Beit Keller • Templar archive in Haifa

In the Hezbollah missile attack on Haifa from Saturday 16/11/24, the building known as "Beit Keller" located at 2 Keller St., a remnant of the Templar mansion established there in 1887, was damaged.

About the Templars in 3 sentences

As we know, the Templars came to Haifa for religious reasons related to the future appearance of their Messiah, Jesus, in the Holy Land. In order to bring the arrival of the Messiah closer, in their opinion, advance preparation was needed that required them to live in the Holy Land in community settings, and this so that their lifestyle would serve as a model for the local residents. The Templars established their settlement at the foot of Carmel in 1868 andThe People's House was the first structure built on the site.

Keller House

The building, erected in 1887, was used as the residence of the German aristocracy Bertha von Benwert who was the main financier of the Templars' purchase of the land from the order of the Kamalites in Haifa. In 1903 Mrs. von Benwert returned to Europe and the house was handed over to me Friedrich (Fritz) Keller who was the deputy consul of Germany in Haifa. Fritz Keller and his family lived in the building until Keller's death in 1913. The street where the building is located is named after Fritz Keller.

In 1918, after the death of Bertha von Benwert, her house was bought by Yitzhak Goldberg, who destroyed the old building, and in its place built a new house and named it after his wife - "Rachel's House". The nearby street, "Sderot Yitzhak" is named after him. 

Yitzhak Leib Goldberg was a Jewish philanthropist and a Lithuanian Zionist activist who did a lot for the Zionist movement and for the building of the Land of Israel. He was also one of the founders of "Kashret HaYishuv" and is sometimes referred to as "the unknown benefactor".

Later, "Beit Rachel" was also destroyed. However, under the pressure of the heritage preservation organizations, it was decided to preserve one of the houses that was built by Fritz Keller as the servants' house and during the time of Yitzchak Goldberg it was used to accommodate visitors. This building, called the "Consul's Summer House", was renovated with funding from the German government (1993) and is now known as the "Keller House". It is a two-story building with a basement, with a tiled roof and a wooden external staircase, typical of the Templar construction and finished with smooth plaster in a light shade.

"Beit Keller" currently houses the "Gottlieb Schumacher Institute" (directed by Yossi Ben-Artzi) which serves as an archive for Templar documents and a research center for the activities of the Templar movement in Israel. The building was declared a "building for preservation" by the Haifa Municipality and the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites.

Friedrich (Fritz) Keller (1838-1913)

As evidenced by the plaque on the wall of the house that bears his name, he was "one of the first Templar settlers in Haifa and the pioneer of construction on Mount Carmel." Keller was a butcher by trade but was employed as a clerk by the Templars Jacob Schumacher, US consul in Haifa, and thus acquired diplomatic experience. Later, Keller was appointed as the deputy consul of Germany in Haifa, and also served as an agent for the Austrian shipping company "Lloyd" and the Austrian Post. He built his house on Carmel in 1877. 

Keller believed in the healing power of Mount Carmel and initiated the construction of houses there, including a guest house and hotels. The Keller House, completed in 1890, was the first house where Templars lived in central Carmel (Carmelheim) and has survived to this day. This is a garden house that serves as a guest house. As mentioned, this historical place was purchased, restored and renovated thanks to a generous donation from the German government.

Keller's house in the German colony is currently at 1 Ben Gurion Blvd.

Gottlieb Schumacher (1857-1925)

Gottlieb Schumacher, member of the Templar colony in Haifa, was born in the USA to parents of German origin. He was an engineer and amateur archaeologist. His father, Jacob Schumacher, joined the Templars and was the vice consul of the USA in Haifa.
third. Schumacher designed many houses in Israel, among them the winery building in Rishon Lezion, the mission hospital in Safed and a large hostel for pilgrims in Nazareth. He also planned the route of the Haifa-Damascus railway ("the Valley Railway") as part of the "Hijazite Railway", while working for the Ottoman government. In addition, he served as the city engineer of Acre. As an amateur archaeologist, he was the first to excavate Tel Megiddo and uncovered archaeological finds of great value.

After the death of his father, Jacob Schumacher, Gottlieb inherited his position as the deputy consul of the USA in Haifa. His house, located at 12 Ben Gurion Ave. today, continued to serve as the US consulate until 1904. It was Gottlieb Schumacher who suggested reading the name of the city of Haifa as it is pronounced today. Until then, the city was called with different pronunciations and different spellings. He was buried in the Templar cemetery in Haifa.

Saving the Keller House archive

Beit Keller was damaged during the Hezbollah shelling of Haifa on the night of 16.11.24/XNUMX/XNUMX. As a result of being hit by missile fragments, the ceiling of the western building collapsed and the windows were damaged. Because of this, the unique documents and books in the Beit Keller archive remained exposed to the rain that was expected to arrive in the evening.

The next day, following the call of Dr. Lilach Brock, Director of Open Academic and Training at the institute, many volunteers, including students from the Technion and the university and citizens from the neighborhood, mobilized for salvage operations of Beit Keller's precious contents. They packed the findings to keep them away from the house that broke into the sky and store them in a safe place from the rains.

All the documents and other findings were transferred to the University of Haifa for temporary storage until the completion of the Beit Keller restoration and conservation operations.

Thanks

My thanks are hereby given toNoga Carmi, CEO of Hai Fe, for suggesting the subject of this article.

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