Sarine of the Bab today - the Baha'i Gardens

clipped from www.youtube.com

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind.There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

Bahá'í teachings emphasize the underlying unity of the major world religions. Religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Krishna, Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and others, including most recently Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each messenger taught of the next, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfill the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be involved in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.

The word "Bahá’í" is used either as an adjective to refer to the Bahá'í Faith or as a term for a follower of Bahá'u'lláh, and the word is not a noun meaning the religion as a whole. It is derived from the Arabic Bahá’, meaning "glory" or "splendour".[6] The term "Bahaism" (or "Baha'ism") has been used in the past, but is fading from use.

 

Bhaai Shrine model in Latrun

clipped from www.youtube.com

Baha'i faith-Sarine of the Bab in Haifa

The Shrine of the Báb is a structure in Haifa, Israel where the remains of the Báb, founder of Bábism and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh in the Bahá'í Faith, have been laid to rest; it is considered to be the second holiest place on Earth for Bahá'ís, after the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre. Its precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Bahá'u'lláh himself to his eldest son, `Abdu'l-Bahá, in 1891. `Abdu'l-Bahá planned the structure, which was designed and completed several years later by his grandson, Shoghi Effendi.

Crowning the design, as anticipated by `Abdu'l-Bahá, is a dome, which is set on an 18-windowed drum. That, in turn, is mounted on an octagon, a feature suggested by Shoghi Effendi. An arcade surrounds the stone edifice.

A restoration project of the exterior and interior of the shrine has started in 2008 and is planned to be completed in 2012.

The location is right above the German Colony, which was established in the 1860s by the German Templer Society, who were working for the Kingdom of God on earth. At the designated spot, the remains of the Báb were laid to rest on March 21, 1909 in a six-room mausoleum made of local stone. In a separate room, the remains of `Abdu'l-Bahá were laid to rest in November 1921. In 1929 three rooms were added to the mausoleum, and in 1949 the first threshold stone of the superstructure was laid by Shoghi Effendi. The construction was completed over the mausoleum in 1953 and was entirely paid for by Bahá'ís around the world.

The architect was William Sutherland Maxwell, a Canadian Bahá'í who was a Beaux-Arts architect and the father-in-law of Shoghi Effendi. Shoghi Effendi provided overall guidance, including in the use of Western and Eastern styles, but left the artistic details to Maxwell. Maxwell's design of the Rose Baveno granite colonnade, Oriental-style Chiampo stone arches, and golden dome is meant to harmonize Eastern and Western proportions and style. Maxwell died in 1952, and Shoghi Effendi named the Southern door of the Shrine after him. Some remaining aspects of the dome's structural engineering were designed by Professor H. Neumann of Haifa's Technion University.

In 1952, Leroy Ioas, an American Bahá'í who had been closely associated with the construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois helped Shoghi Effendi in the construction process. Ioas employed his administrative skills and practical mind to supervise the building of the drum and dome, a task done without the availability of sophisticated machinery. Shoghi Effendi called the door on the octagon after him.

Because of the scarcity of building materials in the area after World War II, most of the stones for the Shrine of the Báb were carved in Italy with the assistance of Ugo Giachery and then shipped to Haifa. One of the doors of the Shrine was named after Giachery. The superstructure was said to be at the time the largest prefabricated building to move from Europe to any point in the world.

On July 8, 2008, the Shrine of the Báb, along with several other Bahá'í holy sites in Haifa and the nearby city of Acre (Akko), were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Bahá'í shrines "are the first sites connected with a relatively new religious tradition to be recognized by the World Heritage List.The UNESCO World Heritage Committee considers the sites to be "of outstanding universal value [and]...inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Bahá’i’s strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith.

"We welcome the UNESCO recognition, which highlights the importance of the holy places of a religion that in 150 years has gone from a small group found only in the Middle East to a worldwide community with followers in virtually every country," said Albert Lincoln, secretary-general of the Baha'i International Community.

The shrine in the 50's

The Bahai gardens in Haifa :
a picture taken in 1919 on the location of todays
Shrine on the Bab one of the most
important places for the Bahai faith

 A picture from 1924

German Colony in Haifa -the Tamplers

Nazi flag in the German Colony in Haifa IN THE 30'S




The Templers, a religious Protestant sect formed in southern Germany in the 19th century, settled in Palestine at the urging of their leader, Christoff Hoffman, in the belief that living in the Holy Land would hasten the second coming of Christ. The Templers built a colony in keeping with strict urban planning principles and introduced local industries that brought modernity to Palestine, which had long been neglected by the Ottomans. They were the first to organize regular transportation services between Jaffa, Acre and Nazareth, which also allowed for mail delivery.

