Moritz Hall (14 March 183827 January 1914) was a Polish Jewish-born Christian missionary, metalworker, timber merchant, and hotel proprietor.
He was born in the then
tripartitely controlled
Free City of Cracow, in 1846 annexed to the Austrian
Galicia and Lodomeria, and served briefly in the Russian Army before emigrating to Ethiopia. He worked with the
London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews
The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.
History
The society began in the early 19th ...
in Ethiopia and the
Chrischona Brethren and married Wälättä (Katarina) Iyäsus Zander, an Ethiopian-German. Whilst at the mission station at Gaffat he was compelled by the Ethiopian Emperor
Tewodros II
Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...
to cast artillery pieces for his army. Tewodros later turned against foreigners resident in Ethiopia and imprisoned Hall at his fortress in
Mäqdäla. He was rescued by the
British Expedition to Abyssinia
The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, ...
and afterwards moved to the Middle East.
Hall settled in Jaffa where he became a mission station manager, timber merchant and hotel proprietor. Considered an elder among the
German colony in the town, he was appointed an honorary
dragoman
A dragoman was an Interpreter (communication), interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish language, Turkish-, Arabic language, Arabic-, and Persian language, Persian-speaking countries and polity, polities of the Middle East and ...
at the German consulate. Hall was friends with the Nobel Prize-winning author
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (; August 8, 1887 – February 17, 1970) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the pseudonym Shai A ...
and was included as a character in his 1945 historical novel ''Temol Shilshom''.
Early life
Moritz Hall was born in
Cracow, which was then in the Austrian section of
partitioned Poland
Partition may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Partition'' (1987 film), directed by Ken McMullen
* ''Partition'' (2007 film), directed by Vic Sarin
* '' Partition: 1947'', or ''Viceroy's House'', a 2017 film
Music
* Par ...
, on 14 March 1838. He was the son of Johann Jakob Salomon Hall and Sofia Rebeka Babette Hall.
[ He later lived in the Russian section of Poland and was conscripted into the Russian Army.][ Hall is said in some later reports to have deserted from the army.][ At this time he gained some skill in ]metal casting
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intended shape. The metal is ...
, either as a result of his military service or in the industries of Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
.[ Hall afterwards spent some time in Germany and England and converted from Judaism to Christianity.
]
Ethiopia
Hall arrived in Ethiopia by the early 1860s, it is possible he arrived with no aim in mind other than to seek adventure but he also may have been appointed a servant to a missionary posted to the country or a travelling military officer.[ He soon became involved in German and British missionary activity, particularly with the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews in Ethiopia which sought converts from the ]Ethiopian Jews
Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara and Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominant ...
.[ He settled at the remote and poor mission station of Gaffat, to the east of ]Lake Tana
Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...
. The mission was run by the Swiss-German Chrischona Brethren, a group of "artisan missionaries" who taught crafts and skills to locals as part of their attempt to attract converts. The station enjoyed the support of Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II
Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...
who sought to modernise his country.[
Tewodros became increasingly unstable after the deaths of his wife and key English advisers. He ordered the Gaffat mission to produce artillery pieces for his army; the missionaries complained they had no knowledge of such matters but were compelled to start work. The mission station constructed a forge, with a dam and water wheel to drive the bellows.][ Hall's metal casting experience was put to good use and he made a mortar and ammunition, one of the first weapons produced at the station.][ By 1863 the forge had produced a number of ]cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
and further mortars, including " Sebastopol" which survives as a museum piece. The founding of the forge at Gaffat is sometimes considered the start of industrialisation in Ethiopia.[
]
Hall married Wolete-Iyasus (Katarina) Zander, the 14-year-old daughter of an Ethiopian aristocrat mother and an Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area an ...
-born German artist father (Ethiopian court portraitist), at Gaffat on 17 May 1863. In 1866 the couple had their first of thirteen children, Jakob Gottlieb Hall (1866-1919).[ By one report Hall had risen to a position of confidence with Tewodros and was considered his minister of war.] However the emperor, increasingly dependent on alcohol, became increasingly erratic. Claiming to have received no reply to a letter he sent to the British Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
he imprisoned all English missionaries in the state, extending this to all foreigners by 1867. Hall and his family were imprisoned at the fortress of Mäqdäla. A British punitive expedition was sent in late 1867 and, in what became known as the Battle of Magdala
The Battle of Magdala was the conclusion of the British Expedition to Abyssinia fought in April 1868 between British and Abyssinian forces at Magdala, from the Red Sea coast. The British were led by Robert Napier, while the Abyssinians were ...
, took the fortress by assault during which Tewedros took his own life. Katarina gave birth to a daughter during the siege and she was named Magdalena after the fortress.[ Magdalena (1868-1945) went on to marry the Russian baron ]Plato von Ustinov
Plato Freiherr von Ustinov (born Platon Grigoryevich Ustinov; ; 1840–1918) was a Russian-born nobleman, naturalised German citizen, was one of the most prolific collectors of Palestinian antiquities. He lived off of his inherited wealth for mo ...
and was the grandmother of British actor Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
.[
]
Later life
Hall and his family left in company with the British expedition. They were offered passage to India but refused and travelled to Syria, and perhaps Baghdad, before settling at Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
in the Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Despite his conversion Hall became involved with helping newly arrived Jews to settle in the town and is regarded as a founding father of the German colony there. Hall initially resided at a mission house owned by the London Society but was also closely involved with the Protestant Temple Society.
The Halls had eleven more children born during their time in the Near East: Daniel (1870-1943), Pauline (1872-1874), Christina (1874-1964), David (1876-1971), Friedrich Salomon (1879-1964), Joseph (1882-1964), Augusta (1884-1936), Vera (1886-1983), Immanuel (1888-1917), Katia (1891-1978) and Olga (1895-1911). In 1883, Hall was appointed to manage the London missionary society's colony at Artouf, west of Jerusalem, which was used to house potential Jewish converts to Christianity. He was dismissed in 1885 and returned to Jaffa. Considered an elder of the community there he also worked as a timber merchant and as proprietor of the Hôtel du Parc, where his sons also worked. Hall hosted Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
at the hotel during his 1898 visit to Jaffa.[
Katarina returned to Ethiopia around 1902 with Jakob and was later joined there by Friedrich and David. She served as a lady-in-waiting to the Royal Court and became an influential friend of Empress ]Taytu Betul
Taytu Betul ( ''Ṭaytu Bəṭul'' ; baptised as Wälättä Mikael; 1851 – 11 February 1918) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913 and the third wife of Emperor Menelik II. An influential figure in the anti-colonial resistance during th ...
. She died in Ethiopia on 15 August 1932.[ Hall served as an honorary ]dragoman
A dragoman was an Interpreter (communication), interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish language, Turkish-, Arabic language, Arabic-, and Persian language, Persian-speaking countries and polity, polities of the Middle East and ...
for the German consulate at Jaffa. He also became friends with the Nobel Prize-winning author Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (; August 8, 1887 – February 17, 1970) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. In Hebrew, he is known by the pseudonym Shai A ...
who included him as a character in his 1945 historical novel ''Temol Shilshom''. Hall died of a stroke on 27 January 1914 and was buried at the Templar Cemetery in Jaffa. His remains were transferred to the Templar Cemetery in Jerusalem in 1952.[
]
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Moritz
1838 births
1914 deaths
Hoteliers
Imperial Russian Army personnel
Christian missionaries in Ethiopia
Christian missionaries in the Ottoman Empire
Foundrymen
Weapons scientists and engineers
Converts to Christianity from Judaism