William Hechler

William Henry Hechler ( born October 1, 1845 in Benares, India, † January 30, 1931 in Islington, London) was an Anglican clergyman, and is now known primarily for his support of Theodor Herzl Zionist aspirations and its mediating role between Herzl and the German policy.

Life and meaning

Hechler served as British embassy chaplain in Vienna, when he in 1896 the font Theodor Herzl read and was impressed by his vision to establish a " Jewish State ", especially in Palestine. Hechler was up to Herzl's death the most faithful of his assistants, and came to him because of his acquaintance with Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden the merit to have made ​​contact between the Zionist leader and Emperor Wilhelm II. In the encounters between Herzl and the German Emperor at the Palestine Travel Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898 Hechler acted as a courier between the Zionist delegation and the imperial camp in Jerusalem.