The German Colony in Downtown Haifa
A brief history of Haifa
The predecessors of modern Haifa were two tells — Tel Shikmona, located on the southern coast of modern Haifa, and Tell Abu Hawam, located on the eastern side of Haifa Bay, near the mouth of the Kishon River, at the foot of Mount Carmel. The site lies in what is now a heavily developed industrial and transportation area of modern Haifa. It was occupied primarily during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age (roughly 1400–600 BCE). It occupied a strategic location at the junction of sea and land routes, and served as an important port and trading center.
During the Crusader era, Haifa served as a modest port and fortified settlement. It changed hands several times between Crusader and Muslim rulers but never rivaled Acre in importance. After the Mamluk conquest in the thirteenth century, the town declined considerably.
A turning point came in the eighteenth century. Around 1761, the powerful Galilean ruler Zahir al-Umar destroyed the old settlement and rebuilt Haifa closer to the sea, since this offered a better harbor and stronger defenses, and thereby created the nucleus of the modern city.
The nineteenth century brought increasing European influence. The Templer Society established the German Colony in 1868. Carmelite monks expanded their presence on Mount Carmel, including the famous Stella Maris Monastery. Improved steamship connections increased trade and pilgrimage traffic, and Haifa gradually emerged as the principal gateway to northern Palestine.
The greatest period of growth came under the British after they captured Haifa in 1918 during World War I. They transformed Haifa into a major economic center by constructing a deep-water port, building railway links to Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, establishing the Haifa Port, opening the Haifa Oil Refinery and making Haifa the terminus of the Iraq Petroleum pipeline.
The city's population grew rapidly and became a mixture of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Baháʼís, and Europeans.
During the final months of the British Mandate, Haifa became a major battleground. In April 1948, Jewish forces captured the city during the Battle of Haifa, and most of the Arab population fled or left the city.
Today, Haifa is Israel’s third largest city in terms of population. It is its principal northern metropolis, home to the University of Haifa and the Technion, the world center of the Baháʼí Faith, and a major industrial, technological, educational, and maritime center.
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The German Colony
The German Colony in downtown Haifa is a delightful place to visit with its mixture of original and restored 19th century Templer homes, cafes, boutiques and guest houses. It is regarded as one of the best dining areas in Haifa, with a mix of local Middle Eastern cuisine, international food, bakeries and upscale restaurants, although there are no kosher restaurants in the area. Of the hotels, only the Colony Hotel offers a supervised kosher breakfast.
The German Colony in Haifa was established in 1868 by members of the Templer Society, and this was their first settlement in then Turkish Palestine. The Templers were a German Protestant sect that came from the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, now part of Germany, before the unification of Germany. They were inspired by the belief in the imminent second coming of Jesus and they came to Palestine for a front-row seat. They espoused a life of Christian virtue combined with productive labor.
Their colony was laid out in a grid pattern with a main boulevard, today Ben Gurion Boulevard, leading up to the Baháʼí Gardens and extending to the port. There are also homes interspersed with other buildings in the streets adjacent to and parallel to Ben Gurion St.
Their homes were modeled on their previous homes in Germany, although they had to use stone instead of wood. Their houses had red-tiled triangular roofs, so designed for the snow, with chimneys. Their houses were often 2½ stories, including a basement, with a stonework partition between the stories. One sees this more often in Jerusalem, but the lintels of the doorway often display a verse from the Bible in German, and this is still apparent in a few of the homes here.
The Haifa City Museum is at the port end of Ben Gurion Street at 11 Ben Gurion Avenue in the German Colony, and offers a rich exploration of the city's cultural and historical evolution. The museum's collection is composed of postcards, objects and photographs of the city of Haifa and its residents from the 19th and 20th centuries. Established in November 2000, the museum is housed in a 19th-century Templer building, providing a fitting backdrop to its exhibitions. The museum dedicates its exhibitions to themes such as history, urbanism, multinationalism, and multiculturalism, aiming to stimulate active social discourse. There is an admission charge. Reviews of the museum are pretty mediocre. This is a typical one: “As you can guess from the name of the museum, this is all about the city of Haifa. There really isn't very much to see unless you're an inhabitant of the city or really really interested in Haifa. There's some information in English, probably only a little less than Hebrew, but really there's an overall limited amount.”
Many of the Templar homes have been converted into restaurants on Ben Gurion Avenue
The German over the doorway is a give-away that this is a former Templer home. Note also the stone work and stone demarcation between the stories of the home.
The Templers
The Templers are not always given the credit they deserve for their contribution to the development of Ottoman Palestine. They brought to the country European architecture, modern farming techniques, including crop rotation and bringing in milk cows to Palestine, and skills in light industry. They built the first planned agricultural colony in Haifa with tree-lined streets, paved roads, and organized sanitation with running water. Their colonies introduced modern technologies such as wagons, iron plows, a mechanical oil press, and a team-powered flour mill. They introduced workshops, the hotel industry, transportation services, and other small industries. They popularized Jaffa Oranges as an export business. Their settlements were hubs of progress that were admired by both Jewish and Arab communities and which were models for successful entrepreneurship. Their success was an example to Jews who came to the country during the First Aliya.
The Templers believed that traditional churches had become spiritually stagnant and that Christians should actively prepare for the Second Coming of Christ. They interpreted the biblical concept of the "Temple" not as a building but as a community of faithful believers. One of their central ideas was that establishing exemplary Christian settlements in the Holy Land would help usher in a spiritual renewal of humanity. Unlike many millenarian groups, they did not come to Palestine to await miracles passively. They intended to build modern, productive communities that would serve as models of Christian life.
Haifa was chosen for their first colony because Mount Carmel had strong biblical associations and the city's harbor offered access to Europe.They established a network of colonies which were coordinated in their education, agriculture and trade in then Ottoman and later British Mandate Palestine. However, each colony underwent its own distinct development. Sarona founded in Jaffa in 1869 focused on agriculture, vineyards, and European-style industry. It was later absorbed into Tel Aviv and is now a trendy commercial and cultural district. In Jerusalem they established a colony in 1873 that built homes, schools, and a community center. Wilhelma was established near Lod in 1902, and Bethlehem of Galilee (Bethlehem HaGlilit) in the Lower Galilee in 1906. Their last settlement, also founded in the Lower Galilee, was Waldheim (now Alonei Abba) founded in 1907. By the early 20th century there were over 1,200 Templers in Palestine.
The Templers did maintain their German identity and by 1937 approximately 34% of the Templers in Palestine were members of the Nazi Party. Obviously, this did not go down well with the Jews. On King George VI’s Coronation Day in 1937, all Templer colonies, including Haifa, flew the swastika flag During World War II. The British authorities declared them enemy nationals and many were interned and some deported to Australia. The remaining Templers were either expelled or left the country after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
A formal compensation agreement was signed between West Germany and Israel in 1962. Under this agreement, Germany paid approximately 54 million Deutsche Marks to the Templer Society and its members. Israel agreed not to oppose the compensation, which was paid by Germany, although the amount did come off the repatriations otherwise due to Israel.
In the early 2000s, the German Colony in Haifa underwent significant restoration and revitalization. Historic buildings were preserved and adapted for cafés, restaurants, boutique hotels, and cultural centers.
Touring Haifa
The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum
Haifa Cable Car from Beit Galim Promenade
Gan Ha’em and Haifa Zoo (family park - not reviewed)