German Colony

At least once during your stay in Haifa, walk up Ben-Gurion Ave from Jaffa Rd and enjoy the splendour that is the German Colony backed by the cascading lights of the Baha'i Gardens. The colony (really just this street), was renovated in the 1990s into the city's premier address for shopping and dining, with many of its buildings restored and given plaques that describe the history of the area. Haifa's tourist information centre is also located here.

Part of the renovation required that the entire street be moved 168cm, so that its centre divide would line up with the staircase of Baha'i Gardens.

The colony was established in 1869 by the Templers (not to be confused with the Knights of the Templars), a Christian society that aimed to help Palestine ready itself for the second coming of Christ. The Templers built seven colonies in Palestine and are credited with developing the country in the late 1900s, providing improved methods of transportation, technology and agriculture.

The colony they built contained attractive stone houses with steep red-shingled roofs. It impressed the Baha'ullah, the founder of the Baha'i faith, and was visited by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898. Germans continued to live in the colony until WWII when the British threw them out as suspected Nazi collaborators.

Dramatised tours of the German Colony, led by actor-guides, describe the history of the colony and are done on Saturdays at 11:00. Call for a reservation.