Background

Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl (Theodor Herzl) (1860–1904) - the visionary of the Jewish state, the State of Israel.

Herzl was born in Budapest, Hungary (in Pest, before its unification with Buda), in a house adjacent to the Dohány Street Synagogue

 

. His parents, who were liberal Jews, attended this synagogue, and he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah there.

In 1878 Herzl’s family moved to Vienna, primarily to enable him to pursue higher academic studies. That same year he began studying law at the University of Vienna, where he was first exposed to antisemitism and racism against Jews.
In 1884 he received a Doctor of Law degree and began working at the District Court in Vienna. In 1885 he renounced his Hungarian citizenship and became an Austrian citizen.

Herzl practiced law for only one year. Beginning in 1886, he wrote articles, feuilletons, and travel diaries that were published in newspapers. He also wrote essays, short stories, and plays that were staged in Germany and Austria. In 1892 he moved to Paris, France, where he served as the Paris correspondent for the Austrian newspaper Neue Freie Presse.

Herzl held various ideas regarding the future of the Jewish people, some of them so radical as to include the idea of mass conversion to Christianity as a way of combating antisemitism.

Herzl covered the Dreyfus Affair in his newspaper, in which the Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of espionage and treason on antisemitic grounds

 

. Following the trial and other events, Herzl became convinced that the solution to antisemitism was the establishment of a Jewish state outside Europe. To finance such a state, he approached several wealthy Jews, including Baron Hirsch and the Rothschild family, but achieved little success.

In 1896 he consolidated his ideas in the book Der Judenstaat (“The Jewish State”), which he completed while in Vienna

 

. The ideas in the book alarmed much of the Jewish community, and opposition arose in Germany, Austria, and also in his birthplace, Hungary.

Herzl did not despair and continued promoting the idea of a Jewish state. He met with leaders from various countries (Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden; the Grand Vizier; the Ottoman Prime Minister Halil Rifat Pasha) and with Jewish leaders (Baron Edmond James de Rothschild).
Following these meetings, he decided to advance the idea of the Zionist Congress and the Zionist movement.

In 1897 he founded the newspaper Die Welt (“The World”), dedicated entirely to promoting Zionism. That same year he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, after which he famously declared: “In Basel I founded the Jewish State.”
A year later, the Second Zionist Congress was convened (again in Basel), where the establishment of a Jewish bank was decided upon, and the upcoming visit of German Emperor Wilhelm II to Israel was also discussed.

Herzl met the Emperor three times: in Constantinople (before the Emperor arrived in Israel), at Mikveh Israel

 

, and in Jerusalem

 

. In these meetings he attempted to persuade the Emperor to use his influence on the Ottoman Sultan to permit Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel (see more in the next section and in: visit of Emperor Wilhelm II to Israel).

In 1899–1900 the Third and Fourth Zionist Congresses were held (in Basel and London, respectively). In 1901 Herzl succeeded in meeting the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople, attempting to persuade him to open the gates of the Land of Israel to Jewish settlement.

In 1901 the Fifth Zionist Congress was convened in Basel (the well-known photograph of Herzl standing on the balcony of his hotel in Basel was taken during this congress).
In 1902 he was again invited to meet the Sultan, this time as head of the Zionist movement. The Sultan agreed in principle to Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in exchange for Jewish financiers covering Turkey’s debts.

In 1902 Herzl completed his novel Altneuland (“Old-New Land”), describing a utopian vision of a Jewish state. The famous phrase “If you will it, it is no dream” became closely associated with Herzl

 

.
That same year he traveled again to Constantinople to negotiate conditions for Jewish settlement.

Herzl continued seeking meetings with world leaders in his efforts to find a homeland for the Jewish people. In 1902 he met British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain and tried to persuade him to allow the establishment of a Jewish state in Cyprus or the Sinai Peninsula, both under British control. Chamberlain proposed Uganda instead - an offer Herzl initially rejected due to its distance from the Land of Israel.
In 1903, after the Kishinev pogrom, Herzl was prepared to consider the “Uganda Plan” (as well as other locations such as the Congo or Mozambique).
That same year, at the Sixth Zionist Congress (again in Basel), strong opposition to the Uganda Plan was expressed.

A year later, Herzl continued meeting leaders, including King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Pope Pius X, seeking support for Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.

That same year his health deteriorated, and on July 3, 1904, he died of complications from pneumonia.

Herzl’s Visit to the Land of Israel and His Meeting with German Emperor Wilhelm II
In October–November 1898, the Emperor visited Israel. Herzl also traveled to Israel in order to meet him.
Herzl arrived at the Port of Jaffa from Constantinople, Turkey

 

, and stayed at the Hotel Palestine (Kaminetz)

 

, .

From Jaffa he traveled to Mikveh Israel

 

, where he had a brief meeting with the Emperor

 

. He then continued to Rishon LeZion

 

,

 

(where he stayed at the Clerk’s House

 

), Ness Ziona

 

, Rehovot

 

, Motza Illit, and concluded the visit in Jerusalem

 

, where he met the Emperor again.

Commemoration
Herzl is commemorated in many places in Israel and around the world.
In almost every city in Israel, one of the main streets is named “Herzl Street”

 

.
Elsewhere, places bear his name as well: in Budapest, the city of his birth, there is Theodor Herzl Square

 

, and in Vienna, the city to which he moved, there are the Theodor Herzl Stairs

 

.

The Herzliya Gymnasium - the first Hebrew high school - is named after him

 

,

 

.
The city of Herzliya also bears his name; its municipal emblem includes seven stars, alluding to the flag envisioned by Herzl for the Jewish state (seven golden stars)

 

.