Concealed Case Studies in Jerusalem Architecture in the Late Ottoman Period

Literature Review

Introduction:

State of the art:

Figure(1): Neighbourhoods outside of the wall

Source: Ayed, R., & Dahadha, D. (2022). Urban expansion outside the Jerusalem wall, (Architecture in Palestine course). Ramallah, Palestine: Birzeit university, department of architectural engineering and planning.

Wilhelm

Literature Gap:

Figure (3): Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria (under the umbrella) lead the royal cortege past the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem 1898 (Wikipedia ,2014)

II's voyage to the Levant:

When the Kaiser asked Herzl what he should ask the Sultan during the audience in Istanbul, Herzl responded, "A Chartered Company - under German protection," to the Kaiser's request: "Tell me in a word what I am to ask the Sultan."

The Sultan was twice approached about it by the Kaiser; both times, he declined, because Zionism was deeply unpopular among the Palestinian locals.

Theodore Herzel

Wilhelm II's voyage to the Levant 1898

Relevance:

Figure(6): The German hospice and school in Jerusalem Source: Archived Photo, 1877, https://schmidtschule.schule/en/geschichte/

Figure(5): The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Souce: T Suarez, 2022, https://mondoweiss.net/2020/07/palestinian-cultural-figures-arrested-in-occupied-jerusalem/

Figure(2): urban expansion outside the wall (1876-1918)

Source: Ayed, R., & Dahadha, D. (2022). Urban expansion outside the Jerusalem wall, (Architecture in Palestine course). Ramallah, Palestine: Birzeit university, department of architectural engineering and planning.

CONTEXT

land purchase

- father ladislaus schneider purchased the plot of land in 1877.

- the land measured 4.6 dunams.

- it was defined in the sources as ‘a garden plot’, including vegetation and water cisterns, it had two small buildings on it.

advantages

- the plot of land is situat�ed on a well drained slope.

- close access to jafa gate, the main gate of the city.

- construction began in 1877 on the southwest corner of the property according to schneider’s plan and under his supervision, until it stopped in 1880.

Father Ladislaus Schneider

Jaffa Gate

surroundings

Mamilla Pool

In 1886, the first pilgrims came to stay at the institution and in the same year was transferred there.

She was a German woman who arrived in Jerusalem in 1870 and independently set up a school for Arab girls three years later. Her efforts to maintain the school as an independent entity, however, were unsuccessful then.

axe joined the staff and in 1890 took on the management of the boarding school for orphan Arab girls.

designed by the german architect, theodore sandel in 1886.

originally a two story building but is now a four floor building.

the building was used as both a school and a hospice for german catholics.

designed by the german architect heinrich renard.

built due to the need to expand the school contains most classrooms.

a one floor building containing the auditorium.

it is said to have been the students’ favourite place, but no further information is said.

note: the analysis will be mainly focused on the main building, since its the one built in the late ottoman era, and has undergone the most transformations.

early 20th century.

1886 early 20th century.

enclosure

playground

garden wall

paved path

entrances

main entrance

1941.

the german architect theodore sandel used pointed arches in entrances and in the double or triple tracery windows .

gothic elements

1234 1 2 34 123

material

jerusalem stone wooden window shutters plaster tracery

entrance

did theodore sandel unknowingly “

Diana Darke describes how medieval crusaders, pilgrims and merchants encountered Arab Muslim culture on their way to the Holy Land; and explores Sir Christopher Wren's inspirations in the "Saracen" style of Gothic architecture.

so when theodore sandel used german neo-gothic architecture in jerusalem, it may look out of place, but in reality it is back to it’s homeland.

neo-gothic, pointed arch windows and doors

Festivities in the dining room

according to bayan al-hout, it was always hectic in the teacher’s dining room, and the students were not allowed in.

the front door of the dining room was used to take the annual picture of the school’s students, up until the school was relocated to east jersalem in 1950.

first floor

bathroom and toilets

vestry rooms for superior

chapel sisters’ work room bedrooms for the sisters

beds for the sick children rooms for the priest

note: a vestry is a room or building attached to a church, used as an office and for changing into ceremonial vestments.

The Chapel

original stone carved water fountain next to the chapel’s entrance

80 seats for the students and the sisters.

Alter

Father Aaronstein dedicated the new chapel in the center of the building’s second floor in October 1887,The chapel, which was open to the public, served as a religious center for the Catho�lics of the area, especially those residing in the newly established Jerusalem neighborhoods out�side the Old City’s walls.

“schmidt school between the political relations of the kaisar and palestine”

The arrival of Wilhelm II increased awareness of the German Templer colo� nies in Palestine. Colonel Joseph von Ellrichshausen, a travel companion of the Kaiser, started a society in Stuttgart called “the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der deutschen Ansiedlungen in Palästina” to develop German col�onies in Palestine. It provided cheap interest loans to the settlers, enabling them to buy land for new towns.

The Kaiser and his entourage visited the institution during their stay in Jerusalem in late 1898. The great impression that Schmidt and his enterprise made on the visitors directly resulted in a one-time govern-ment grant to Father Schmidt for the school, which was a great boon to its budget.

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