In 1874 the Christian denomination of the Temple Society underwent a schism and later envoys of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces successfully proselytised among the schismatics, making up about a third of the colonists. Thus the Colony became a place of partisans of two different Christian denominations and their respective congregations. While in Germany the Templers were regarded sectarians, the Evangelical proselytes gained major financial and mental support from German Lutheran and Evangelical church bodies. This created an atmosphere of mistrust and envy among the German colonists in Haifa. On July 17, 1886 the proselytes appealed to the Supreme Church Council of the State Church of Prussia's older Provinces to be accepted as and helped to found an Evangelical congregation. In 1891 the Jerusalemsverein (English: Association of Jerusalem), a Berlin-based Evangelical charitable organisation to subsidise Protestant activities in the Holy Land, decided to support the new Haifa congregation. The Jerusalemsverein sent and sponsored a teacher for the congregants' children. In 1892 the Jerusalemsverein decided to lend the congregation the money needed to build a prayer hall. Otto Fischer (*1813-1910*), a Haifa resident, donated the land at the foot of Mount Carmel, and the Haifa engineer Ernst August Voigt gratuitiously drew the constructions plans. In September 1892 the constructions started and pastor Carl Schlicht (Jerusalem) inaugurated the community centre, including a prayer hall and two school rooms, on July 2, 1893. Starting in the same year the Jerusalemsverein sponsored a pastor for the new Haifa Evangelical Congregation. The teacher Herrmann initiated a choir. From 1900 on, Marie Teckhaus, a Deaconess sponsored by the Kaiserswerth Deaconesses Mother House, ran a medical station, open for patients of all denominations and religions. In 1907 the congregation built a separate school building, later the discrepancies between the two German-speaking congregations, Evangelical and Templer, shrunk, thus before World War I the schools were pooled.

The population fluctuated between 300-400 settlers between 1870 and 1914. Sixty of the colonists were American citizens and their leader, Jacob Schumacher served as the U.S. consular agent for Haifa and northern Palestine. Due to their population increase and the on-going urbanisation of Haifa, the colonists searched to buy lands in order to found new settlements. These were to be exclusively monodenominational. Thus the Templers settled in Bethlehem of Galilee and the Evangelical Protestants founded the neighbouring Waldheim

Employing modern farming methods, the Templers introduced soil fertilization, better methods of crop rotation and new crops such as potatoes. They imported agricultural machinery and engaged in "mixed farming," combining dairy farming and field crops.

Registering the land was problematic due to back taxes and local boundary disputes, which sometimes turned violent. The Templers thus abandoned farming in favor of industry and tourism. They built hotels, opened workshops and established an olive oil soap factory.

The German colony was stood out in its poor surroundings. The only doctor in the city lived there, and one of the residents was a construction engineer. By the end of the Ottoman era, the colony had 750 inhabitants, 150 houses and dozens of businesses. The colony was the first model of urban planning in Palestine, with a main street running from north to south (today, Ben-Gurion Boulevard), leading down to the harbor. Smaller streets branched out from the main street. At the southern end of the colony were the Templer vineyards (where the Bahá'í World Centre stands today). The colony was built as a garden city with single family homes surrounded by gardens and shade trees lining the main boulevard.

Nazi affiliation and expulsion

When in the World War I General Allenby conquered Palestine from the Ottomans, the German colonists were regarded as enemy aliens. Many of the colonists were recruited for the units of the German Imperial Army, which fought together with the army of the Ottoman ally against the British conquest. The Britons entered Haifa and the colony only after the end of the fights. Thus the colonists in Haifa were not deported to Egypt, as were the colonists of other, more southern colonies (Jaffa, Rephaim, Sarona, and Wilhelma), which happened to lie in the battle fields.

In 1937, 34% of the Templers were card-carrying members of the Nazi party On Coronation Day in 1937, all the Templer colonies flew the swastika. When World War II erupted, the colonists bearing German citizenship were rounded up by the British and sent - together with Italian and Hungarian enemy aliens - to internment camps in Waldheim and Bethlehem of Galilee. On July 31, 1941, 661 Templers were deported to Australia via Egypt, leaving 345 in Palestine.

New Haifa (1761 CE - 1918 CE)

The Foundation Of "New Haifa" In 1761 derived, mainly, upon security considerations .Dahar El Ommar, who ruled then the North of the country, was looking for an area to build a settlement that will defend the road leading from the South to Acco (Acre). Because of that, he selected the most narrow point between the coast and Carmel mountain. The settlement which he built, extended within the area, the heart of which is known today as Rabin's Government Center, in Pal-yam Street.
The boundaries of the "New City" may be found in the map, which is hereby the first exhibit.
El Ommar's settlement was surrounded by a thin wall, built of stones, of which there are no remains today.There were two gates in the wall. At the West, there was the Jaffa Gate, next to the Carmelite Church, which is located today At Paris Square. At the East there was the Acco Gate, Next to The Small Mosque, at the Eastern entrance to Natanzon St.(ex Omayah St.).In Addition, El Ommar built a tall observation tower, known by the name of Burg El Salam, at the fringe of what is known today by the name of "Memorial Park", nearby the Haifa City Hall.
Within the "New City", there were only few public buildings. The most prominent one was the district administration building, known by the name "Saraya", that was situated right on the coast line.
Following the establishment of the "New Haifa", on the one hand & the fading of Acco as an important district & trading center, on the other hand, there was an arising in the economy in Haifa & thus the New City attracted many people, among them rich merchants from Acco, who came to live within the walls of the city.
The departure of people out of the city walls, began already at the early sixties of the 19 century, and thus the wall was gradually dismantled.

