''Die Welt'' (''"The World"'') was a weekly newspaper founded by

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern po ...

in May 1897 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. It was designed to promote

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. From 1897 to 1914 it was the principal organ of the Zionist movement. From 1897 to 1900, the paper was edited by Erwin Rosenberger.

History

''Die Welt'' was published weekly in Herzl's own publishing house. He developed the idea in May 1897, noting in his journal that ''Die Welt'' would be the definitive mass-circulation outlet for the

Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

, and that such a journal was "a necessity that can no longer be ignored."Jess Olsen, "The Dreyfus Affair in Early Zionist Culture", in Maya Balakirsky (ed), ''Revising Dreyfus'', p.319ff. The first issue appeared on 4 June 1897.John D. H. Downing (ed), "Zionist Movement Media pre-1948", ''Encyclopedia of Social Movement'', Sage, 2011, p.568. Shortly before, on 14 May, Herzl wrote to his supporter

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born ''Simon Maximilian Südfeld''; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vic ...

, joking that "The

Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ...

is like my legitimate wife. With ''Die Welt'' I am maintaining a mistress – I can only hope that she will not ruin me". The editorial in the first issue stated that ''Die Welt'' promoted "the reconciling solution to the Jewish question". Production was based initially in Vienna, but later moved to Berlin.

Content

The journal's circulation varied widely, usually reaching at least 3,000 copies sold, and sometimes more than 10,000 copies. ''Die Welt'' had a mix of content. As well as information about the Zionist movement and news of Jewish settlement in Palestine, it reported on general news relevant to Judaism or Zionism, including the spread of anti-Semitism. The

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

was unfolding during its run, and it regularly reported on new developments. It also published an article written by Dreyfus himself on Zionism. The journal was also opposed to assimilationist strands within Western Judaism. It included cultural and philosophical essays and translations from Hebrew and Yiddish literature. It sought articles from non-Jews promoting Zionism as a solution to the "Jewish question", and remained largely uncritically focussed on the positive aspects of the aspiration, tending to ignore objections. Controversy was created by an extremely aggressive article by Nordau attacking the cultural Zionist Ahad Ha'am, who had challenged Herzl's vision. Nordau's abusive language, calling Ha'am "crippled, hunchbacked" and the "despised slave of intolerant knout-wielding pogromchiks", caused outrage among Jewish nationalists and Zionists.Jess Olson, ''Nathan Birnbaum and Jewish Modernity'', Stanford University Press, 2013, p.143.

Contributors

*''Editors'': Paul Naschauer (''de jure''); Berthold Feiwel; A. H. Reich; Leopold Kahn; Julius Uprimny; Siegmund Werner;

Nahum Sokolow Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow ( he, נחום ט' סוקולוב ''Nachum ben Yosef Shmuel Soqolov'', yi, סאָקאָלאָוו; ) was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism. Biography Nahum Sokolow was bor ...

; Isidor Schalit; Erwin Rosenberger;

Leon Kellner Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

; Isidor Marmorek; Jacob Klatzkin; and

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

. *''Editorial staff'': S. R. Landau; Siegmund Werner; Erwin Rosenberger; Berthold Feiwel; A. H. Reich; Julius Uprimny;

Abraham Coralnik Abraham Coralnik (October 16, 1883 – July 16, 1937) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American Yiddish writer, journalist, and newspaper editor. Life Coralnik was born on October 16, 1883, in Uman, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire, the son of David ...

; Julius Berger; Maurice Zobel; N. Golant; Kurt Blumenfeld. *''Executive Director'': Alexander Ritter von Eiss (1897 – October 1902); he was succeeded by Heinrich Polturak.

Other versions

Short-lived Hebrew and Yiddish editions of the journal were published in 1900. In addition, a differently-titled Spanish Zionist magazine (''El Progreso'') was issued by Herzl, but existed only briefly. The journal folded on the outbreak of war in 1914. After the war, Zionist periodicals emerged as successors of ''Die Welt'', including the daily ''Wiener Morgenzeitung'' (1919–1927); the monthly magazine ''Palästina'' (1927–1938); the weekly ''Jüdische Presse'' (1915–1934); and Robert Stricker's ''Die Neue Welt'' (1927–1938).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welt 1897 establishments in Austria 1914 disestablishments in Austria Defunct newspapers published in Austria Defunct weekly newspapers German-language newspapers published in Austria History of Zionism Jewish newspapers Newspapers published in Berlin Newspapers published in Vienna Publications established in 1897 Publications disestablished in 1914 Theodor Herzl Weekly newspapers published in Austria Zionism in Austria Zionism in Germany