William Henry Hechler was an English Restorationist Anglican clergyman; eschatological writer; crusader against antisemitism; promoter of Zionism; and aide, counselor, friend and legitimiser of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.
Reverend William Hechler and family
Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, by Hans Thoma
Theodor Herzl in Basel, photographed during Fifth Zionist Congress in December 1901, by Ephraim Moses Lilien.
The delegates at the First Zionist Congress, held in Basel, Switzerland (1897).
Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, lawyer, writer, playwright and political activist who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah, lit. 'Visionary of the State'. He is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State".
Herzl in 1897
Herzl and his family, c. 1866–1873
Herzl as a child with his mother Janet and sister Pauline
Herzl (seated in the middle) with members of the Zionist Organization in Vienna, 1896
