conference
was held on March 6 and 7, 1897, called by Dr. Osias Thon Willy Bambus
and Nathan Birnbaum. They had come together to talk about a newspaper
but the First Zionist Congress was launched at this meeting Herzl's
proposal for the calling of a General Zionist Conference in Munich was
agreed to. In the preliminary announcement of the calling of this
Conference or Congress, Herzl said:

"The Jewish question must be removed from the control of the
benevolent individual. There must be created a forum before which
everyone acting for the Jewish people should appear and to which he
should be responsible."

Every one of Herzl's ideas was met by protests and public excitement.
The protests were usually launched by Jews. The calling of the
Congress aroused a great deal of indignation in conservative circles.
The Rabbis of Germany protested not only to the holding of the
Congress but also the choice of Munich.

The Congress controversy persuaded Herzl to begin the publication of
the weekly Die Welt. The first issue appeared on June 4, 1897, Herzl
provided the funds. The journal was something new in Jewish life. It
was, in fact, the organ of the Congress. Throughout Herzl's life, Die
Welt served as the exponent of his ideas. At first, Herzl contributed
numerous articles. He sent in a regular weekly review of all
activities connected with the movement. He was responsible for many
unsigned articles and notices. He directed the paper in all its
details, although he refused to figure as its official editor and
publisher. The amount of work he did during the months preceding the
Congress was amazing. He was completely absorbed in every aspect of
the Congress. The man of the pen revealed himself as a first-class man
of action.

On August 29, 1897, the First Zionist Congress was assembled, not in
Munich but in Basle, Switzerland. The majority of the delegates to the
First Zionist Congress, drawn to Basle from all parts of the world,
saw Herzl for the first time. The total number of delegates at the
first session was 197.

The first act of the Congress was the adoption of a resolution of
thanks to the Sultan of Turkey. Then Herzl rose and walked over to the
pulpit. It was no longer the elegant Dr. Herzl of Vienna, it was no
longer the easy-going literary man, the critic, the feuilletonist. As
one reporter said: "It was a scion of the House of David, risen from
among the dead, clothed in legend and fantasy and beauty." The fir