[work in progress]
Introduction
After Emperor Tewodros’ defeat at Amba Mariam (aka Maqdala) in 1868, the Protestant missionaries had to leave the country. Johannes Mayer brought eight teenagers to Jerusalem where they were enrolled in two missionary schools:
Bishop Gobat’s school
Samuel Gobat, a Swiss who had worked for the Church Missionary Society in Ethiopia, served as Protestant Bishop in Jerusalem from 1846 until he died in 1879. Gobat was close to Spittler, who, among other things, had founded the St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission (near Basel).
In addition to providing pastoral care for foreign Protestants living in the Holy Land, Gobat was particularly concerned with reaching out to Arabic-speaking Christians. He sought to achieve this, not least through educational institutions.
Already in 1847, Gobat opened his first school. Six years later, the school moved to a new building on Mount Zion (which is now used by Jerusalem University College).
In 1877, Gobat handed over the school to the Church Missionary Society.
Staff
House father: Heinrich Baldensperger (1823‒1896),
Teacher: Johannes Ferdinand Palmer (1818‒1892)
Ethiopian Students
- Gebru [aka Gobaw] Desta (1868‒72)
- Haylu Wossen (1868‒71)
- Sanbetu Dani’el (according to Debrunner [? – 1871])
- Wolde Sellasie Kenfu (1871‒72)
Schneller’s school (aka Syrian orphanage)
Johann Ludwig Schneller (1820‒96)
In 1889, the orphanage and school were handed over to a board of trustees in Germany (and Schneller’s sons managed the institution on site).
Ethiopian youth associated with Schneller’s school:
- Ruufoo (late 1869, early 1870)
- _ _ _
(3) Excursus: Jaffa Station
Jaffa Port has been the main sea entry to the Holy Land in the 19th century. Many Protestants thus met the St. Chrischona employee Peter Martin Metzler, who served in Jaffa from 1858 to 1869.
Map
()
Further reading
1. Published Sources
Gobat, Samuel [et al.]. Samuel Gobat, Bishop of Jerusalem, His Life and Work: A Biographical Sketch, Drawn Chiefly from His Own Journals. Translated from German. London: James Nisbet, 1894. [Digitale Sammlungen]
- German version: Gobat, Samuel [et al.]. Samuel Gobat, Evangelischer Bischof in Jerusalem: Sein Leben und Wirken meist nach seinen eigenen Aufzeichnungen. Basel: Spittler, 1894. [Digitale Sammlungen]
Schneller, Ludwig. Vater Schneller: Ein Patriarch der Evangelischen Mission im Heiligen Lande. Leipzig: Wallmann, 1904. [Archive.org]
2. Journal Articles (19th century)
Calwer Missionsblatt
- Several articles on Gobat’s ministry in Jerusalem, 1853 ff.
[Available, e.g., at Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart,
Ref. Code: Q 3/55 Bü 96]
[CMS journals; etc.]
3. Secondary Literature
Debrunner, Hans Werner. Presence and Prestige: Africans in Europe; A History of Africans in Europe before 1918. Basel (Switzerland): Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 1979. [View online]
Eisler, Jakob E. Peter Martin Metzler (1824‒1907): Ein christlicher Missionar als Pionier im Heiligen Land. Haifa: Gottlieb-Schumacher Institut (Univ. of Haifa), 1999.
⸻. “Die Pilgermission St. Chrischona im Heiligen Land,” in Deutschland und Deutsche in Jerusalem: Eine Konferenz in Mishkenot Sha’ananim, März 2007, 2nd edition, edited by Haim Goren and Jakob Eisler, p. 65‒79. Jerusalem: Mishkenot Sha’ananim, 2016.
Frutiger, Hans Hermann, and Jakob Eisler. Johannes Frutiger (1836‒1899): Ein Schweizer Bankier in Jerusalem. Köln, etc.: Böhlau, 2004.
Jäger, Theodor. Jakob Ludwig Jaeger: Ein Lebensbild. Basel: Kober, 1898.
Karmel, Aleks. Christen als Pioniere im Heiligen Land: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Pilgermission und des Wiederaufbaus Palästinas im 19. Jahrhundert. Basel: Reinhardt, 1981.
Rengstorf, Karl Heinrich. “Der Brief des Bischofs Samuel Gobat von Jerusalem an den Kaiser Theodoros II. von Äthiopien vom 28. November 1865,” Oriens Christianus 48 (1964): 221‒34.
Samir Akel. Der Pädagoge und Missionar Johann Ludwig Schneller und seine Erziehungsanstalten. Bielefeld: Surbir, 1978. [= Ph.D. dissertation, Tübingen 1978; view Table of Contents]
4. Archival Material
Staatsarchiv des Kantons Basel-Stadt
“Pilgermssion in Palästina.” Dossier [with subfolders]. Ref Code: PA 653a C. 1
“Syrisches Waisenhaus [with subfolders].” Dossier [with subfolders]. Ref. Code: PA 653a C. 4
“Gobat, Bischof, Samuel,” Letters to C.F. Spittler.” Dossier, 1842-61. Ref. Code: PA 653a V. 394
“Samuel Gobat-Zeller, Bischof v. Jerusalem.” Dossier [with subfolders; i.a., biography, part 2, and letters]. Ref. Code: PA 653a XXX
“Baldensperger, Heinrich, Jerusalem.” Dossier, 1859‒1874. Ref. Code: PA 653a XXXI 1.10
Church Mission Society Archive at Birmingham University
» View Research Guide to the CMS Archive
» Search for Gobat in CMS Archive
Conrad Schick Library (at Christ Church Campus, Jerusalem)
?? Israel Trust of the Anglican Church [aka Church Ministry among Jewish People], “Jerusalem Local Committee’s Minute Books” (with reports by F. Palmer)?
Evangelisches Landeskirchliches Archiv Berlin
“Archiv des Jerusalemsvereins.” Ref. Code: ELAB 101 4.3
(Contains, e.g.,
- Jahresberichte [annual reports] des Syrischen Waisenhauses, 1860 ff
Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
“Keller-Haus-Archiv (Kopien der Sammlung des Gottlieb-Schumacher-Instituts zur Erforschung des christlichen Beitrags zum Wiederaufbau Palästinas im 19. Jahrhundert an der Universität Haifa).” Ref. Code: Q 3/55
(Contains, e.g.,
- Jahresberichte [annual reports] des Syrischen Waisenhauses, 1860 ff [with names of the students, etc.; Ref. Code:
Q 3/55 Bü 16-18] - Bruderhaus der Basler Pilgermission St. Chrischona in Jerusalem; Syrisches Waisenhaus [Ref. Code: Q 3/55 Bü 21-22]