Hiking in Germany was the title of a propaganda brochure published in 1934 by the Reichsbahnzentrale, an agency established by the German State Railway to advertise rail tourism. The pamphlet was written in English and specifically intended to encourage international tourists to visit youth hostels in the German Reich. Their aim was not just to enable foreign visitors to enjoy low-cost hiking holidays, but also to show them the alleged benefits of National Socialism. Young Britons above all were drawn in by this messaging. Riding the wave of a new culture of tourism, Germany became an attractive travel destination in the 1930s.
In his post on the blog of the German Historical Institute in London (GHIL), Vincent Kleinbub offers initial insights into his PhD project about Youth Hostels and the German Youth Hostel Association (DJH) in National Socialism and divided Germany. He mainly presents the findings of his archival research carried out as part of a GHIL fellowship in the UK. Among other things, he explores the question of whether youth hostels were precursors of ‘fascist internationalism’, and how they formed part of the interplay between the ‘national community’ and ‘international understanding’.
Read more about British–German Youth Hostelling during National Socialism and the Allied Occupation in Vincent Kleinbub's blog entry: Vincent Kleinbub (September 21, 2026). ‘In the Service of Peace’: British–German Youth Hostelling during National Socialism and the Allied Occupation. German Historical Institute London Blog. Retrieved September 21, 2026 from https://ghil.hypotheses.org/9071
Vincent Kleinbub is a PhD student with a scholarship at the ZZF Potsdam in Department IV "Regimes of the Social Sphere". You can find out more about his research in the episode of the ZZF podcast on the history of German youth hostels, featuring Vincent Kleinbub and the project supervisor Winfried Süß.