Not far from the "Shuq Talpiot" building, at 27 Sirkin Street, lies a building known as "Beit Kerman," where its designer, architect Moshe Gershtel, also lived.
Taher Kerman, the entrepreneur
The developer of the building was Taher Kerman (1890-1952), an Arab businessman, born in the city of Nablus, one of the wealthy people of Haifa in the 30s. He also served as deputy mayor of Haifa at the time. He initiated several projects in the field of residential real estate and also owned an agricultural farm in Ivtin. In his former house, which is also located on Sirkin Street (No. 34), there are now shops on the ground floor and a synagogue on the first floor. It should be emphasized that Sirkin Street was at that time one of the most sought-after streets for residences and commerce in the Hadar neighborhood.
Kerman House
The connection between Kerman and architect Moshe Gershtel was formed near the latter's immigration to Israel, after he won the competition to design the Talpiot Market building. The Kerman House, designed in 1937 and constructed over the following years, was one of the largest built in Haifa at the time.
The building was built on the sides of a square courtyard enclosed in all directions except the northeast corner. The ground floor, along Sirkin Street, was commercial, and above it rose 2 floors and an additional attic floor that were intended for residences. The building has 3 staircases leading to 8 apartments with 2-3 rooms on each floor. There are additional apartments on the attic floor, and the building has a total of about 30 apartments.
The facade facing Sirkin Street, which is approximately 30 meters long, is symmetrically designed and includes 3 fields: a central field raised above the street and 2 slightly sunken side fields with semicircular balconies with steel strip railings, according to the best of the Bauhaus formal dictionary. In the central field, the rectangular windows are organized in horizontal stripes. The building is clad in stone with a delicate "mutava" treatment, a treatment typical of Haifa, in contrast to similar buildings of the "White City" with plaster cladding that were built in Tel Aviv.
As is known, architect Moshe Gershtel lived for a period of time in a rooftop apartment in this building, as a sign of satisfaction and appreciation on the part of developer Kerman.
Architect Moshe Gerstel
Moshe Gershtel (1886-1981) was born in Lviv (then Galicia), now Ukraine. He studied architecture in his hometown. He served in World War I as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army. He qualified as an architect after passing the exams at the University of Vienna. After the war, he developed a professional career in Austria and Romania (Bucharest, Iasi). In 1933, he immigrated to Israel and settled in Haifa. He designed many projects in Haifa, such as:
- Residences, “urban villas”, mostly for Arab businessmen
- Public buildings: the Industrial House, the old and famous Carmel Hospital, including the Talpiot Market building.
He is considered a modernist architect who combined local building traditions (stone construction) with modern elements of the Bauhaus style, which he was well acquainted with during his time in Europe. From his marriage, two sons were born: Leopold Gerstel, who continued in his father's professional path, and Oswald Gerstel, who practiced dentistry. (To be frank: I had the privilege of studying at the Technion with the architect Leopold Gerstel, who later left Israel and taught architecture in Austria).
Epilogue
The Sirkin Street of yesteryear is not the Sirkin Street of today. On the ground floor of the Kerman House, the commercial building, there are popular businesses typical of a market complex, not the luxurious shops of yesteryear. The inner courtyard is very neglected. Some of the back balconies have been closed with shutters or construction, and on other balconies, canopies of light construction have been installed.
The Haifa Municipality website states that the Kerman House is "a wonderful example of Arab-Jewish architectural collaboration between the entrepreneur, businessman, and deputy mayor Hajj Taher Kerman, and the architect Moshe Gershtel." Ostensibly, the building is declared for preservation, although I did not find the sign to be acceptable.
For anyone interested in the works of architect Moshe Gershtel, historian Karnit Mandel has created Facebook Page Documenting his work abroad and in Israel. Journalist Naama Riva, in an article in the newspaper "Haaretz", called Moshe Gershtel "the forgotten genius of Israeli architecture."
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Thank you very much for the credit! I am not a historian 🙂 That is, not officially. I am a filmmaker, I worked for many years in historical productions as a researcher, and that is how I gained knowledge. I have been researching Moshe Gershtel in recent years, since I have lived in one of the houses he built. Thank you very much for the article. Feel free to contact me if you would like to share your experiences from studying with Poldi: [email protected]
Beautiful, interesting and very fascinating!
