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German Colony, Haifa

January 01, 1970

The German Colony (HaMoshava HaGermanit) (Hebrew: המושבה הגרמנית, Arabic: الحي الألمانية) was established in Ottoman Haifa in 1868 as a Christian German Templer Colony in Palestine. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land. Others were founded in Sarona near Jaffa, Galilee and Jerusalem.

German Colony, Haifa

Some of the original buildings are still surviving today, and the area continues to be visited, lived in, and in use.[1][2]

History edit

 
German colony in Haifa, 1875
 
German colony of Haifa

The Templers, a religious Protestant sect formed in southern Germany in the 19th century, settled in Palestine at the urging of their leader, Christoph Hoffmann, in the belief that living in the Holy Land would hasten the second coming of Christ. The Templers built a colony in keeping with strict urban planning principles and introduced local industries that brought modernity to Palestine, which had long been neglected by the Ottomans. They were the first to organize regular transportation services between Jaffa, Acre and Nazareth, which also allowed for mail delivery.[citation needed]

In 1874 the Christian denomination of the Temple Society underwent a schism and later envoys of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces successfully proselytised among the schismatics, making up about a third of the colonists. Thus the Colony became a place of partisans of two different Christian denominations and their respective congregations.

While in Germany the Templers were regarded as sectarians, the Evangelical proselytes gained major financial and mental support from German Lutheran and Evangelical church bodies. This created an atmosphere of mistrust and envy among the German colonists in Haifa. On July 17, 1886, the proselytes appealed to the Supreme Church Council of the State Church of Prussia's older Provinces to be accepted as and helped to found an Evangelical congregation. In 1891 the Jerusalemsverein (English: Association of Jerusalem), a Berlin-based Evangelical charitable organisation to subsidize Protestant activities in the Holy Land, decided to support the new Haifa congregation.

The Jerusalemsverein sent and sponsored a teacher for the congregants' children. In 1892 the Jerusalemsverein decided to lend the congregation the money needed to build a prayer hall. Otto Fischer (1813–1910), a Haifa resident, donated the land at the foot of Mount Carmel, and the Haifa engineer Ernst August Voigt gratuitously drew the constructions plans.[3] In September 1892 the constructions started and pastor Carl Schlicht (Jerusalem) inaugurated the community centre, including a prayer hall and two school rooms, on July 2, 1893. The community center and school buildings became the Haifa City Museum in 2011.[4] Starting in the same year the Jerusalemsverein sponsored a pastor for the new Haifa Evangelical Congregation.

The teacher Herrmann initiated a choir. From 1900 on, Marie Teckhaus, a Deaconess sponsored by the Kaiserswerth Deaconesses Mother House, ran a medical station, open for patients of all denominations and religions. In 1907 the congregation built a separate school building, but later the discrepancies between the two German-speaking congregations – Evangelical and Templer – shrank, thus before World War I the schools were pooled.[citation needed]

The population fluctuated between 300-400 settlers between 1870 and 1914. Sixty of the colonists were American citizens and their leader, Jacob Schumacher served as the U.S. consular agent for Haifa and northern Palestine.[5] Due to their population increase and the ongoing urbanisation of Haifa, the colonists searched to buy lands in order to found new settlements. These were to be exclusively monodenominational. Thus the Templers settled in Bethlehem of Galilee and the Evangelical Protestants founded the neighbouring Waldheim.[6]

 
View down from the Bahá'í Gardens at the top of the German Colony.

