Nahariya (Israel)

Nahariya in Israel occupies a special position among the foreign cities with ties to Offenbach. Both have a close and friendly relationship, but without the form of a formal partnership.

The merchant Ernst Oppenheimer from Offenbach, who died in 1987, endeavored to establish the connection. He emigrated to Nahariya in 1937 under the pressure of persecution. In the 1960s, he established the first contacts between what he called "my two cities".

Nahariya is located in the north of Israel, on the Galilee coast, just ten kilometers from the Lebanese border. It has around 51,500 inhabitants and lives mainly from tourism. The turquoise blue sea, snow-white beaches and green parks are its advertising elements.

Smaller businesses are known for artistic glass products, elaborate embroidery and jewelry. The town was founded in 1934 by emigrants from Germany, initially as an agricultural settlement. However, the settlers, who had been driven out of intellectual professions, did not cope well with agriculture. During the War of Independence in 1948, they initially became fighters in an outpost with little chance of survival. Their town was far away from the operational area of the Jewish armed forces. They could not be helped from outside. The UN partition plan presented in 1947 provided for Nahariya, which at the time had 1,200 inhabitants, to be added to the Arab part of the Palestine Mandate. In Nahariya, the saying arose: "Jewish or Arab, Nahariya remains German!"

In the meantime, the German element of the early days has been strongly displaced by immigrants from all over the world. The short history of the town and the region's history spanning thousands of years are documented in a town museum, which also exhibits contemporary art from the region.