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Revision as of 16:35, 16 March 2011
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Schneller Orphanage was a Christian orphanage that operated in Jerusalem from 1860 until World War II. The orphanage grounds, located on Malchei Yisrael Street in central Jerusalem, became a British military base known as Camp Schneller. After 1948, the compound housed offices of the Israel Defense Forces. The army moved out in November 2008.
History
The orphanage was founded in 1860 by the German missionary Johann Ludwig Schneller, who lived in Jerusalem. The orphanage was established to care for the orphans of the 1860 Lebanon conflict, in which many Christian Arabs were killed. With the encouragement of the Prussian government, Schneller founded the "Syrian Orphanage" (Template:Lang-de), commonly known as the "Schneller Orphanage". The orphanage's land was purchased from Arabs of the nearby village of Lifta. Before the buildings were constructed, a Second Temple-period cemetery was discovered, along with other burial caves.
The orphanage, which provided a German-style education, quickly established a good reputation among Middle Eastern Christians. The orphanage grew to cover 70 acres, including dormitories, courtyards, a church, workshops, and more. In addition, houses were built nearby for the school's graduates, in what became known as the "Schneller neighborhood."
On March 17, 1948, the British abandoned the orphanage following an attack by the Irgun in which one soldier, Private Harry France, was killed and nine wounded. After the British left, it was transferred to the Etzioni Brigade of the Haganah. For the next 60 years, the site served as an Israeli military base. Jewish residents of the Nachlat Yitzchak neighborhood, forced to abandon their East Jerusalem homes in the 1948 war, were resettled in the Schneller neighborhood.
Development plans
In 2008, the IDF moved its offices to the Ofrit base near Mount Scopus. The Geological Survey of Israel which also operated from the site was moved as well. Current plans are to build a Haredi neighborhood on the orphanage grounds including 600 housing units. The orphanage buildings, architecturally important because of their age and European style, will be preserved and used as public buildings. Right now, environmental organizations are working to ensure the preservations by the municipality.
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31°47′27″N 35°12′46″E / 31.7908°N 35.2127°E / 31.7908; 35.2127
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