The first train station in Jerusalem, in 1892.
Once upon a time in Jerusalem.
In a quiet corner of the German colony in Jerusalem, at the end of today’s Emek Refaim Street, lies the old train station, a relic of the days when trains adorned the Jerusalem landscape. The station, which began operating in 1892 by the Turks, was part of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway line, the first in the Land of Israel. This is the story of the tracks and the cars, and of the station that was a historical and cultural symbol.
The station was built with the encouragement of Baron Rothschild and Moses Montefiore and its purpose was to connect Jerusalem to the port of Jaffa, to speed up the movement of goods and passengers between the two important cities. The building, built of hewn Jerusalem stones, still conveys the splendor and simplicity of the Ottoman period. When it was inaugurated, the station was bustling with people: merchants with boxes, newcomers with suitcases, and curious children looking in awe at the steam locomotives.
Among the participants in the opening ceremony of the new track was Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the revivalist of the Hebrew language who also gave the steel monster that had no Hebrew name the name – Rakevet.
The travel time from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv was 4 hours, and it was the first railway in the Middle East outside of Turkey and Egypt, a fact that emphasizes the importance of the Land of Israel in the eyes of the Ottoman Empire and the strength and ability of the Ottomans to carry out complex engineering projects with the relatively meager means of that time, 135 years ago.
During the British Mandate years, the station became an important hub of transportation and supplies. The British strengthened and renovated the building and the tracks, and the station became a starting point for long journeys to destinations throughout the country. Many stories tell of British, Scottish and Australian soldiers scattered around the station, smoking cigarettes and talking about the distant worlds they came from.
In the 1940s, with the growing security tensions in Israel, the station was hit by several attacks. The track itself was a target for opponents of British rule, and on one occasion a locomotive was even broken into and set on fire.
On October 30, 1946, the E’tzel attacked the station and a bomb was planted in the main terminal building that exploded and was destroyed while a British explosives officer tried to neutralize the bomb.
With the establishment of the state, the station returned to function but gradually declined with the development of modern transportation and the accelerated wear and tear of the track and the rotting train sleepers.
In the 1990s, it was decided to comprehensively renovate and preserve the station.
Today, it serves as a cultural and community center, hosting fairs, shows and cultural events. The old railroad tracks have become a design motif, and the railroad cars placed there are used as exhibition buildings and galleries. The station, which has preserved its historical character, connects the memory of the past with the renewal of the present.
With the accelerated regeneration of the city, the light rail is planned to pass near the complex on the trendy Emek Refaim street, which is studded with shops, cafes and restaurants.
Thus, in the place where once the trains rumbled and new immigrants, Turkish traders with thick mustaches and smoky-faced Britons traveled, the first station complex was filled with visitors who enjoy the unique atmosphere that the spirit of the era brings with it in a place where time stood still, but the stories continue to live on in every stone, rail and train.
Shabbat of peace to the far and near from Jerusalem.
