Augusta Victoria, Jerusalem

Looking east from almost any point in Jerusalem, you’ll see three towers: on the left, the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus; on the right, the Russian Ascension Church; and in the middle – the tower of Augusta Victoria Hospital, from which you can see this beautiful 360-degree panorama. To get there, you need to climb 223 steps to the top of the bell tower, which still operates and rings every hour. When I visited and photographed in 2018, I indeed climbed because the elevator hadn’t worked for years; in 2025 I visited again as part of  Tower of David tour with guide Inbal who made the experience interesting and enlightening, and also distributed materials, a glimpse of which can be seen below. Unfortunately, we didn’t ascend the tower due to renovations, but they promised the elevator would be operational again after twenty years. I’ll need to return on a day with better visibility.

The Augusta Victoria complex was established at the end of the Ottoman period by German Emperor Wilhelm II during his visit to Jerusalem in 1898. The building was constructed as a tribute to his wife, Empress Augusta Victoria. The complex was intended to serve as a royal guesthouse for German pilgrims, an administrative center, and as an expression of official German presence in late 19th-century Jerusalem. Construction was completed in 1910, in a style that combines European architecture – primarily German – with fortress and monastery elements, giving it its massive and unique appearance that remains to this day.

Over the years, the complex has changed its purpose. Today it houses the Augusta Victoria Medical Center, managed by the Lutheran World Federation, offering advanced medical services, primarily to residents of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The complex itself contains the Lutheran Church, historic residential buildings, extensive gardens, and offices of church and humanitarian organizations. Parts of it are also used for community activities and logistical operations of aid organizations.

From the upper observation point of Augusta Victoria tower, the view opens unobstructed in all directions, allowing immediate understanding of Jerusalem’s unique location between mountains and desert. Standing there, after climbing the narrow stairs, the entire city unfolds like a living map. To the west, you can see the Old City with all its churches and mosques, crowned by the gleaming Dome of the Rock, surrounded by the urban continuity of West Jerusalem; to the north, the Hebrew University campus buildings below the neighboring tower, and behind them the neighborhoods spreading across the slopes. To the south appear East Jerusalem neighborhoods, set among green slopes and orchards, and the landscape continues southward to where the Gush Etzion ridges begin.

The eastern view is among the most fascinating: the city gives way to more open space, but before the landscape turns desert-like, you can clearly see several Arab villages that are part of East Jerusalem, scattered on the slopes above the city. Immediately after them stands Ma’ale Adumim, a large settlement sitting on a high ridge breaking the skyline. Beyond it, construction almost abruptly ends, and from this point begins a vast open space. The Judean Desert stretches forward in bright, sharp lines to the Jordan Valley, and on good days, you can also see Jordan’s mountains in the background.

The feeling at the top is one of complete observation – not just a panoramic photo but a physical understanding of the topography. From this side, the city appears as a place standing exactly on the transition line between a dense urban world and an open landscape that continues to the horizon.