Theodor Herzl convenes the First Zionist Congress at Basel, which adopts the Basel Program for a Jewish home in Palestine secured by public law; political Zionism begins here, and Herzl writes that at Basel he founded the Jewish state.
Tagged: Conservative Judaism Jewish Orthodox Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism Reform Judaism Secular Judaism
The Event
- Date
- 1897 (exact)
- Era
- Modern; Standard periodization of Jewish history
- Location
- Basel; today Basel, Switzerland
- Traditions
- Judaism
- Streams
- Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, Secular Judaism
- Key figures
- Theodor Herzl
- Key texts
- Der Judenstaat (1896)
Primary Sources
- The Basel Program (1897)
- Herzl, Der Judenstaat
Secondary Sources
- Johnson, A History of the Jews (Harper, 1987)
- Goodman, A History of Judaism (Princeton, 2018)
Provenance: HIST-0127; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-27.
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