Ante Zelck

During this time he lived several occupied houses in the Berlin districts Mitte and Kreuzberg.

In 1994 while he was still completing his studies he opened Berlin's first hostel,[1] called The backpacker and could be found on the fourth floor of 44 Köthener Straße in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

He gave up his job as a social worker in order to devote himself full-time to the hostel.

[2] From the start Zelck followed the idea to give the hostels an artistic orientation and with this conceived the first Design and Art-Hostel-Concept.

[5] In 2007 a 5 meter tall Superman statue, which is planted head first into the ground, was also a guest at baxpax downtown Hostel Hotel.

With his provocative advertising campaigns, Zelck has several times attracted the disfavour of the Berlin Hostel Branch.