Topic overview
>Symposion about World War One at the Hospice
>Symposion II
>Final concert Sounding Jerusalem

Symposion about World War One at the Hospice

Doctors - Artillery Men - Musicians
The Austro-Hungarian Battle for the Holy Land

A few hours ago an academic symposium held in the Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family came to a close. It was the first such symposium to be held in fifteen years and the second since the guest-house re-opened in 1988. Whilst the speakers in the previous symposia looked at a broad range of subjects relating to Austria's presence and impact in the Levant, and specifically in the Holy Land, the latest symposium focused on a specific issue which has played an important role in Austria's enduring esteem among locals: the expedition of the Austrian Army's howitzer battalion in the years 1916 to 1918.

We were delighted to have as our main speaker Dr. Robert-Tarek Fischer (Vienna), whose recent work on the subject was published by the Peter Lang Publishing House. Herbert Maurer (Vienna) concentrated on the literary ambience at the dusk of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Dr. Ruth Hummel (USA) reported on interviews she had conducted in the Holy Land over a period of almost 25 years with witnesses to the events of the time. Georg (Kevork) Hintilian, Jerusalem's local historian, devoted his talk to a discussion of outstanding Austrian personalities. Dr. Norbert Schwake, director of the German war cemetery in Nazareth, recounted the fate of some individual soldiers during this period and identified their graves.

The symposium was made possible through a generous contribution by KR Rudolfine Steindling who has been supporting the activities of the Hospice for several years.

A selection of photographs from the Hospice archive and from the "Sceptre and Pilgrim's Staff" exhibition at the Cathedral Museum Vienna offered thematic accompaniment to the various research perspectives: a group picture of Archduke Hubert Salvator with Alois Musil and Rector Franz Fellinger belongs to the context of the Empire's 'prestige work' in the Orient. In the winter of 1916/17 Austrian soldiers provided the inhabitants of Bethlehem with daily provisions. This 'humanitarian involvement' has remained a vivid memory for many people still living there. The sight of imperial troops in the Holy Sepulchre plaza and escorting the Latin Patriarch Camassei on his visit to the Hospice illustrate Austria's attempt to relieve France of its status as "Christian Protector" in the Middle East.

Symposion II

Dr. Robert-Tarek Fischer
The Austrian expert on imperial politics in Palestine during the First World War and the author of "The Austro-Hungarian Battle for the Holy Land" opened the symposium. He shed light on the reasons why the Austrian Chancellor became so involved in this exotic enterprise and on his personal struggle to dispatch Austrian troops to Palestine. A wide range of sources document the successes of the courageous Howitzer division from Marno. Equipped with the most modern weaponry and medical supplies, the battalion was a powerful unit despite comprising a mere 1000 soldiers. Even in the most 'apocalyptic circumstances' the unit remained calm and measured, winning the admiration of friend and foe alike, according to the testimony of Lawrence of Arabia.

The Austro-Hungarian temperament found positive resonance among the local population and the Ottomans on whose side they were fighting. Thanks to concerts, film screenings and the establishment of hospitals and clinics in the Holy Land, the imperial soldiers are fondly remembered to this day by people living there.

Herbert Maurer
Herbert Maurer used as his sources the literary greats Joseph Roth and Karl Kraus who captured so incomparably the ambience that prevailed in the times of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. What would a soldier have gone through and what would he have felt when, in the service of his majesty, he was sent to a completely unknown country which until then had only featured in his imagination as the land of Jesus?

Dr. Ruth Hummel
Dr Hummel devoted herself to the experiences of the local population at that time. She left no stone unturned in her quest to interview witnesses and to find diary entries relating to the imperial soldiers in a time of great need and suffering. Many interviewees recalled the distribution in 1916 of Christmas presents to people living in Bethlehem. They also savored the occasion when "Silent Night" was sung in German, accompanied by the Austrian choir, in the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. They fondly remembered the church service held on the Chancellor's birthday and the requiem in the Holy Sepulchre at his death.

George Hintilian
One has to bear in mind that the Germans were involved in the war in the Middle East from the outset, but remained strangers to the local population. Austrians, however, while appearing only in the second year of war, had long been present in the Holy Land. The rector of the Austrian Hospice at that time, Dr Franz Fellinger, deserves special mention for his successful interventions in both religious and international affairs pertaining to the Holy Land. As vicar general he represented the exiled patriarch and received General Allenby; as such he assumed an official function at the outset of the British Mandate. He headed the Latin Patriarchate and concluded his service as a suffragan bishop of Jerusalem. Fellinger demonstrated exceptional steadfastness at the time of the planned evacuation of Jerusalem by Jamal Pasha in 1917, offering war refugees like the head of the Gaza mission Georg Gatt and
volunteer soldier Georg Gondos accommodation in the Austrian Hospice.

Dr. Norbert Schwake
Although around 600 Austro-Hungarian soldiers died on the front in Palestine during the First World War, we would be hard pushed to name more than a few. Dr. Norbert Schwake brought the stories of the few identified personalities closer to the audience and illustrated the difficulties identifying the graves of the many unknown victims. He held up the case of Austrian Captain Wladislaw von Truszkowski whose corpse had to be exhumed three times in the turmoil of the war before finding his eternal resting place in the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu.

Final concert Sounding Jerusalem

Final concert, July 11th, 2010

Meeting Point at the Austrian Hospice at 5:00 pm Musical walk through the Old City of Jerusalem and Final concert at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer at 6.30 pm

All years, the final concert of Sounding Jerusalem is transporting a special message. What began as the „roof concert" - a vision of music connecting people up in the air, on top of the roofs of Jerusalem's Old City - has come down to the earth. This musical vision is no longer an untouchable cloud of sounds in the sky, but tries to mix with the people and become part of the life in the narrow alleyways.

The goal ist to abolish the limitations between active musician and passive spectator. Music is a common good and therefore should be experienced in common. Everyone is invited to be a musician and to express himself/herself in a piece of percussion that is especially composed for this evening.

A festive group of people (this means you) will meet at the Austrian Hospice at 5.00 pm and from there start a sounding procession to the picturesque courtyard oft he Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. Everyone will be provided with a little instrument of percussion and professionally instructed to actively be part of the musical orchestration that will sound through the streets of the Old City.

After arriving in the Church of Redeemer, there will be a huge musical performance involving all levels of the beautiful courtyard. Over 30 percussionists from all over the world, the musicians performing the Sounding Jerusalem „Mélange Oriental" program as well as a renowned photographer artist from Europe, projecting his subtle and touching impressions of Jerusalem, will as a final highlight create a firework of rhythm, melodies and visual eye catchers.

More information can be found at www.soundingjerusalem.com