RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 149 NOTES AND QUERIES "BETHESDA" AND THE BERLINER FRAUENVEREIN FÜR CHINA The following is an extract from a letter written on 15th August 1968 to the Hon. Editor by Pastor Albrecht Plag of the German-speaking Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation in Hong Kong. To my knowledge, the first foundling house to be established and built in Hong Kong was the one founded by the "Berliner Frauenverein für China". This body was formed at Berlin in 1850 under the influence and through the efforts of the German Protestant pioneer missionary to China, the Rev. Dr. Karl Gützlaff whose contribution to the early history of Hong Kong is well known. He is buried at the Colonial Cemetery in Happy Valley.* The history of that foundling house, which was named "Bethesda", is given (at least up to 1897) in the book Aus der deutschen Mission unter dem weiblichen Geschlechte in China (C. F. Winter'sche Buchdruckerei, Darmstadt, 1889, 3. Aufl. 1897) by Miss Luise Cooper. According to this source, “Bethesda” was designed and built by Mr. C. St. G. Cleverly, the then Surveyor-General for the Hong Kong Government. The dedication ceremony took place on 5th July, 1861. The site was bought for HK$720 by the "Berliner Frauenverein für China" (Hong Kong representative at that time: Mr. Ladendorff), probably in 1860 or early 1861. The size of the lot is given as 350 ft. long and 150 ft. wide and the annual crown rent is £23 and 2 sh. per year. It must have been quite a respectable building, situated on a hill overlooking the harbour somewhere in the western part of Hong Kong Island.* In 1881, on the same property, just next to "Bethesda", the German Lutheran Congregation of the time built their own little church. A few years earlier, they had elected the Rev. E. Klitzke, the then director of "Bethesda", as their pastor. However, soon after Rev. Klitzke died (in 1883) that predecessor of our present German-speaking Evangelical-Lutheran Congregation in Hong Kong (constituted in 1965) declined and ceased to exist. Klitzke is also buried at the Colonial Cemetery. * See Plates 16 and 17, kindly supplied by Pastor Plag. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 294 NOTES AND QUERIES The innkeeper of the German Inn was Christian Frederick William Petersen. He conducted a tavern and boarding house for sailors until his death in 1896, aged 64. The German Tavern was located on the south side of Queen's Road, not far west from the Gough Street steps. His wife was probably Chinese as baptisms of their children were recorded in the Chinese congregation of the London Missionary Society. The Hong Kong Blue Books under 'Ecclesiastical Returns' lists as a place of worship for Europeans the chapel of the Berlin Mission House from 1871 through 1919, though services were probably not held during the war years. From this source we can draw up a list of pastors of this German (Lutheran) congregation: Ernest Klitzke. The inscription on his tombstone in the Colonial Cemetery, Happy Valley reads, "Pastor of the German Congregation in Hong Kong 1867-1881." Christian Wilhelm Louis. Pastor from the death of Klitzke in 1881 to his own death in July, 1883. He was the son-in-law of Rev. J. L. Ladendorff. F. E. W. Hartmann, 1883-1890 Richard F. F. Gottschalk, 1891-1897 Th. Kriele, 1898-1904 J. Müller, 1905-1911 Fr. von Probst, 1913 The attendance at the Chapel, as listed in the Blue Book returns, was never large, ranging between 20 and 40. The congregation originally met in the chapel within the Berlin Foundling House, but in 1881 they occupied a small chapel built on the same premises. The China Mail, Nov. 24, 1880, reports the laying of the foundation stone: The foundation stone of the new Lutheran Chapel in Bonham Road was laid yesterday afternoon by Pastor Klitzke, of the Berlin Ladies' Association. The Pastor read an appropriate address, and after the ceremonies usual upon such an occasion had been performed, the children of the Foundling Hospital sang a hymn in conclusion. The new Chapel, which is built on the top of the ground storey below the level of the road (made use of as a laundry and quarters for the servants connected with the institution), is to be a small edifice, only intended to seat a con- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d NOTES AND QUERIES 295 gregation of about one hundred persons, but sufficient for the present requirements of the denomination. The funds necessary for the erection of the Chapel have been derived from two sources, about one half having been found by the Lutheran Mission in Germany, and the other half collected by friends of the Mission in the Colony. On Mar. 14, 1881, the same paper describes the opening ceremony: The consecration of the new Bethesda Chapel, in connection with the Berlin Foundling Association, took place yesterday morning under the conduct of the Rev. Pastor Klitzke, assisted by the Rev. R. Lechler and W. Louis. The musical portion of the ceremony was performed by the Leidertafel. The new church is a neat little edifice and has received as interior decoration a marble font and three stained glass windows, presented by a friend in Germany and the Committee of Management respectively. For some reason the services were moved in 1902 to the Church Hall of Union Church. Here the group met until 1904 as the "Deutsche Kirchen und Schulegemeinde". It then moved back to Bethesda Chapel, where services were held until the congregation was broken up by the outbreak of the War in 1914. Hong Kong, 1975 CARL T. SMITH PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF HONG KONG: NOTES TO ACCOMPANY AN EXHIBITION* Members may have heard of or seen references to the survey which has been embarked upon by some of your Councillors, with the co-operation of photographers from other associations and societies. The purpose of this report is to give you some idea of the objects and scope of this project, and to let you know what progress has been made. We have so far deliberately limited publicity on the survey, since we have been very much finding our way by a series of trials and errors; and offers of additional assistance, which we hope may be forthcoming in future, would have * Held at the Annual General Meeting in April 1975 (see p. 6 above) and subsequently on show at the British Council Library, Gloucester Building, Hong Kong. ================================================================================