The originally rural settlement outside Jerusalem's Old City walls was erected between 1873 and 1910, by members of the German Temple Society. Their aim was to establish a little kingdom of God on earth.
The nucleus was the stocky little house built in 1873 by one Matthias Frank, which today is 6 Emek Refa'im Street. Its plot lay in the Refa'im Valley and was purchased from the people of Bet Safafa, an Arab village that today is also part of the New City. Arab shepherds used to rest in the area, on the way to Jerusalem's cattle market.
Like German Street Village
The settlement was laid out in the fashion of a traditional German Strassendorf - a "Street Village" - grouped along a broad avenue, with narrow side streets branching off it. The avenue was the first street in Jerusalem to be planted with trees on both sides. On the lintels of many doors, one can still see the Gothic German letters used to carve biblical verses and often, the year of completion.
Like all foreign groups in Jerusalem in the 19th century, the Templar community maintained close relations with its homeland. One source describes the celebrations of the Kaiser's birthday in 1876, with the flag of the German Empire hoisted above every house in the Colony.
The Turkish pasha, numerous Jerusalemite dignitaries and the students of all German schools in the city attended, and the big day ended in a large party in the German Colony including, of course, free beer for all.
From Farming to Trade
Soon, the Templars shifted from agriculture to crafts and trade and gained an outstanding reputation for their skills and organizational talents. The colony also had the city's first sports facilities and swimming pool. In 1878, the Templars established their own cemetery, which exists till today, halfway up Emek Refam Street.
With the outbreak of World War II, the German Templars in Palestine were interned by the British authorities as enemy subjects, and many were deported to Australia, where some founded new settlements. The Colony became a military security zone, and many of the buildings were confiscated and used by the British military.
History came full circle about half a lifetime after the Colony had dissolved. In 1978, Ya'akov Yanna'i, a representative of Israel's Foreign Ministry, attended a travel agents' conference in Hamburg, Germany.
One of the other guests introduced himself as Jonathan Fast - he had been born in the German Colony and spent his childhood there. In 1944, as an intelligence officer in the German army, he was sent to neutral Turkey to take part in a clandestine operation: The exchange of 200 Templars who had not yet been exiled, for 200 half-starved Jewish children from countries Germany had occupied. One of these children had been Ya'akov Yanna'i.
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