite the onset of success, the youth hostels were viewed critically by conservative circles . They were accused of being politically left-wing , even though the association had a recognized politician as chairman in Pierre Frieden . Conservative circles in particular sharply criticized the joint admission of boys and girls. Nevertheless, Catholic clergy continued to visit the youth hostels, such as the pastor of Befort, who later opened the first youth hostel in his locality as president of the Beforter Syndicat d'initiative .
“Youth Argosy” project
As a result of the US- Luxembourg “Youth Argosy” project, the youth hostel association got into severe turmoil. In 1950 the Hollenfels Castle was temporarily closed as a normal youth hostel and took on an American, specially founded International Friendship Center .
Ajissem's heyday
In 1950/1951 the association narrowly escaped bankruptcy and liquidation. In return, a “golden age of the youth hostel movement” began through the joint work of Carlo Hemmer (first as Vice-President, and later as President) and Ed Nicolay as full-time secretary. Two more youth hostels were added in 1952: the von Burglinster hostel in a mansion from the 18th century and the von Befort hostel in a post-war barracks made of precast concrete. In Echternach, the community replaced the temporary youth hostel with a new and larger building in the city center. A simple hostel also existed in Bettborn from 1959 to 1970. The Hollenfels Castle was bought by the state and given to the youth hostels for a symbolic rental price. In 1955, however, the movement lost one of its most popular youth hostels, the Neumühle an der Obersauer, as it was dammed up into a reservoir. The state generously returned the favor in 1968 for the loss of the building by providing a piece of land and financial support for the construction of the youth hostel on the lakeshore in Lultzhausen. Additional locations have been made more attractive through extensions or renovations.
The establishment of the National Youth Service (SNJ) in 1964, called for by the youth hostel movement, was significant for youth policy. This gained an important partner in the organization of extracurricular activities and the training of youth workers. In 1968 Hollenfels Castle was also rebuilt and the youth hostel was moved to the already renovated buildings of the former estate. After the renovation in 1975, the castle became the seat of the Hollenfels Ecology and Youth Center, which offers natural history courses for classes and groups in close cooperation with the youth hostel.
In the mid-1970s, the number of overnight stays regularly exceeded 100,000 and the number of members reached 4,000. As in other countries, there was a steady growth in overnight stays in Luxembourg, which enabled the facilities to operate economically.
Crisis in the 1980s
In the 1980s, the number of overnight stays declined. For example, in 1981 the youth hostel in Clervaux had to be closed for security reasons, creating a large gap in the number of hostels in the north of the country. The Rodingen site was also closed in 1982. Although the hostel movement celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1984, the celebrations were marred by the announced resignation of long-time chairman Carlo Hemmer. In order to counteract the ongoing lack of visitors, the sometimes rigid house rules were questioned and loosened up. Other leisure programs have been developed or offered by partners such as the Service national de la jeunesse , the Service des sports or the Groupe animateur in the individual hostels. So the number of overnight stays reached 100,000 per year again. A dedicated travel service helped the young people plan and book their stays abroad.
The establishment of the Fondation Lëtzebuerger Jugendherbergen on the initiative of Carlo Hemmer in 1986 was significant for the further development of the youth hostel movement . This foundation, which later took the name of its founder and was largely funded by funds from the estate of Carlo Hemmer, carried contribute to economic stabilization. They made the larger renovation and refurbishment works possible and supported projects related to school trips or animation activities. The official age limit of 26 years has also been abolished. Children and young people continued to form the target group, but everyone should be able to decide for themselves whether they felt they belonged to this group or not. Towards the end of the 1980s, the network of youth hostels was expanded. In 1989 a youth hostel opened in Ulflingen . In Wiltz, too, a hostel was built in the same year as the former brewery. In 1992 a holiday home in Fels was converted into a youth hostel. The youth centers in Marienthal (1992) and Eisenborn (1996) were run together with the Service national de la jeunesse . Due to the expansion of the network, but also due to the increasing attractiveness of the capital, the number of overnight stays increased again. In 1993, a new record was set with around 130,000 overnight stays. This development was favored by the civil war refugees from the former Yugoslavia who had been arriving since 1992 and found temporary accommodation in youth hostels.
