When Conrad Schick arrived in Jerusalem he never could have imagined that he would design the neighborhood that would become home to Jerusalem’s most exclusive and sequestered ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Born in southern Germany, Schick was sent in 1846 at the age of 24 to Jerusalem by a Swiss Protestant Church organization to be a missionary in the Holy Land. The plan was to set up “brotherhoods” of Christian communities from Jerusalem all the way down to Ethiopia and across North Africa.

Schick soon became more interested in the archaeology and architecture of the Holy City, Jerusalem, than the mission.

Without any formal education in archaeology or architecture (he worked, like Jesus, as a carpenter), he roamed the streets and alleyways of the city investigating, uncovering and recording vast amount of details about Jerusalem. Among many other finds, his wanderings led him and two young Arab boys to discover the famous First Temple period inscription inside King Hezekiah’s tunnel that feeds water from the Pool of Siloam into the city. (See: Your Guide to the Pilgrim’s Path)