1935 Romanoff Hebrew Pictorial View of Jerusalem

A striking pictorial view of Jerusalem produced in 1953 by Maximilian Romanoff for the Zionist organization Keren Hayesod. An archetypal work of persuasive cartography, it provides information on Zionist institutions throughout the city with an extensive text accompaniment discussing Jerusalem's history, contemporary political situation, points of interest, and more.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the east-northeast, this view takes in the heart of Jerusalem, including but not limited to the Old City, which is lightly shaded in orange. Historical and contemporary sites are labelled either on the view itself or with numbers corresponding to an index at bottom-right. The Temple Mount, Wailing Wall, and Dome of the Rock are readily noticeable towards top-left, though the latter site is not identified. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem stands prominently on the hill at top-left, while other large and well-known institutions like the Rockefeller Museum and Y.M.C.A. are easily recognizable. Synagogues, hospitals, settlements, the 'Maccabee Ground' stadium, and historical sites are all labelled. The verso includes photographs of the sites noted on the recto, while an accompanying text in Hebrew by Yitzhak Ben-Zvi chronicles the city's history and present status from a Zionist perspective.

Mandatory Jerusalem (1917 - 1947)

The British captured Jerusalem from the Ottomans on December 11, 1917, drastically altering the historical trajectory of the city. Under the British 'Mandate,' the city grew significantly, especially outside of the Old City, and took on many characteristics of British imperial outposts elsewhere; new public institutions (universities, hospitals) were built and regulations put into place around urban planning and architecture.

However, the British also had to contend with the maddening issue of inter-communal violence. The Balfour Declaration all but required the Mandate to encourage the Jewish immigration, a disproportionate number of whom settled in Jerusalem. Even before the Mandate, Jewish migrants had settled in the city in significant numbers, but Ottoman land records were spotty, leaving the British with the task of sorting out competing property rights.

The result was that the Mandate period was consumed with policing violence between Jews and Arabs, as well as supporting Zionism in principle while also opposing the more ardent, armed Zionist groups seeking an independent Israel. These contradictions in British policy set the stage for the post-World War II creation of the State of Israel and the continued disputes over its territory lasting to the present day.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Maximilian Romanoff, noted here as an 'architect and town planner,' though little information on his life and other works can be found. It was published by the Keren Hayesod, with the text portion written by Zionist leader and historian Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. There are at least five printings of the map in two editions (1935 and 1936), the present one as well as printings in which the index at bottom and text by Ben-Zvi are in English, German, French, and Polish, respectively. This Hebrew-language printing looks to be the rarest, with only the National Library of Israel noting it among their institutional holdings.