Dr. Josef Noldin (1888-1929)

The Salurn citizen Dr. Josef Noldin has been a pioneer for the rights of the German speaking population after the take over of the fascist regime. He organised so-called "catacomb-schools" for the secret teaching of the German language, for which he was arrested and banned on the isle of Lipari. One year after his return he died of an illness.

In 1977 the house in which Josef Noldin had lived was renovated and made into a youth hostel, especially thanks to the support of the government of Tirol, as well as the Austrian Federal Minister for Education. Thanks to his rooms for lectures and the hall, it quickly became home to different German speaking associations and a meeting place for people of North-, East- and South-Tirol.