Hadar

 

 

 

 

Hadar Hacarmel - lit. "Splendor of the Carmel", named after words in the Bible (Isaiah 35:2) is a neighborhood in Haifa, Israel. It is located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel between the upper and lower city, overlooking the port and Haifa Bay. Hadar Hacarmel was once the commercial center of Haifa.

History
Hadar Hacarmel was founded before World War I. In 1944, most of Haifa's 66,000 Jewish residents lived in Hadar Hacarmel. [1]Haifa's city hall, courthouse and government buildings were located in this neighborhood, but have relocated to the lower city.

 Landmarks
The Technion was located in Hadar Hacarmel until the new Kiryat Hatechnion campus was inaugurated. The old historic building, dating from 1912, is now a hands-on science museum, the National Museum of Science, Technology and Space. The Carmelit, Israel's only subway, runs from Carmel Center to Paris Square via Hadar Hacarmel. Beit Hagefen, an Arab-Jewish cultural center is located on the edge of Hadar Hacarmel and Wadi Nisnas. The neighborhood has many Bauhaus buildings designed by German-Jewish architects who settled in Palestine after fleeing the Nazis.

Haifa in world war 1 1915 -1918

The Indian army entering Haifa in 1918
Down town old Haifa

World War I - Haifa

During the First World War the entire bay area was placed under a sea blockade and

mined by the Turks.Haifa was hit by the First World War, especially as a result of the

cessation of all economic and commercial activities prevailing at that time. This was a

time of great poverty and famine in the North of Palestine.

physical destruction which took place in Haifa. The battle which was fought to gain

control of the city ceased after a couple of days, without causing any severe destruction

or killing.

On the 23rd September, 1918, the British took over the control of the city which was

captured by the Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers

Many soldiers are buried in Commonwealth cemeteries in Israel and also in Haifa

At the end of World War 1, after the defeat of the Turks by the armies of General Allenby, Palestine (or Eretz Israel, as it was called by its Jewish inhabitants) came under British rule. The Military Government of 1917 was followed in 1920 by a Civil Administration (with Sir Herbert Samuel as the first High Commissioner), as a transitional stage prior to accepting a Mandate from the League of Nations to administer the territory on behalf of the international community. When Haifa was occupied, in 1918, it was a town of some 20 000 people — Moslems, Christians and Jews — the great majority of whom lived on that narrow coastal strip where the looming mass of Mount Carmel came down to meet the waters of Haifa Bay (or the Bay of Acre, as it was then known). For most of its history, Haifa had been secondary in importance to its neighbour at the northern end of the Bay, the historic city of Acre; and it was later to be overshadowed by the upstart, vibrant, new city of Tel-Aviv, on the sand dunes 100 kilometres to the south. However, in the two decades between the wars, Haifa received a degree of attention from both British and Zionist policy makers and planners which seemed, at first sight, to be altogether out of proportion to its size and apparent importance. This rather unexpected concentration of thought and effort upon Haifa derived from contemporary perceptions of Haifa's role in the region. Its importance, both economic and strategic, was assessed in much more significant terms, both by the Imperial Government and the Zionist Organization, in the light of the prevailing geo-political realities of the 1920s and 1930s. In order to adapt Haifa and its region to the role envisaged for it, several major planning campaigns were carried out in these critical years, usually —but not exclusively — on the initiative of the Zionist Organization and bodies affiliated or close to it. The history of these ventures has been recorded elsewhere, in papers by the present author and Silvina Sosnovsky, on the down-town area, the planning of Hadar and the settlements on Mount Carmel, and the redemption of the Haifa Bay lands. Our present concern is to discuss those fundamental policy decisions of the British Government, which were ultimately to shape Haifa's plans, and influence its future growth and development. The key factors, in this process, were the focussing of the railway system on Haifa and the construction of its major workshops there; the decision to build Palestine's principal deep-water port in Haifa, and to locate it next to the down-town area; the decision to construct a pipeline from the oilfields of Iraq, and make Haifa one of its outlets, and subsequently to build a major oil-refinery in Haifa Bay; to locate an aerodrome on the flat terrain of the Bay lands; and to encourage the industrial development of the area, both to ensure the viability of the port, and as a major factor in regional trade. In this paper we examine some of these factors, to the extent that they were eventually to impinge upon land use and planning issues.


A Turkish soldier on guard