Travel literature is a very old form of literature - the oldest German travel chronicles from Palestine come from the monk Bernardus in the 9th century. The genre includes travel guides as well as scientific reports and literary travelogues. The texts report on foreign countries and people groups and arouse the interest of those staying behind at home. In addition to this, travel literature provides an important historical source because it fills in the blanks found in classical historical texts. The reasons for travel, the origins of the authors and the chronology/time period must be kept in mind when analyzing these materials.

Hellenistic-Roman historical writings are of great significance. In the second century, the ancient Greek chronicler, Polybios, reported on the Jews that lived near the Hierosolyma sanctuary and we know that the descriptions of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus, who was born in Jerusalem in 37 A.D., emerged through his own observations. He is considered the most significant representative of Hellenistic Judaism and his writings ("History of the Jewish War", "Jewish Antiquities") provide important sources of ancient historical description. His writings make a comparison with Biblical accounts possible, including the architecture of the second temple - the temple that was constructed after the destruction of the Great Temple in the year 586 B.C. - as well as with city architecture.

Josephus wrote about King Josiah, who closed all holy sites in 622 A.D. and thus centralized the Cult of Yahwe (YHWH: one of the names of God in the Old Testament) in the temple in Jerusalem. Believers now had to undertake a long journey in order to visit their holy sanctuary. This led to an increasing number of Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem. After the rebellion in 132, the Romans ordered Jews not to enter the Holy City under the threat of death. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, they were allowed to pray at the Wailing Wall on the 9th Av (falls during our months of July and August) - the commemoration day of the destruction of the temple by the Roman emperor Titus. Under Sultan Saladin, the Jewish pilgrims were allowed access to the city beginning in 1187.

Demolition (during the first Jewish rebellion from approximately 66 - 70 A.D.), as well as construction and reconstruction increasingly complicated the exact location of the holy sites for pilgrimages. In the 13th century, the Franciscans set the Passion of Jesus of Nazareth - according to current knowledge, however, the path set is not correct. Legends describe that Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine I, was the first prominent female pilgrim and "archeologist" - during an excavation, she is said to have discovered parts of Jesus' cross.

The Arabic travel guide "Pilgrimage Destinations in the Noble Jerusalem and Its Surroundings" by the Syrian scholar Ali Ibn Abu Bankr al-Harawi is an interesting document from the 12th century. Islamic historical sights, among other things, are described in it: "There is The Dome of the Rock. It is the place where the Prophet - may God exalt and bring peace upon him - ascended. There is the rock from which he ascended, on which is his footprint. I saw this rock during the time of the Franks in the northern part of the dome. Surrounding it is a railing of iron like a house."

The Dutch artist Olfert Dappers reported from Jerusalem in 1688: "In the city stand twelve glorious Metziden or Mosques / the majority of Mahumetists perform their prayer and service to God in the Temple of Solomon / which they take for the best and holiest ... The city is not very populous as one finds not more than fourteen or fifteen thousands souls in it / even when one counts Turks / Moors / Arabs / Christians and Jews all together."

In the 19th century, the travel literature genre experienced a boom due to the increasing number of wealthy people who were interested in it. The German Prince Hermann Heinrich from Pückler-Muskau described his first impression of Jerusalem in 1838: "The city itself is so dirty and miserable. ...I must confess, the impression of the whole area, region, city, and people was of the type that it was somewhat difficult to fully maintain a holy attitude." Pückler also reported on the conflicts between the Christian denominations that the governor at the time, Ibrahim Pascha, regarded with contempt.

A few years later, the French writer Gustave Flaubert traveled to Jerusalem in August 1850 and delivered a literary impression of his sentiments: "In Jerusalem, everything is curved; from time to time on encounters a half or quarter curve on the streets; the houses have settled between these old buildings ... ruins everywhere, it positively smells like graves and desolation; God's curse seems to hover over the city, the holy city of three religions, has died of boredom, exhaustion, and desertion."