From the Scandinavian Seamen’s church located in Haifa’s German Colony, the Norwegian Pastor Per Faye Hansen had extended his KARMEL activities also to Ashdod. By 1965 Ashdod was functioning as Israel’s new harbor town on the Mediterranean Sea. Both in Haifa and Ashdod Faye-Hansen endeavored to give Nordic and German sailors the feeling of a “home away from home.”

“Beit Norwegia” in Jerusalem

In 1969, after he established the mariners’ centers in the port cities of Haifa and Ashdod, Faye-Hansen also began operating a third place in Jerusalem for the many Christian visitors who wished to visit Jerusalem about 60 kilometers east of the coast.

In biblical times Jaffa was the harbor leading up to Jerusalem. For example, King Solomon drifted Lebanese cedar trees south along the coast to Jaffa, and from there they were transported by land up to Jerusalem.

“Beit Norwegia” (Norway House in Hebrew) was situated in Jerusalem’s German Colony which was established by the same Templars that built their neighborhood in Haifa. They built a three-story building...