HERBERGEN ZUR HEIMAT: The name given in Germany to certain inns or lodging-houses (Herbergen) intended primarily for wandering artisans, and combining the comforts of the ordinary hostelry with the advantages of a refined and religious atmosphere. The founder of the system was Clemens Theodor Perthes (1809-67), professor of jurisprudence at the University of Bonn, and son of F. C. Perthes, the celebrated publisher of Hamburg and Gotha. The need of amelioration in the condition of the wandering youth among the German working classes had long been recognized, and as early as the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century some attempts in that direction were made, chiefly through the publication of new guide-books for the use of traveling journeymen. Johann Heinrich Wichern (q.v.) had discerned in the class of itinerant workingmen a dangerous means for the dissemination of communistic ideas. There existed in 1854, when Perthes first began his work, so-called " Pilgrims' Houses " in a few of the larger cities, but these failed to reach the great mass of young men. The first Herberge zur Heimat was opened at Bonn in May, 1854, and such wise foresight did Perthes display in formulating his scheme that at the present day, when the number of workingmen's inns has risen to about 500, the same principles control that he advanced in his classic work on the subject

(Das Herbergatt der HandwerksgeseWn, Gotha, 1856; 2d ed., 1883).

The Herbergen are primarily public inns in that they are supplied with all the comforts to be found in such institutions, and are quite free from the suggestion of charity; expenses must be met by income, and only the funds necessary for the establishment of new houses are derived from free gifts. The Herbergen are conducted in a spirit of. strict Christian decency; the use of intoxicating liquors, gaming, and excess of all kinds are prohibited. Each house is under the management of a Hmuavater, who receives a fixed salary, and thus is free from temptation to advance his personal welfare at the expense of his guests. Morning and evening prayers are held by the HauSvater, at which the guests are invited to be present, but attendance is voluntary. A broader spirit than that which prevailed during the first period of the system animated the management of the Herbergen during the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, the inevitable result of the great process of transformation from agriculture and home production to highly developed industry and commercialism that began in Germany after the war with France. With the influx of hordes of workingmen into the cities the old familiar relationship between Hausvater and guests became impossible; yet the old spiritual influence has not been abandoned. For the harmonious coordination of effort, provincial Herbergen associations as well as a national society have been organized.

Theodor Schäfer.

Bibliography: Besides the work of Perthee named in the text, consult: G. Augener, Die Herbergen zur Heimat und die VereinaMuser in ihrw aociaien Bedeutung ftw die Ge ,Bielefeld, 1889, H. Rathmann Die Herberge, nacbiahoipen KtwoFkatung, Hamburg,

1876; H. Hope, Die Herberge our Heiwat, in Kleine BibUothek für innere Mission, parts ix.-x., Leipsic, 1879; H. Cuno. Die Herbarge zur HeimA Bau and Einrirhtung, Leipsic, 1883; Die Harbergen zur Heimat, Dankschrift den Canbnl-Auaac)waaee für innere Mission, Berlin, 1888. Much material on the subject may be found in the periodical Die Arbeiterkolonie, 1884--98, succeeded by Der Wanderer, 1897 sqq.