Altena Castle - World Youth Hostel and the poet Wilhelm Anton Florentin of Zuccalmaglio (updated)

 

Burg Altena - Westseite / Castle Altena - westfront

The medieval Altena Castle, former residence of the Counts of the Mark, is home of regional museums and the world's first youth hostel.The German Wire Museum is located below the castle. Even today you can see how the idea of a guesthouse took shape, especially for wandering young people, because the rooms were left in their original condition. 

• Virtual tour >>>
• German text & photo gallery >>>

 Already in 1907 the teacher Richard Schirrmann (1874-1961) set up a temporary youth hostel at his school (today's secondary school, previously Richard-Schirrmann-Realschule). Two years later 1909 he developed the idea of youth hostels wherever wanderers, especially young people, were travelling.

This led to the oldest youth hostel in the world, which Schirrmann set up in 1912 at Altena Castle. It remained in operation there until the 1950s. 

The youth hostel museum, which still has the original rooms, is in a way the "mother" of all the more than 4000 youth hostels in 90 countries around the world. 

Cf: Hostelling International >>>

The castle is therefore visited by people from all countries. The World Youth Hostel is therefore a continuing learning venue for multiculturalism and tolerance with regard to all people of different origins, skin colour, religion and culture.

On the further development and attitude of Richard Schirrmann up to the time when the Youth Hostel Association was brought into line under National Socialism 

and after the Second World War:

• Eva Krauss: Das Deutsche Jugendherbergswerk und seine Gleichschaltung durch die Hitlerjugend (1909-1933). Diss. Paderborn 2011, 352 S.
  Complete download (PDF) >>>
• Eva Krauss: Das Deutsche Jugendherbergswerk 1909-1933. Programm - Personen - Gleichschaltung. Berlin:Pro Business 2013, 450 S.
  Review: Markus Köster >>>, in: 
  Westfälische Forschungen 64/2014, S. 513 - 515 
• Julia Fiege: „Erziehung durch Erleben“. Wie der Nationalsozialismus die Jugendherbergsidee vereinnahmte
  In: Hypotheses - #DJH100/Werte. Wandel. Weltweit. (01.08.2019)

A tombstone in the courtyard of the castle points to another, less well known history of the region, that of Anton Wilhelm Florentin von Zuccalmaglio, the poet of many folk songs, including "Kein schöner Land". He died in 1869 in the neighbouring village Nachrodt.
His tomb originally stood in the (now disbanded) cemetery of the St. Matthew congregation in Altena.

More about the poet of "Kein Schöner Land" >>> 

                                                                   

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