Hansen House (Jerusalem)

Hansen House is a historic building in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located in the city's affluent Talbiya neighbourhood, diagonally opposite from the Jerusalem Theatre. In the late 19th century it was a hospital for Hansen's disease (leprosy). Later, it served as an outpatient clinic and housed the National Center for Hansen's Disease.

The hospital building and 40 acre lot were declared an Israel heritage site.

History

Hansen House was established in 1887 to care for patients with leprosy, then an incurable disease. The two-story building was designed by Conrad Schick, a German missionary and self-taught architect. It was set in a large, walled compound with four water cisterns, a vegetable garden, fruit trees and livestock.[1]

The hospital had beds for 60 patients. It was run by the Herrenhut brotherhood of the Moravian Church between 1887 and 1950. In 1950, the church sold the compound to the Jewish National Fund.

When an effective cure for leprosy was developed, patients were gradually rehabilitated and discharged. The last in-patients left the hospital in 2000.[2]

The compound is now an art exhibition space and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design’s masters program is located there.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Hansen's hospital - past and present
  2. ↑ Hansen's hospital - past and present
  3. ↑ "Becoming" opens at Jerusalem Hansen House
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Coordinates: 31°46′04″N 35°13′01″E / 31.767722°N 35.216923°E / 31.767722; 35.216923

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