At the foot of the Bahai Gardens, lies the old German Colony.In 1868 Christoph Hoffman and George David Hardegg came from Wurttemberg, Germany to Haifa.They were members of the Templar Society (not to be confused with the Knights of the Templars).At the time,Haifa was a town of 4,000 people. The Templars were just one of the groups credited with Haifa's development at the time.
Hoffman & Hardegg were leaders of a Christian sect,(named:Temple)which had a few thousands followers. The initiators of the sect decided to live & spread their unique belief in the Holy Land.
The Templars purchased a land that was, at the time, far from the city and set out to build the first planned agricultural community in the Holy Land. Hardegg stayed and established the community in Haifa, while Hoffman established the second Templar community in Jaffa. It is now accepted, that the activities of the German settlers,in many areas,gave a positive push to the development of Haifa.
In 1874, upon ideological split of opinions, Hardegg was dismissed of all his positions & Hoffman was nominated sole general director of all german colonies (7) in the Holy Land. Architect Jacob Shumacher,an American of German origin, was nominated director of the Haifa Templar colony. At The beginning of 1873 the colony had already 254 inhabitants & 31 dwelling houses.
The colony's main street(Today,Ben-Gurion Blvd.)was one of the most beautiful streets built during that era and was a cause for much admiration. The street was 30 meters wide and had trees on both sides. The houses were built of stone,under the supervision of architect Jakob Shumacher and boasted red-shingled roofs.
Towards the end of the 1st world war(1917) & Following the Turkish army retreat from this country,on account of British Army pressure,all German inhabitants were deported back to Germany. After the end of the war,many of them returned to their homes & business.On the begining of the 2nd world war, the British authorities again expelled the Templar community,on the ground of the majority of them being Nazi supporters. Since then, the Germans have not returned here again.

February,2007