Hostels in Germany
Germany is the country where youth hostelling began. The first hostel came about in 1909 through the efforts of Richard Schirrmann, a schoolteacher who took his class on regular excursions. This led to the foundation of the German YHA which now has over 600 hostels throughout Germany, including large city hostels and beautifully situated lodges and rural properties.
There are close to 100 independent hostels in Germany Many of these are part of the German Backpacker Network.
Large cities such as Berlin and Munich offer a good selection of hostels, these do tend to get booked out during key events such as Love Parade and Oktoberfest and at many weekends during the year so advance booking is recommended.