H.E.S.S. and the origin of cosmic rays

Galactic cosmic rays up to hundreds of TeV are very likely of Galactic origin, however the available observational data from measurements of energy spectra and chemical composition of cosmic rays provide only an indirect link to the originating particle accelerators. Very high energy (VHE: E>100 GeV) gamma-rays are ideal tracers of ongoing acceleration as well as propagation of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium. Imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) have achieved sufficient sensitivity to detect a number of cosmic-ray accelerators. In this contribution, we focus on shell-type and mixed-morphology supernova remnants (SNRs) as well as the starburst galaxy NGC 253 that have been observed with the H.E.S.S. (high energy stereoscopic system) array of IACTs.