The German Colony
A tour along Ben Gurion Avenue is a good way to illustrate the glorious history of the German Colony and the immense impression it left in the hearts of both local residents and tourists. Conservation and revival of the Colony as a tourism route have turned it into a center of attention even in modern times. Today, this neighborhood is a vibrant, upbeat and colorful thoroughfare of recreation and leisure.
It wasn't by accident that members of the Templer Society (not to be confused with the Knights Templar) chose Haifa as the place they wanted to settle in 1868. At this very time, the small town of Haifa was beginning to grow beyond its already-existing walls. These were the same walls which had surrounded the town since being founded in 1761 by Daher El-Omar, the Governor of the Galilee. And by 1868, Haifa was developing at a lightening rate. Haifa's quayside suited the modern ships that had just started to call at Israel's shores, as this date coincided with the appearance of the big steam ships. Haifa boasted a pleasant climate and was accessible to the Galilee and to the Emek region (known also as 'the Valleys'). This fact also proved to be extremely advantageous.
Haifa was inhabited by a mixture of Muslims, Christians and Jews, whose financial cooperation proved to be extremely beneficial to all.
The Templers' contribution to Haifa's development is difficult to overstate. Their clean, carefully tended 'Colony' provided a good example for all the city's residents. The Templers were also the first to use horse-drawn carriages to transport goods and passengers to Acco (Acre) and Nazareth. In addition, the Templers built modern hotels, as well as a road up to Mount Carmel, where - at its center - they developed a holiday neighborhood, on what is known today as Keller Street.
The Templers brought European tools and implements with them and also introduced new agricultural methods for cultivating land and growing crops. They operated workshops specializing in mechanics, as well as a factory which produced soap from olive oil. These were Haifa's first practicing professionals and included doctors, engineers, building surveyors, importers and exporters. Many of them served as Vice Consuls for European countries, which was a great way to get the word out about the significance of the city, helping put it on the map. By the end of Ottoman rule with the First World War, the Templer community was booming. It had by then expanded to include some 750 residents and 150 places of residence, as well as dozens of farm buildings and workshops. Some members of the community settled in what is today the Bat Galim neighborhood of the city. Here, they operated a flour mill in present-day 22 Second Aliyah St. Other Templers established a satellite community adjacent to what is now the town of Tirat Ha-Carmel (then known has Neuhardthoff). Second-generation Templers founded Galilean Bethlehem (Bet-Lehem ha-Galilit) and Waldheim (today known as Aloni Abba). The colony, with its fields stretching down towards the neighborhood of Kiryiat Eliezer, had a lasting effect on Haifa's landscape, character and on the people themselves. The Templer community also served as a model and prototype, which was emulated and admired for miles around.
