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The Schumacher house in the German colony: the Grossberger family restores and tells about the renovation of the stone house that was over 150 years old

Three brothers decided to renovate a house, which had been the property of the family for years, while maintaining the special historical value of the house. The brothers are Uri Grossberger, 48 years old, married with three children, Tomer Grossberger, a psychologist, 49 years old, and Amnon Grossberger, who works in high-tech, 40 years old.

Schumacher House (photo: private album)
Schumacher House (photo: private album)

"My brothers and I grew up in Haifa," says Uri, "My grandparents arrived in Haifa in 1948. They were first in Jerusalem and from there they moved to Haifa. They lived in this building, Beit Schumacher, at 12 Ben Gurion in the German Colony. It is a 10-room building, so there were 6-7 families live there together. The building next door had a stable and my grandfather converted the building into a garage. Over the years, families left and my family acquired the rights to another room each time. They lived there for many years and the car business was next door. They did not know that the house had meaning Historically. The house was simply a residence and it was preserved."

Uri Grossberger in front of the house (Photo: Albop Private)
Uri Grossberger in front of the house (Photo: Albop Private)

A 150-year-old building with a long history

When Uri says that the house had a history, he means that the house was built in 1870, by me Jacob Schumacher, who was one of the Templars.

Jacob Schumacher came to the German colony from the USA and was a partner in the planning of the neighborhood (he was an architect and mason). Two years after the house was built, Jacob Schumacher was appointed the deputy consul of the USA in the north of the country, and the house became the consulate building. The position of consul was an inherited position, and after Jacob died, his son Gottlieb Schumacher became the consul and until 1904 the house was the consulate building.

To Gottlieb Schumacher and his wife had nine children and therefore the west wing was added to the house. Murals were painted on the walls of the house, which were discovered several years ago.

Gottlieb Schumacher He was an archaeologist and an engineer and he was very successful in these fields. The house used Schumacher's heirs until 1939, when the Templars were expelled from the country. From 1939 to 1948 the house was in the hands of an Arab family. After the war of liberation, Israeli families were housed in the house.

A renovation that pays respect to the structure

The stairs in the house (private photo album)
The stairs in the house (private photo album)

"The house has not received special maintenance over the years," Uri explains, "20 years ago I moved into the house. I was already a student and every day I would travel from the German colony to the University of Haifa. Little by little, over many, many years, we tried to renovate the house because it is a very old building From 1870.

In 2022 we mobilized all the resources, me and my brothers, for the preservation of the building. We wanted to do something special, which is not so common in Haifa. We raised the necessary millions, and a year ago we entered into a very comprehensive renovation that includes all the facades of the house, all stone work, infrastructure work and engineering. We replaced all the roofs and windows, we treated the floors so that they look like the floors of the past.

During the renovation we also discovered all kinds of things about the house. We uncovered a basement, which was originally built as a refrigerator, because there was no refrigerator in 1870. We found all kinds of memorabilia from the past. We found a sundial, which the representative of the British delegation gave to Schumacher during the First World War, when he was living in his house. We have a well outside the house and a cistern, which is no longer found. The cistern was intended to collect rainwater. The well also had a water pump, which we are now restoring. We uncovered murals. There used to be no white walls like today. We revealed one mural in its entirety at the request of the conservation department of the Haifa municipality."

The house during the renovation (photo: private album)
The house during the renovation (photo: private album)

The renovation preserved what is special about the building

"The house is built of stone, but its finish should not show the stone itself. In the end, what you see is a house, a stone, but there is a layer of quicklime on the stone. Here we have repeated techniques from 150 years ago. The end result is that the house looks yellowish. In the end, a result came out Gorgeous".

We are very satisfied with the results of the renovation. The success comes from the architecture of the house, the arches, and also because of the history, which the building has.

The first house built in the German colony

When the Templars arrived here, it was the first house built in the German colony in 1870. There is a book by Schmaucher's granddaughter, which she wrote before her death, in which she says that her grandfather could not find a table and a chair within a radius of dozens of kilometers. Everything was very simple.

Little by little they built the colony and established themselves in Haifa. The person who built the house was a very special character, he was a man of Eshkolot, an explorer of the Land of Israel. He hosted in his house representatives from the English delegation, when they came to explore the Land of Israel when they realized that the Ottoman Empire was about to crumble. He built them another wing in the house and hosted them for several years."

We intend to restore the historically valuable sundial

"When the English delegation left, they gave a sundial as a gift, which was the only clock in the entire German colony. When the clock showed 12 o'clock, they would ring the bell of the People's House, which is still across the road to this day, and then all the people would know how to set their clocks. We intend to restore the The sundial".

