Sarona, Palestine

Sarona was a Templer agricultural settlement in the Sharon plain, one of the earliest modern villages established in the Land of Israel, now situated in central Tel Aviv, Israel.

Templer settlement

Sarona does not exist anymore, except in history books and in the archives. The once flourishing Christian agricultural settlement in the midst of the isolated plains north of Jaffa, is today part of Tel Aviv, and known as "Hakirya", located along Kaplan St..

Historian Jakob Eisler writes: "The Swabian Templers settlement of Sarona was the first modern agricultural settlement in Palestine and was reputed to be a model settlement by the Jewish immigrants..." ["From Desert Sands to Golden Oranges" by Helmut Glenk, published by TRAFFORD in 2005; ISBN 1-4120-3506-6]

Establishment

With the purchase of approximately 60 hectares of land from a Greek monastery north of Jaffa in August 1871 the history of Sarona began. Part of the Plains of Sharon (after which it was named) near the River Audsche (Yarkon River) it was some four kilometres from the Jaffa settlement. Surveyed by Theodor Sandel (1845-1902) it was officially named Sarona on 18 October 1871 when the first settlers started to moved there immediately. Extreme hardship and disease took a heavy toll in human life the first few years. Unaccustomed to the scourge of malaria (the cause of which was still unknown then and assumed to be - as the name suggests - due to bad air) 28 of the 125 settlers of Sarona died in 1872 alone. In an effort to improve the conditions the marshy land was cultivated and in the first large scale reforestation in modern Palestine 1300 Eucalyptus (the so-called "fever dissipating trees") were planted.

By 1889, 269 persons lived in Sarona, in 41 houses. 30 other building included community buildings a winery, workshops, barns and sheds. The Sarona settlers brought modern farming tools and practices to the Holy Land. They focussed on crops and products they could readily sell, and this "agriculture-for-profit" was an economic innovation in a land that for centuries had practiced only "self-sustaining farming". Grain crops and dairy industry first, then orchards and vineyards were planted. Faced with a shortage of financial resources for infra-structure development the community introduced "Frondienst", a compulsory work system where every male member was required to do a certain number of hours of community work each month. The building of roads, development of land, roads and drainage and community facilities could thus be scheduled. The researcher and author Sven Hedin wrote of his visit to Sarona in 1916 "...many plants were in blossom. They mainly grow grapes, oranges and vegetables, [but] like in old times they also produce milk and honey."

War Years

In November 1917, during the orange harvest time, the war came to Sarona. British troops (including many Australians) occupied the German settlements in Palestine, including Sarona, and in July 1918 its inhabitants, together with those of Jerusalem, Jaffa and Wilhelma (a total of 850 people) are interned in Egypt at Helouan near Cairo. The Ottoman Turkish Rule ceases in Palestine that year. Negotiations for a return to Palestine were protracted over two years The Red Cross, the Quakers and Unitarians were amongst those who took up the cause for the internees. Eventually, on 29 July 1920 (only after 270 internees had been repatriated in April to Bad Mergentheim in Germany) the House of Lords gave permission for the remaining internees in Egypt to return to Palestine. The residents of Sarona returned to a plundered and dilapidated settlement. Some houses were gone altogether; Vineyards and orchards overgrown and neglected and livestock had disappeared. Following negotiations with the British authorities compensation was paid, in some cases up to 50%.

By 1925 Sarona was still a small settlement, although grown in area to about 492ha. Still a farming community then (25) but more emphasis was placed on tradesmen (29). On 24 July 1923 the Council of the League of Nations passed the Mandate resolution to be administered by Great Britain. With the increasing immigration of Jewish migrants to Palestine (80,000 between 1920 and 1926 alone) the settlement prospered due to a ready market for their produce and their services.

The beginning of World War II on 1 September 1939 marked the beginning of the end of the Templer Settlements in Palestine. By negotiation with the British, the then President of the Temple Society, Philipp Wurst, was able to persuade the authorities not to deport the German settlers this time. So Sarona, together with the three other agricultural settlements - Wilhelma, Bethlehem of Galilee and Waldheim - became "perimeter" compounds into which also all other Germans living in Palestine were interned. Sarona now contained close to 1,000 persons behind a guarded, 4 m high barbwire fence.

In July 1941 198 people from Sarona, together with almost 400 from the other internment camps were suddenly transported to Australia in the then troop carrier liner Queen Elizabeth. They remained interned in Tatura in Central Victoria Australia until 1947. By November 1944 most of the other people still in Sarona had been moved to the Wilhelma camp and the few remaining followed in September 1945. On 22 March 1946, Gotthilf Wagner, aged 59, the last Mayor of Sarona was assassinated in Tel Aviv.

arona Heritage

In 1948 the British left Sarona and it was taken over by the Israeli Government and renamed HaKirya. With the rapid growth of Tel Aviv the area was now virtually at the heart of the great city. Part of the settlement was taken over by government administrative and military agencies. With its solid houses and their unique red tile roofs and mature trees, it became an oasis in the midst of city development. When in the mid 1970s plans for redevelopment of the Kirya area were considered by the authorities, considerable opposition to the planned demolition led to negotiations as to its suitability for the area. Consulting with historians like Dr. Jakob Eisler (who did his Doctorate dissertation in 1997 on the Templers) and Professor Yossi Ben-Artzi as well as Dr. Alex Carmel and Dr. Danny Goldman it was decided a large part of the erstwhile Sarona was of heritage value and 18 of the structures, with distinct architectural building styles, should be preserved.

Since 2003 the preservation and restoration of former Sarona is being administered by a team of City of Tel Aviv specialists headed by Peera Goldman. The following List names some of the buildings recommended for preservation and restoration. To make way for an essential throughroad new techniques were developed for shifting some of the houses up to 100 m.

List

*Three distinct architectural styles have been identified in the Sarona Settlement. Examples of these are:
** Original Community House (No 25) for depicting the style of 1870
** Old Lämmle House (No 19) for its 1870 architectural style
** Glenk House (No 61) built in the early 20th century style
** The New Community House (No 9a), early 20th century style
** Friedrich Häring House (No 52), the modern 1930 style
** New School and Community Complex (No 84) built in the 1930s
** Immanuel Steller House (No 55) restored in 2003

Restoration and preservation of the old homes and buildings may mean Sarona, as historic HaKirya, will remain a visible legacy of the former Templer Settlement.

Footnote

In 2008, after 60 years in the wilderness, the name Sarona is back on the map. Following the opening of a widened Kaplan Street (for which four of the houses and the old "Gemeindehaus" had to be moved, see above) the authorities have renamed the area south of the street the Sarona Garden. This is the area were all the restoration work of the former Templer buildings has taken place (previously known as the "Drom HaKyria project") and where new high rise buildings are being constructed.
A logo has been designed for Sarona Garden, which depicts the "old" (the Winery and Cellar) surrounded by the new.

References

* Helmut Glenk "From Desert Sands to Golden Oranges". Victoria: Trafford, 2005. ISBN 1-4120-3506-6