Employing modern farming methods, the Templers introduced soil fertilization, better methods of crop rotation and new crops such as potatoes. They imported agricultural machinery and engaged in "mixed farming," combining dairy farming and field crops.[7]

Registering the land was problematic due to back taxes and local boundary disputes, which sometimes turned violent.[8] The Templers thus abandoned farming in favor of industry and tourism. They built hotels, opened workshops and established an olive oil soap factory.[9]

 
Old Templer house in German Colony

The affluent German colony stood out in its poor surroundings. The only doctor in the city lived there, and one of the residents was a construction engineer. By the end of the Ottoman era the colony had 750 inhabitants, 150 houses and dozens of businesses.[9] The colony was the first model of urban planning in Palestine, with a main street running from north to south (today, Ben-Gurion Boulevard), leading down to the harbor. Smaller streets branched out from the main street. At the southern end of the colony were the Templer vineyards (where the Bahá'í World Centre stands today). The colony was built as a garden city with single-family homes surrounded by gardens and shade trees lining the main boulevard.[10]

Nazi affiliation and expulsion edit

After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Empire allied with the Ottoman Empire; a large number of German colonists in Palestine joined the Imperial German Army during the conflict and fought against Allied forces in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. When Allied forces captured Palestine from the Ottoman Empire, the German colonists were regarded by Allied occupational authorities as enemy aliens, but were not deported back to Germany.[citation needed]

In 1937, 34% of German colonists in Palestine were members of the Nazi Party.[11] During the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth on 12 May 1937, all German colonies flew the flag of Nazi Germany.[12] After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, all colonists with German citizenship were detained by the British authorities and sent, together with Italian and Hungarian citizens in Palestine, to internment camps in Waldheim and Bethlehem of Galilee.[13] On 31 July 1941, 661 German colonists were deported via Egypt to Australia by the British, leaving 345 in Palestine.[11]

Restoration and modern use edit

Some of the original Templer homes have been restored in recent years. Buildings along Ben-Gurion Boulevard have been turned into cafés, boutiques, hotels, and restaurants. One houses the Haifa City Museum, and the colony has become a center of Haifa nightlife with pubs and bars being a common sight. Starting in particular during the 1990s, the area witnessed a "growing number of Palestinian-owned cafés and bars opened to offer spaces for small performances and exhibitions by Palestinian artists."[2]

References edit

  1. ^ "Haifa German colony". www.levantineheritage.com. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. ^ a b Karkabi, Nadeem. "Expressions of Cultural Life in Post-1948 Haifa: Toward an Autonomous Palestinian Field." Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/30052/expressions-cultural-life-post-1948-haifa
  3. ^ Voigt collaborated with Jacob Gottlieb Schumacher in measuring the Hauran, he designed the street and site plan of the colonies in Allonei Abba (then Waldheim) and Hadera. Cf. Ejal Jakob Eisler (Hebrew: איל יעקב אייזלר), "«Kirchler» im Heiligen Land: Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den württembergischen Siedlungen Palästinas (1886–1914)", In: Dem Erlöser der Welt zur Ehre: Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum der Erlöserkirche in Jerusalem, Karl-Heinz Ronecker (ed.) on behalf of the 'Jerusalem-Stiftung' and 'Jerusalemsverein', Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, 1998, pp. 81–100, here footnote 192 on p. 85. ISBN 3-374-01706-1.
  4. ^ Parasczczuk, Joanna (25 March 2011). "With words, not weapons". Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 860862075.
  5. ^ Ruth Kark, American Consuls in the Holy Land.
  6. ^ Ejal Jakob Eisler (איל יעקב אייזלר), "«Kirchler» im Heiligen Land: Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den württembergischen Siedlungen Palästinas (1886-1914)", In: Dem Erlöser der Welt zur Ehre: Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum der Einweihung der evangelischen Erlöserkirche in Jerusalem, Karl-Heinz Ronecker (ed.) on behalf of the 'Jerusalem-Stiftung' and 'Jerusalemsverein', Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, 1998, pp. 81–100, here p. 97. ISBN 3-374-01706-1.
  7. ^ Land Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1882–1914 Gershon Shafir p. 29
  8. ^ Ruth Kark, American Consuls Published 1994 Wayne State University Press ISBN 0-8143-2523-8 pp. 245–246, 270
  9. ^ a b "Tour Haifa - Haifa Tourists Board".
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  11. ^ a b Nachman Ben-Yehuda 1992 "Political assassinations by Jews: a rhetorical device for justice" SUNY Press ISBN 0-7914-1165-6
  12. ^ H.D. Schmidt, The Nazi Party in Palestine and the Levant 1932–39, International Affairs (London, October 1952), p.466.
  13. ^ . Haaretz. 20 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2008.