"When the First World War broke out, the Germans were not loved here"

"Gottlieb Schumacher did not stay in Haifa during World War I, only after the war was he allowed to return. He died in 1924. Until the outbreak of World War II, there were still Germans from the Schumacher family in the German colony. During World War II they were deported.

Until 1948 there was an Arab family living in the building and we know nothing about it. In 1948, my family moved into the building. Since all these years we have lived in the building and try to preserve the history of the house, that it be preserved and not add additions to it, which were not in the original building."

A gift to the city of Haifa

"There are all kinds of historical incarnations that have passed through the settlement and we are a part of it. There is no trip in Haifa where people do not stand in front of the house and get an explanation about it. Now you can see a beautiful house and not a ruined house. This is the task we have taken upon ourselves - to give a gift to the city of Haifa. In the end, what motivates us is To take something beautiful and take the beauty out of it, to bring back the old beauty.

The house is not big, its area is 360 square meters, the expenses are disproportionate. In a modern building, the cost of the renovation is almost 3 times and the task is not over yet, we are still working."

During all of Passover (April 2023) my brothers and I renovated a staircase. We sanded, painted, sanded, removed old layers of paint, completed pieces of wood that were missing. From here we will move to the door frames, which need to be restored. We have a stunning attic. Everyone who sees the attic says it's their favorite part of the house."

In the end we will rent the house, the tenants will accept the family as part of the structure

"Our intention is to rent out the house. It can be a hotel or Air B & B.
The problem is that we have to find the right tenant who will love the house and accommodate us, since we have a special feeling for the house. The renovation was not a financial matter. It goes without saying that it is not economically feasible to invest in maintaining apartment prices in Haifa.

The difficulty is not only the high cost - there are not many contractors who know how to do this, working with stone and understanding the physics of the building is not easy. You have to understand that there is no iron in the building at all. The building was built according to construction methods of 150 years ago, it was built entirely of stone. Where there was iron, it had to be taken out. It was not an easy task. The one who helped us during the preservation process was the municipality. Einav Shouri, the director of the conservation department, accompanied us through the process and helped us where necessary."

"We believe that you can do great things if you do it with love and attention. This is the way to deal with large buildings. You have to break it down into small details and make every detail the best possible."

Above the main door of the house, there is a verse from the book of Psalms, chapter 4 verse 7: "Try upon us the light of your face, O Lord..."

The intention is to try like a miracle, a flag. The Germans came to Israel with a vision for world peace. The goal was not to conquer. I hope that this place in the mixed downtown of peaceful Haifa will add to the calm that this country needs. People like the place, look and move on and we hope this contributes to the relaxed atmosphere in the city.

contact: At watsapBy email

Michal Grover
Michal Grover
Michal Grover Education reporter • Real estate • Company Contact: 054-4423911 Mail to the container: [email protected]

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11 תגובות

  1. You are lucky that Amidar didn't take the house like the adjacent house that belonged to my father. I wish you luck,

    • If the house belonged to your father - it certainly wasn't taken.
      Maybe there was just a tenant?

  2. It is important to restore every detail of the Nazi Templar houses and on the way to support the systematic destruction of the history of the Jewish settlement such as the destruction of schools, the destruction of synagogues, the destruction of the houses of the heads of the Hadar council and the destruction of Jewish history in the lower city and in the Arad El Yehud neighborhood.
    Arad al Yehud is not guarded. Neither will you. And streets like Hashomer are also being systematically destroyed.
    The main thing is that the houses of the Germans are preserved down to the centimeter. What a strange nation we are.

  3. Let them turn the house into a national museum in Haifa that will be preserved for generations and that way people from all over the country will be able to get an impression of the building for a symbolic sum of twenty shekels entrance to the Schumacher House Museum in Haifa.

  4. I will linger to take a look at the building the next time I come to Haifa. A road teacher who loves the history of the Templars, and appreciates the figure of Gottlieb Schumacher the archaeologist. Kudos to the children of the Grosberger School for their investment and contribution to the beauty of the city. Dov Friedman from Israelite Zion

  5. As you know, the original Schumacher House became the Schumacher Hotel and received various benefits for this - and it is a completely different building - why pretend to be the Schumacher House here?

    • Two different houses. The Schumacher Hotel, where I also worked as a security guard, is located on Meginimin Street, not far from the Schumacher House

    • A question for a colleague - was Schumacher in one house in the morning and another in the evening? That way they will never find Yosla?

  6. Great restoration job
    Reminds me of beautiful childhood days with Shmulik
    We played a lot in the building and in the special yard with the pump wheel
    Breathe

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