My daughter’s been staying at Three Little Pigs Hostel for about nine days and meeting a lot of interesting international people.
I got curious about the name and started researching. The building has quite a history. Built in 1907, it was first a church and journey-house for journeymen and craftsmen, with 208 beds. From 1916-1918, it was an auxiliary military hospital for 200 wounded soldiers during the 1st world war.
For a while in the 1920s it was residential (285 rooms), classrooms, St. Clemens Church with a nunnery section and a rectory. What’s a rectory, you ask? Well, the rector’s house, of course! But who’s the rector? It could be the head of a church parish or of a university!
In 1942, the Gestapo took over because of “anti-state activities of the clergy,” and it was an “SS home for the companionship.” I’m not even going to guess what that meant! (Something might have gotten lost or gained in translation.) After 1945, it served as a transit camp for war refugees, displaced persons and home comers (app. 90.000 people!). By 1950, “John’s nuns” moved into the building, as well as elderly people and refugees.
In the ’70s, classrooms and a sanitarium were added. From then until April 2006, it was variously a Croatian catholic mission, a day nursery, and a charity migration center.
April 2006 was the opening of Three Little Pigs Hostel. Currently it is again housing war refugees: this time from the Ukraine.
Piper’s seen a number of mass arrivals during her stay. Then she usually says “I hope they don’t snore!”
But did I ever find out how the name came about? No!