Bibliography edit

  • Alex Carmel (Hebrew: אלכס כרמל), Die Siedlungen der württembergischen Templer in Palästina (1868–1918) (11973), [התיישבות הגרמנים בארץ ישראל בשלהי השלטון הטורקי: בעיותיה המדיניות, המקומיות והבינלאומיות, ירושלים :חמו"ל, תש"ל; גרמנית], Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 32000, (Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden-Württemberg: Reihe B, Forschungen; vol. 77). ISBN 3-17-016788-X.
  • Alex Carmel (Hebrew: אלכס כרמל), Geschichte Haifas in der türkischen Zeit 1516-1918 [תולדות חיפה בימי התורכים, חיפה: הוצאת הספרים האקדמית של אוניברסיטת חיפה, 1969; גרמנית], Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1975, (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins; vol. 3). ISBN 3-447-01636-1
  • Ejal Jakob Eisler (Hebrew: איל יעקב אייזלר), "«Kirchler» im Heiligen Land: Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den württembergischen Siedlungen Palästinas (1886–1914)", In: Dem Erlöser der Welt zur Ehre: Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum der Erlöserkirche in Jerusalem, Karl-Heinz Ronecker (ed.) on behalf of the 'Jerusalem-Stiftung' and 'Jerusalemsverein', Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, 1998, pp. 81–100. ISBN 3-374-01706-1.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to German Colony of Haifa.
  • Haifa Tourists Board: The German Colony - Historical Background
  • Photo, circa 1898

