Stern House
Encyclopedia
The Stern House, is a preserved
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...

 and reconstructed
Reconstruction (architecture)
Reconstruction is a term in architectural conservation whose precise meaning varies, depending on the context in which they are used.More broadly, such as under the Burra Charter of Australia, "reconstruction" means returning a damaged building to a known earlier state by the introduction of new...

 building in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. The house was built under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 rule in 1877 in the early neighborhood of Mamilla
Mamilla
Mamilla was an early neighbourhood constructed outside Jerusalem's Old City west from the Jaffa Gate, and now refers to the $400 million commercial and housing district developed in selected parts of the area....

, outside Jerusalem's Old City west from the Jaffa Gate and was rescued during a major reconstruction of the neighborhood in the late 20th and early 21st century.

It is notable for the fact that in 1898, it served as the staying place of Theodore Herzl; also known as "The Visionary of the Jewish State
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

"
. The house currently serves as the Jerusalem "flagship store" of the Steimatzky
Steimatzky
Steimatzky , is the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, founded by Yechezkel Steimatzky in 1925.-Early history:The first store opened in 1925 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem by Yechezkel Steimatzky a Russian-born immigrant from Germany...

 bookstore chain and includes an outdoor cafe, as well as a small museum.

History

The Stern House was built in 1877 for the Yehuda Stern family, recently emigrating
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

 from Germany. The Jerusalem quarters between the Old City walls were too crowded for the wealthy Industrialist family, and with the new wave of leaving the Old City, Yehuda Stern purchased from the Greek Orthodox Church a land area in the new constructions West of the city, and on which he built a large European standard housing. Several generations of the Stern family lived in the building throughout its years of existence.

In November 1898 the German Emperor Wilhelm II arrived in town to make an historic visit. At the time, the Emperor was interested in the strengthening of the German influence in Jerusalem and the Emperor became involved in a number of, mostly religious affiliated, construction projects in the city. Theodore Herzl arrived to Jerusalem at the same time planning to meet with Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and solicit his help in securing a Jewish homeland. Stern quickly discovered that the room he had booked at the hotel was taken by the Emperor's entourage. Michael Stern, the son of Yehuda, received it upon himself to host the Zionist leader at his home, which became Herzl's base of operation for his stay in the city. Hertzel remained at the house for 4 nights.

At the time of Herzl's visit, the house was located at 18 Mamilla Street, next to the Jaffa Gate in the wall of the Old City. The house was built in 1877 as the home of the Yehuda Stern family.

Later on the Stern family turned the room in which Herzl visited into a small museum, documenting his visit to the city. The "Herzl Room" museum was operating in the house throughout the lives of the historic Mamila neighborhood and was operated, for some years, by Yehuda Stern's great-grandchildren.

Development and preservation

In the 1970s, there was a decision to develop the quarter and reconstruct in accordance to the plans of the architect Moshe Sefadia.

The house became the focus of controversy during the major reconstruction efforts as the original plans were such that almost nothing of the original quarter was meant for preservation. This called for the demolition of a number of Ottoman and Mandate-era buildings, including the Stern House. The demolition plans provoked an outcry and agreement to preserve the Stern House and several other significant buildings. While the house was set to be incorporated among the new buildings, the controversy did not end.

Historic preservationists demanded that the building be preserved on its original site, and objected to a plan that entailed disassembling the building and reconstructing it on a nearby site. The legal challenge reached the High Court and, in the end, courthouse, however, decided that a full restoration could be done even after deconstruction. The building was then disassembled and its stones were marked, numbered and moved to a storage place nearby the construction project.

The Mamila project had further legal complications and feuds which took numerous years, causing delays in construction. Only in 2006, with the end of the prolonged litigation and a reach of a financial settlement, were the works resumed in the frozen section of the project. Following this, the Stern House was, finally, put back together after being stored for a decade.

Architectural historian David Kroyanker
David Kroyanker
David Kroyanker is an Israeli architect and architectural historian. In 2010, he was named a Yakir Yerushalayim for his research and documentation of the architectural heritage of Jerusalem. Kroyanker has written dozens of books about the city's architecture and urban planning.-Biography:David...

 finds the reconstructed building and the new neighborhood in which it is set, "close to perfection: it's aesthetic, it works - people come here in large numbers. It's alive and it is a very successful combination of old and new, of restoring this place to its former function - an economic center with leisure and entertainment."

Bookstore and Museum

The building now houses the Jerusalem "flagship store" of the Steimatzky
Steimatzky
Steimatzky , is the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, founded by Yechezkel Steimatzky in 1925.-Early history:The first store opened in 1925 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem by Yechezkel Steimatzky a Russian-born immigrant from Germany...

 bookstore chain and an outdoor cafe.

The lower level of the building houses a small, free museum focusing on the history of the bookstore chain and on Herzl's visit to Jerusalem. On display are photographs of Herzl in Jerusalem, Israeli bank notes featuring portraits of Herzl, and the hat that he wore on his visit to Jerusalem. The museum also depicts the history of the Steimatzky chain, including photographs of the long vanished Steimatzky branch in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

, Lebanon The store's branches in Beirut, Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 and Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

were all nationalized after 1948.
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