In view of the movement's recurring success, it was neglected to build up the necessary financial reserves. The needs of the classic clientele in terms of comfort and service also changed rapidly. Instead of large dormitories, smaller rooms and more contemporary sanitary facilities were increasingly desired. The guests also preferred a balanced and healthy diet at flexible times instead of simple hostel food. Activities such as washing the dishes or bringing your own bed linen were increasingly rejected. This was tightened by a more restrictive national legislation with regard to the safety in the accommodation facilities for young people and by the raising of the minimum standards of the international youth hostel federation. In plain English, this meant that many youth hostels in Luxembourg would have no future without major renovations. The result of a study from 1995 made radical restructuring measures necessary. Together with the negative development of the number of overnight stays and members, they contributed to the fact that the mood within the association deteriorated.
Renewal and modernization from the mid-1990s
During the annual general meeting in 1996 the board was replaced. The newly elected board committed itself to professionalizing the entire structure, modernizing the infrastructures and strengthening marketing. Personnel changes also followed within the secretariat. Necessary renovation measures were initiated in discussions with the respective owners of the youth hostels (state or municipalities). Advertising at home and abroad was increased and the finance department subjected to a restructuring in order to enable better and faster control of the financial situation.
Due to the importance of a well-functioning youth hostel network for tourism and youth work, political leaders could be won in ministries and municipalities. With the help of the state and municipalities, an extensive program for the renovation and construction of youth hostels was created. The youth hostel in Lultzhausen, built in record time, opened in 2001. In the same year the hostel in Burglinster, closed in 1997 for security reasons, was reopened after a successful renovation. Further measures followed: the reopening after the renovation of the youth hostel in Vianden (2004), completion of the extension in Wiltz (2005), opening ceremony after the complete renovation of the youth hostel in Luxembourg City (2005), inauguration of the newly built youth hostel with sports infrastructures on Lake Echternach (2006 ) and commissioning of a new location in Remerschen an der Mosel (2007). In addition, the youth hostels increasingly took on tasks in the social field and as service providers in the respective communities, for example by providing care structures for children (maison relais, crèche) and youth houses or by running school canteens. The hostels in Ulflingen (2000), Grevenmacher (2003) and Ettelbrück (2004) closed for economic and security reasons.
The introduction of a modern reservation and accounting program with the possibility of internet bookings, the further qualification and further training of the employees, the striving for quality standards and the expansion of the program offers were the prerequisites for the record result of 141,452 overnight stays in 2007.
List of presidents of CAJL
- 1946–1959: Pierre Frieden
- 1960-1984: Carlo Hemmer
- 1984–1986: Gaby Muller-Künsch
- 1986–1996: Carlo Meintz
- 1996-2005: Guy Schintgen
- since 2005: Romain Weis
Social facilities
Since 2004 the head office has been running various social institutions together with the communities. These houses all have an agreement with the Institute for Family and Integration. The facilities are in detail:
- Krunnemécken day care center
- Remerschen day care center
- Youth center Vianden
- Beaufort daycare center
Awards
Of the participants in the online reservation service hi-hostels.com , the Luxembourg youth hostels were voted among the best of all participating associations in 2007 and 2008 with 85% and 86% approval, respectively. In 2007, the Luxembourg youth hostels were awarded third place in the Design Management Europe Award in the category of Non-governmental Organizations & Non-Profit Organizations . The youth hostels in Hollenfels, Lultzhausen and Luxembourg are also bearers of the EcoLabel awarded by the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment for particularly environmentally conscious business management.
literature
- 75 years of memories, adventures, experiences and friendships. Youth hostels - more than just a bed and a roll . Luxembourg Youth Hostel Center, Luxembourg 2008.
- WM: Youth hostels: Ligue Nationale Luxemburgeoise pour les Auberges de la Jeunesse . In: Luxemburger Illustrierte Wochenschrift , Issue 15, April 10, 1938, pp. 4–6; Issue 16, April 17, 1938, pp. 4–6 (digitized on Luxemburgensia online: Issue 15 , Issue 16 )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ De Kompass No. 42 (PDF; 855 kB).
- ↑ De Kompass No. 45 (PDF; 2.4 MB).
- ↑ 2007 Award winners. ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Design Management Europe.
- ↑ List of EcoLabel companies .