Thank you, David.
Thank you very much for the support!
Architect Moshe Gershtel built the building at 2 Bilu Street. He lived there on the 2nd floor until his death. He was also the owner of the building. He did not agree to rent an apartment to a family with children. The building had a separate entrance, and only there did he allow Mr. David and Elsa Dreyfus with their daughter Batya.
He built this building but he lived in Safed 3A until his death. I would be happy if you would write to me – [email protected] I'm researching his biography.
Thanks for the new information.
I will refer to the building you mentioned: Well, my esteemed lady, the article was about the "Kerman House" which adjoins building number 29, which indeed, as you said, housed the "Aretz" (Aram-Zova) school for the Jews of Aleppo on its first floor. On the floor above the school, the rabbi of the lower city, Mr. Sudari, lived. At the entrance to the building was a basement belonging to the math teacher from "Harali" - Yitzhak. On the side facing Yechiel Street, there used to be a hostel, which was converted into a supermarket.
This entire block belonged to the Kerman family. No. 27, built by Gershtel, was an apartment building for rent. The Kerman family lived in No. 29, where the Aram-Zova synagogue was later located.
Thank you very much for the interesting information. The synagogue on the first floor of this building is the synagogue of the immigrants from the city of Aleppo in Syria. They are very proud of it and it is well preserved.
Thank you very much for your response, Shabbat Shalom!
I will refer to the building you mentioned: Well, my esteemed lady, the article was about the "Kerman House" which adjoins building number 29, which indeed, as you said, housed the "Aretz" (Aram-Zova) school for the Jews of Aleppo on its first floor. On the floor above the school, the rabbi of the lower city, Mr. Sudari, lived. At the entrance to the building was a basement belonging to the math teacher from "Harali" - Yitzhak. On the side facing Yechiel Street, there used to be a hostel, which was converted into a supermarket.
Thanks for the article and illustration.
Architect Moshe Gershtel died in 1961, not 1891, as is mistakenly stated. Even a talented and original architect like him could not have designed his buildings until he was 5 years old.
It is a pity that he did not receive the recognition he deserved in Israeli and even international architecture. His success in combining stone construction with the international style is unique to him in particular and to the Haifa Bauhaus in general.
Thank you very much for your response, we will of course correct the mistake in the year of Gerstel's death, Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you. I lived with my parents on 29 Sirkin Street from the day I was born until I was 8. As far as I know, this house also belonged to Karaman and he gave an entire floor to Mr. Yitzhak Nahon. We had a room there on this floor. Wonderful memories also of the connections with all the merchants on the street.
Thank you for your response, I'm glad the article brought back pleasant memories for you, Shabbat Shalom!
The most important thing about this complex building, known to old-timers, is that the building was primarily identified by the famous "Wachtel" bakery, which was located on the ground floor of the building, northwest of 5 and 5a Hesham Street. There were hollow spaces along the entire length of the roof, which served as water reservoirs (wells) for each apartment separately. The water flow would descend by gravity directly to the faucets, which was a unique innovation at the time. The "Friedman Liquor Company" was located in the center of the shops, and on its sides was Yaakov Salameh's fish store, the grocery stores of Ducha El-Nekwa and Ovadia Amar, the father of Asher the footballer, and the famous non-kosher butcher shop in the western corner. A famous resident was the communist midwife of most of the babies born in their house. (including mine and my entire family). This building also housed the kindergarten teacher Hadassah Koblitz, who raised generations of children. Famous families inhabited this complex, such as Cohen of the shoes, and Elbez, and Guttmacher, and Meno the Bulgarian of the pickles, and Bonan on the roof, and Daniel, and Merom of the furniture, and many other good and dear ones, most of whom have already passed on to the next world. Today, everything written here is just a memory from the past, from the days of the British Mandate in Palestine-Jerusalem to the wars: the liberation, Sinai, the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur, Peace of Galilee, (first and second) to the cursed and long Iron Swords of today.
Beautiful memories and interesting information about the building. Thank you and Happy Shabbat!
Hikon is the last name of the football player Asher Almani, not as it was mistakenly written above.
This information is fantastic, thank you so much!
Thank you for your kind words!