Vienna, Haifa or Jerusalem?
The debates on Theodor Herzl’s final resting place
Markus Ponweiser
In the annals of history, certain figures transcend their mortal existence to become enduring symbols of ideals and movements. Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, undoubtedly occupies such a revered position. Even in death, Herzl became a subject of fervent debate, as evidenced in the Hermann Struck Collection in the Yekkes Archive. Struck, a famous German-Israeli painter, was a longstanding member of the Zionist Congress and companion of Herzl, and painter of one of his most famous portraits. His personal inheritance shed light on the contentious issue of Herzl’s final resting place.
Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist idea, who spent his life campaigning for the creation of a Jewish state, died in 1904 in Edlach an der Rax in his home country Austria, a tranquil place in the foothills of the Alps, as a result of a heart condition, and was subsequently laid to rest in the Vienna-Döbling cemetery. In his will, Herzl explicitly expressed his desire to be laid to rest in Eretz Israel, though he did not specify the exact location. This omission sparked a series of fervent debates at the Zionist Congresses, as members deliberated over the most fitting resting place for the father of the Zionist movement.
The 19th Zionist Congress, taking place in Lucerne, Switzerland, in late summer of 1936, appointed Adolf Böhm, a historian of the Zionist movement, as the expert on the issue of the transfer of Herzl’s remains to Erez-Israel. In his expert report, the most insightful document in the Struck collection, Böhm cites some of Herzl’s friends and companions, all of whom can testify that he would have wanted to be buried on Mount Carmel. A.H. Reich, who was Herzl’s secretary and who is referred to as the “key witness” is quoted as follows: “… one day before the opening of the 4th Congress in London, Herzl literally said to him: ‘I thought it was over with me; when it is over, I want to be buried at Mount Carmel.’”
That quote by Herzl himself has a striking similarity with that of one of the characters in his novel “Altneuland” from 1902 where it says: “And when I die, lay me beside my dear friend Fischer, up there in the Carmel cemetery, overlooking our beloved land and sea.” Herzl was fond of the city of Haifa and the nature surrounding and made it a culturally and economically important city in his novel in a country that was still a dream at that time.
Böhm’s expert report also takes into account the symbolic meaning of the Carmel and ties it to Herzl’s ideas and ideology when it says: “Anyone who delves into Herzl’s writings and character will find in them the traits of grandeur and far-sightedness that elevate his Zionism from the soil of mere nationalism and make it appear as a cultural act of world significance. It is in keeping with this universalist school of thought that he wanted to rest on a point that had a distant view to the East and West.”
There were also voices at the Zionist Congresses advocating for Herzl to be buried on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, in a Pantheon near the campus of the Hebrew University given that the city has been the epitome of the Zionist idea, and the university symbolizes the Zionist spirit However, the report refuted these suggestions by pointing out that Herzl had no contact whatsoever with the symbol of Jerusalem, and that a Pantheon on Mount Scopus, for example, would not be an option. After all, a number of great men such as Achad Haam, Nordau or Bialik are already buried either in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Let alone, Herzl’s uniqueness demanded that a place be found for him where he can be enthroned alone above all others.
The idea of a Herzl shrine at the Carmel had already been thought through so fully and in such detail that its advocates debated about how best to prevent companies around the Carmel from profiteering from the upgrading of the area through Herzl’s tomb. One of the potential donors to a potential shrine at the Carmel, a certain Mr. Ruttenberg (probably referring to Pinhas Ruttenberg, a prominent Jewish engineer, entrepreneur, and Zionist leader), for example, said that nothing in its surroundings should indicate that Herzl would be buried here to discourage usury and do justice to the sanctity of the place.
Despite these discussions, the plan to bury Herzl in Eretz-Israel bore fruit only about a decade later. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israeli prime Minister David Ben-Gurion decided to have Herzl buried in Jerusalem to emphasize that the city’s going to remain the place of longing for the newly established Jewish state. On the 6th of August 1949, the remains of Herzl were brought to Israel from Vienna and lay in state in Tel Aviv before being transferred to a hill in West Jerusalem, subsequently named “Mount Herzl” in his honour, for reburial. A special plane escorted by Israeli fighter jets transported the coffins, and the arrival was marked by salutes from heavy artillery and vessels in Haifa port. The Israeli parliament held a special session to pay tribute to Herzl, with Premier Ben Gurion declaring the reburial a triumphant realization of Herzl’s vision.
