The Technion Timeline

The Relief Organization of German Jews, known as the “Ezra” company, was a non-Zionist German-Jewish organization that operated in the early 20th century to provide philanthropic aid to the Jews of Eastern Europe and Israel and to promote German culture among the Jews outside of Germany. The company was founded in Berlin by Dr. Paul Nathan and was headed by James Simon, Eugen Landau and Max Warburg. In 1901, the Hilfsverein der Juden in Deutschland (Relief Organization of German Jews, known in short in Hebrew as “Ezra”) was established in Berlin, Germany. Ezra had two goals: to help the Jews…Read More

After thinking for a long time about the location of the establishment of the technical school, Dr. Paul Nathan decided in favor of Haifa (Jerusalem was also on the agenda). At that time, the Turkish government began to invest in the port of Haifa and the railroads that passed through it, and it was clear that it would become a center for industry, shipping and traffic to other centers on the continent (Damascus and Baghdad). The nature of the Jewish community also influenced the decision: it was small, so Nathan assumed that the Technion would lead to its growth; It…Read More

After a visit to Palestine, American Jewish businessman and philanthropist Jacob Schiff decided to donate one hundred thousand dollars to the Technion. Schiff was then the most prominent Jewish leader in American Jewry. He had several conditions for the contribution: the institution must be objective and free from guiding ideas such as Judaism and Zionism; that the name “Wissotzky” not appear in the name of the institution; he wanted the Technion to get out of the hands of Ezra, which gave the institution a German cultural character, so that the institution would be open to the influence of Jews from…Read More

In June 1908, the land purchase deal was signed. After deliberations, an area of 46 dunams was chosen. Ephraim Cohn, the representative of Ezra in Palestine, and Rafael Hakim, one of the most important merchants in Haifa, met with the representative of the Turkish government in a cafe in the lower city. They explained to him that some “madman” from Germany wanted to buy land in “Holy Carmel.” Throughout the investigation and purchase phase, Paul Nathan and members of Ezra adopted the tactic of not revealing the intended purpose of the land at this stage, because they feared that the…Read More

After the donation of the Wissotzky Foundation to the Technion, a fund was opened for the donation of other organizations. The Jewish National Fund participated in the purchase of the land and donated 100,000 francs and was also given representation on the school’s board of directors.

In 1909, Jewish architect Alexander Baerwald was asked to come up with a first plan for the new building. He was inspired by the idea of blending European form with Eastern elements, and despite the hardships of 1912, that year also marks the first cornerstone of Technion, laid in Haifa. The ceremony was a milestone in nation building, in academia in the Holy Land, and in world science. Through the synergy of efforts of a group of people scattered around the world, something new was beginning. For the first time ever, in physical form, an institute of higher education for…Read More

The Technikum buildings were used by various occupying armies during the war. Initially, they served the Turkish army during World War I, and later the German army. The Technikum buildings functioned as a Turkish-German fortification that was converted into an Ottoman hospital. After the British occupation, the buildings continued to serve as a British military hospital marked with the Red Cross. Additionally, the British also utilized the workshops. After the war, in 1920, the Technikum was purchased from the “Ezra” company by the Zionist Organization, headed by Otto Warburg.

Almost from the beginning, the Technikum had two main creditors: the Hilfsverein (Ezra) group and the Jewish National Fund (KKL). With the outbreak of the First World War, the debt to the Jewish National Fund was canceled due to it being registered in an enemy country (England). The Ezra group, whose headquarters was based in Germany – an ally of Turkey in the war, took advantage of the opportunity and announced that the debt had not been paid and therefore the Technikum with all its assets belonged to it. In response, the Russian-Jewish journalist Abraham Idelson published a strong condemnation…Read More

Sir Alfred Mond, (Lord Melchett), was a Jewish statesman and industrialist in England, one of the world’s industrial powers at the time, and manager of companies in London and Canada. Lord Melchet was one of the leaders of Zionism in England. He was the guest of honor at the official opening of the institution.

The development of technical and scientific opportunities for the Jewish people, and particularly for the new Technikum, was a cause that Professor Albert Einstein, a two-time Nobel laureate, felt was worth his investment. “The development of the Land of Israel is of immense importance to all Jewry,” he stated at a dinner with the American Technion Society. In 1923, Einstein visited the Technion and planted a palm tree during his visit. The tree still stands today in front of the old Technion building in Haifa’s Hadar neighborhood. Einstein returned to Germany to establish the first Technion Society and served as…Read More

Arthur Blok (1882–1974) was a British-Jewish electrical engineer who served as the first President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa from 1924 to 1925. Blok was the personal assistant to the renowned physicist John Fleming. In 1945, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and received an honorary Doctorate from the Technion in 1972. Blok passed away in London in 1974 at the age of 92.

In September, it was decided to accept Hayim Nahman Bialik’s proposal and name the technical school the “Technion” on the grounds that the word “technical” came to Greek from the Hebrew word “techen”. In 1945, the Hebrew Language Committee dealt with the question of whether it should be spelled with the Hebrew letter “tav” or “tet.” At the end of a heated discussion, the question was put to a vote. Three members voted in favor of the “tet” spelling and six in favor of the “tav” spelling. Thus it was determined that there is a necessity to change the spelling…Read More

Mordechai (Max) Hecker was a land developer, a Zionist engineer, a Polish Jew and one of the founders of the Technion. He was born in 1877 to a Jewish family in Hamburg, studied civil engineering and joined the Zionist student movement, where he met Frieda, who later became his wife. Upon completing his studies, he enlisted in the Austrian army. Together with his brother, Wilhelm Hecker, he founded the “Development of Eretz Israel” company which tried to raise Jewish capital for investments in Israel’s nascent industry. In 1913 he immigrated to Israel with his family, arrived in Haifa and was…Read More

Seventeen students, one female student among them, completed their studies at the Technion. This first graduating class includes ten engineers and seven are architects. Over the course of its 100-year existence, the Technion has graduated over 95,000 alumni from 18 faculties. In 1927/28, the first cohort of the Technion graduated. In this cohort there were two departments: Construction and Architecture. Seventeen students, including one female student, completed their studies at the Technion. The first cohort included ten engineers and seven architects. During the 100 years of its existence, more than 95 thousand students from 18 Faculties have graduated from the…Read More

Naturally, in the first years the need arose to find a symbol for the Technion, one that could decorate the letterhead and that could be worn on the lapel of the garment. In 1929, a prize competition was announced: first prize – 2 Palestine pounds, second prize – 1 Palestine pound. Ultimately, the committee of judges did not find a single proposal worthy of being used as the symbol of the institution.

Engineer Shlomo Kaplansky was the legendary director of the Technion. He held this position for almost 20 years and was at the head of the Technion during the events that preceded the establishment of the state and the young state’s first years. But even before that he was a central figure in the Zionist enterprise, as one of the leaders of the “Poale Zion” party, which was a central force in the Zionist enterprise. Kaplansky was born in 1884 in Bialystok. As a high school student, he was already active in the Zionist movement and studied Hebrew. During his course…Read More

Prof. Luisa Bonfiglioli was a mythological lecturer in the mathematics department. She was accepted at the Technion after immigrating from Italy in 1933. She was a special teacher, a respected lecturer, and a particularly prolific researcher. In 1966 she won the Oppenheimer Prize for Descriptive Geometry.