32°49′10.8″N 34°59′25.99″E / 32.819667°N 34.9905528°E / 32.819667; 34.9905528

January 01, 1970
german, colony, haifa, german, colony, hamoshava, hagermanit, hebrew, המושבה, הגרמנית, arabic, الحي, الألمانية, established, ottoman, haifa, 1868, christian, german, templer, colony, palestine, first, several, colonies, established, group, holy, land, others, . The German Colony HaMoshava HaGermanit Hebrew המושבה הגרמנית Arabic الحي الألمانية was established in Ottoman Haifa in 1868 as a Christian German Templer Colony in Palestine It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land Others were founded in Sarona near Jaffa Galilee and Jerusalem German Colony Haifa Some of the original buildings are still surviving today and the area continues to be visited lived in and in use 1 2 Contents 1 History 2 Nazi affiliation and expulsion 3 Restoration and modern use 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp German colony in Haifa 1875 nbsp German colony of Haifa The Templers a religious Protestant sect formed in southern Germany in the 19th century settled in Palestine at the urging of their leader Christoph Hoffmann in the belief that living in the Holy Land would hasten the second coming of Christ The Templers built a colony in keeping with strict urban planning principles and introduced local industries that brought modernity to Palestine which had long been neglected by the Ottomans They were the first to organize regular transportation services between Jaffa Acre and Nazareth which also allowed for mail delivery citation needed In 1874 the Christian denomination of the Temple Society underwent a schism and later envoys of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia s older Provinces successfully proselytised among the schismatics making up about a third of the colonists Thus the Colony became a place of partisans of two different Christian denominations and their respective congregations While in Germany the Templers were regarded as sectarians the Evangelical proselytes gained major financial and mental support from German Lutheran and Evangelical church bodies This created an atmosphere of mistrust and envy among the German colonists in Haifa On July 17 1886 the proselytes appealed to the Supreme Church Council of the State Church of Prussia s older Provinces to be accepted as and helped to found an Evangelical congregation In 1891 the Jerusalemsverein English Association of Jerusalem a Berlin based Evangelical charitable organisation to subsidize Protestant activities in the Holy Land decided to support the new Haifa congregation The Jerusalemsverein sent and sponsored a teacher for the congregants children In 1892 the Jerusalemsverein decided to lend the congregation the money needed to build a prayer hall Otto Fischer 1813 1910 a Haifa resident donated the land at the foot of Mount Carmel and the Haifa engineer Ernst August Voigt gratuitously drew the constructions plans 3 In September 1892 the constructions started and pastor Carl Schlicht Jerusalem inaugurated the community centre including a prayer hall and two school rooms on July 2 1893 The community center and school buildings became the Haifa City Museum in 2011 4 Starting in the same year the Jerusalemsverein sponsored a pastor for the new Haifa Evangelical Congregation The teacher Herrmann initiated a choir From 1900 on Marie Teckhaus a Deaconess sponsored by the Kaiserswerth Deaconesses Mother House ran a medical station open for patients of all denominations and religions In 1907 the congregation built a separate school building but later the discrepancies between the two German speaking congregations Evangelical and Templer shrank thus before World War I the schools were pooled citation needed The population fluctuated between 300 400 settlers between 1870 and 1914 Sixty of the colonists were American citizens and their leader Jacob Schumacher served as the U S consular agent for Haifa and northern Palestine 5 Due to their population increase and the ongoing urbanisation of Haifa the colonists searched to buy lands in order to found new settlements These were to be exclusively monodenominational Thus the Templers settled in Bethlehem of Galilee and the Evangelical Protestants founded the neighbouring Waldheim 6 nbsp View down from the Baha i Gardens at the top of the German Colony Employing modern farming methods the Templers introduced soil fertilization better methods of crop rotation and new crops such as potatoes They imported agricultural machinery and engaged in mixed farming combining dairy farming and field crops 7 Registering the land was problematic due to back taxes and local boundary disputes which sometimes turned violent 8 The Templers thus abandoned farming in favor of industry and tourism They built hotels opened workshops and established an olive oil soap factory 9 nbsp Old Templer house in German Colony The affluent German colony stood out in its poor surroundings The only doctor in the city lived there and one of the residents was a construction engineer By the end of the Ottoman era the colony had 750 inhabitants 150 houses and dozens of businesses 9 The colony was the first model of urban planning in Palestine with a main street running from north to south today Ben Gurion Boulevard leading down to the harbor Smaller streets branched out from the main street At the southern end of the colony were the Templer vineyards where the Baha i World Centre stands today The colony was built as a