Richard Schirrmann invented youth hostels. Today they cover the world.
Taken up in Germany, then in Europe and then around the world, they survived the rise of the Nazis, two world wars and an economic depression. Schirrmann never gave up. He never copyrighted his idea, never built it into a brand, never sold it to anyone. He was a volunteer and an amateur in the best sense of the word. He wanted the best for young people.
Working from previous biographies and original records in English, Richard Schirrmann reveals the life of the man who invented youth hostels and of those who worked with him, like Isabel and Monroe Smith, the young couple who took youth hostels to the USA, and Jack Catchpool, first secretary of the Youth Hostels Association in England and Wales.
Available from Amazon, in paperback and on Kindle. 53 pages with index, bibliography, notes and references, illustrated with six black and white photos.
SIMPLY HOSTELS 