from  Prof. Haim Goren (Tel-Hai Academic College) & Dr. Bruno Schelhaas (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography)

This is the story of Bruno and Haim, scientific partners, colleagues and (what is most important) friends since many years. It is also a story of a connection between two persons coming from different generations and with different cultural and personal backgrounds.

It was in 2009 or 2010 when we both developed the idea for a joint research project, and certainly, it was an advantage that we already knew each other since several years. Up to the Covid-19 pandemic, in every year Haim visited Leipzig at least once, and he is a well-known guest in the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography for many, many years, too. Furthermore, Bruno and Haim met regularly at international conferences, especially with the Commission History of Geography of the International Geographical Union, sometimes with joint paper presentations.

Haim’s German experiences, both familial and scientific, and Bruno’s expertise within history of geography and cartography with an archivist’s background, were a key reason for the following successful collaboration. The decision of the GIF board to fund our project Robinson, van de Velde, and German Holy Land Cartography in the mid‐19th Century (GIF Grant No: G ‐1057‐124.4/2009) was a great surprise for us. We are still happy and thankful about the approval; it was an acknowledgement of our scientific work and a great honor for both of us. In January 2011, we started officially the project work at Tel‐Hai College and at Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography. It was also a start of an intensive period of discussing and learning. After finishing the project, we both have a much deeper understanding of the German and Israeli scientific system and the varieties of international cooperation. Between 2011 and 2015, we realized several meetings, a total number of 15 visits, most of them in Leipzig, Berlin and Gotha, and especially three joint project workshops in Leipzig (May 2011), Tel‐Hai College (May 2012) and in Gotha (September 2013). Besides business and scientific discussions, these meetings mostly offered opportunities for archival work, for field trips, for encounters with experts and for social events, too. The two major project outputs reached a large public: the Gotha Map Week (2013), including the exhibition Das Heilige Land in Gotha, and the main publication Mapping the Holy Land. The Foundation of a Scientific Cartography of Palestine. (London / New York: I.B. Tauris 2017).

It is remarkable, that after finishing the GIF project two follow-up projects were designed, approved and successfully implemented. Haim Goren realized the ISF project Robinson and Smith, Generators of Change in Holy Land Scientific Study: New Considerations, documented in the volume “The loss of a minute, is just so much loss of life”. Edward Robinson and Eli Smith in the Holy Land (Turnhout: Brepols 2020). Jutta Faehndrich is still conducting the single DFG project Narrative, Aesthetic, and Cartographic Space around 1850. The Three Palestines of Charles William Meredith van de Velde (DFG 2016–2021), documented in the volume Als Künstler und Kartograph im Heiligen Land. Die drei Palästina des C. W. M. van de Velde. (Reimer: Berlin 2021). Both projects are based on the experiences, findings and results of the GIF project.

Scientific cooperation, friendship and visits in Germany and Israel, meetings at international conferences never stand still, now only interrupted by Covid-19 pandemic. The last meeting between Bruno and his family with Haim was in October 2019 in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with so much emotional and amicable moments. We look forward to meet personally again in safer and more pleasant environment.