garden city with single family homes surrounded by gardens and shade trees lining the main boulevard 10 Nazi affiliation and expulsion editAfter the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the German Empire allied with the Ottoman Empire a large number of German colonists in Palestine joined the Imperial German Army during the conflict and fought against Allied forces in the Sinai and Palestine campaign When Allied forces captured Palestine from the Ottoman Empire the German colonists were regarded by Allied occupational authorities as enemy aliens but were not deported back to Germany citation needed In 1937 34 of German colonists in Palestine were members of the Nazi Party 11 During the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth on 12 May 1937 all German colonies flew the flag of Nazi Germany 12 After the outbreak of World War II in 1939 all colonists with German citizenship were detained by the British authorities and sent together with Italian and Hungarian citizens in Palestine to internment camps in Waldheim and Bethlehem of Galilee 13 On 31 July 1941 661 German colonists were deported via Egypt to Australia by the British leaving 345 in Palestine 11 Restoration and modern use editSome of the original Templer homes have been restored in recent years Buildings along Ben Gurion Boulevard have been turned into cafes boutiques hotels and restaurants One houses the Haifa City Museum and the colony has become a center of Haifa nightlife with pubs and bars being a common sight Starting in particular during the 1990s the area witnessed a growing number of Palestinian owned cafes and bars opened to offer spaces for small performances and exhibitions by Palestinian artists 2 References edit Haifa German colony www levantineheritage com Retrieved 2023 12 02 a b Karkabi Nadeem Expressions of Cultural Life in Post 1948 Haifa Toward an Autonomous Palestinian Field Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question https www palquest org en highlight 30052 expressions cultural life post 1948 haifa Voigt collaborated with Jacob Gottlieb Schumacher in measuring the Hauran he designed the street and site plan of the colonies in Allonei Abba then Waldheim and Hadera Cf Ejal Jakob Eisler Hebrew איל יעקב אייזלר Kirchler im Heiligen Land Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den wurttembergischen Siedlungen Palastinas 1886 1914 In Dem Erloser der Welt zur Ehre Festschrift zum hundertjahrigen Jubilaum der Erloserkirche in Jerusalem Karl Heinz Ronecker ed on behalf of the Jerusalem Stiftung and Jerusalemsverein Leipzig Evangelische Verlags Anstalt 1998 pp 81 100 here footnote 192 on p 85 ISBN 3 374 01706 1 Parasczczuk Joanna 25 March 2011 With words not weapons Jerusalem Post ProQuest 860862075 Ruth Kark American Consuls in the Holy Land Ejal Jakob Eisler איל יעקב אייזלר Kirchler im Heiligen Land Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den wurttembergischen Siedlungen Palastinas 1886 1914 In Dem Erloser der Welt zur Ehre Festschrift zum hundertjahrigen Jubilaum der Einweihung der evangelischen Erloserkirche in Jerusalem Karl Heinz Ronecker ed on behalf of the Jerusalem Stiftung and Jerusalemsverein Leipzig Evangelische Verlags Anstalt 1998 pp 81 100 here p 97 ISBN 3 374 01706 1 Land Labor and the Origins of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict 1882 1914 Gershon Shafir p 29 Ruth Kark American Consuls Published 1994 Wayne State University Press ISBN 0 8143 2523 8 pp 245 246 270 a b Tour Haifa Haifa Tourists Board Haifa Foundation Archived from the original on 2008 09 28 Retrieved 2008 08 17 a b Nachman Ben Yehuda 1992 Political assassinations by Jews a rhetorical device for justice SUNY Press ISBN 0 7914 1165 6 H D Schmidt The Nazi Party in Palestine and the Levant 1932 39 International Affairs London October 1952 p 466 The nine lives of the Lorenz Cafe Haaretz 20 January 2008 Archived from the original on 6 June 2008 Retrieved 13 July 2008 Bibliography editAlex Carmel Hebrew אלכס כרמל Die Siedlungen der wurttembergischen Templer in Palastina 1868 1918 11973 התיישבות הגרמנים בארץ ישראל בשלהי השלטון הטורקי בעיותיה המדיניות המקומיות והבינלאומיות ירושלים חמו ל תש ל גרמנית Stuttgart Kohlhammer Verlag 32000 Veroffentlichungen der Kommission fur geschichtliche Landeskunde in Baden Wurttemberg Reihe B Forschungen vol 77 ISBN 3 17 016788 X Alex Carmel Hebrew אלכס כרמל Geschichte Haifas in der turkischen Zeit 1516 1918 תולדות חיפה בימי התורכים חיפה הוצאת הספרים האקדמית של אוניברסיטת חיפה 1969 גרמנית Wiesbaden Harrassowitz 1975 Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palastina Vereins vol 3 ISBN 3 447 01636 1 Ejal Jakob Eisler Hebrew איל יעקב אייזלר Kirchler im Heiligen Land Die evangelischen Gemeinden in den wurttembergischen Siedlungen Palastinas 1886 1914 In Dem Erloser der Welt zur Ehre Festschrift zum hundertjahrigen Jubilaum der Erloserkirche in Jerusalem Karl Heinz Ronecker ed on behalf of the Jerusalem Stiftung and Jerusalemsverein Leipzig Evangelische Verlags Anstalt 1998 pp 81 100 ISBN 3 374 01706 1 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to German Colony of Haifa Haifa Tourists Board The German Colony Historical Background Photo circa 1898 32 49 10 8 N 34 59 25 99 E 32 819667 N 34 9905528 E 32 819667 34 9905528 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title German Colony Haifa amp oldid 1212926506, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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