Figure 1.--This is a photo postcard of a group of boys who are in a hiking club. The photograph dated in the lower left corner. I think it says July 28, 1916 which would be during World War I. The boys seem to be wearing knee pants or long shorts wih heavy socks. The boys seem to be wearing their scjool caps, but wealso see alpine ht which were probably considered suitan;e foir hiking. Many boys wear suit jacket. Most boy are wearing suspenders. There is one girl on the right. We suspet that she was a daughter of the adult organizer. At the bottom are the words "Reisegesellschait, Marmelade". Marmelade may be a town. Put your cursor on the image to see the rest of the group.

We do not yet know much about hikeing clubs. We notice German children participating in hiking clubs. Hiking in the countyside was a major activity of the Wandervogel. Germans seemed especially attached to the countryside. We do not have a lot of information bout about hiking clubs. These appear to have been local groups without any major national organization. We suspect that many were organized in schools. Here a keen hiker on the faculty was probably an importsant factor. This would have meant that they were largely single gender groups, in contrast to Wandervogel. We see these groups innthe 1920s and early 30s. They probably declined in the 1930s with the rise of the Hitler Youth. They do not seem to have been revived after World War II.