Once upon a time in Jerusalem,
And this time – the German colony.
In the photo – farmers in the fields of Emek Refaim and behind them the houses of the German colony.
The German colony was built by the Templars in 1873.
The Templars were devout Christian settlers who came from Germany to the Land of Israel with the aim of establishing a true Christian society in the Land of God centered in Jerusalem.
The colony was established on the axis of Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity and to the old city.
Emek Refaim is a unique valley in the mountainous Jerusalem landscape, and it was an extensive field for field crops and agriculture.
Along the length of the valley, the remains of agricultural farms and ancient villages were discovered at a later stage, which testify to the existence of agricultural life in the valley hundreds of years ago.
Emek Refaim in the German colony was the end of Nahal Refaim, which begins in today’s Emek Refaim and continues through the Katamonim neighborhood to today’s Malha area, a modern-day white valley that meets at the end with Nahal Sorek at the foot of the Bar Giora settlement.
Those planning a boat ride in the stream may be disappointed because the stream only flows on rainy winter days, but the old train from Jerusalem to Jaffa that was built during the time of the Turks was built on the route of the stream and left from the train station at the end of Emek Refaim.
The land for the construction of the German Templar neighborhood in Emek Refaim was purchased from the West of Beit Tzafafa, and the construction of the new houses was done according to the knowledge the German settlers had from home in southern Germany, but with local materials.
The houses were built of Jerusalem stone were one or two stories high, and had red-tiled roofs, which were common in Germany mainly because of the heavy snow that piled up on the roofs in the winter.
The Germans did not find much snow in the hot and hot Middle East, and one day of snow a year did not justify their construction, but Germans and discipline always went together, and those like us know and remember this to this day.
Over time and with the development of the neighborhood, and at the same time as the Turkish rule that ruled the country, wealthy Arab families built wealthy families who were close to the plate and big houses next to the Templar houses and also in Katamon, Talbiya, and Baka.
The German Templars who were sympathizers of the Nazi movement found the British rule replaced the Turkish rule with less sympathy, when Britain was part of the allies that fought the Nazis in Europe, and the Templar settlers were quarantined and exiled to Australia because the British could not find a place further away.
With the outbreak of the War of Independence, the Arab settlers abandoned their homes, and after the establishment of the state, the houses were populated by new immigrants who arrived in the newly born state.
Because of the large area of the houses, the houses were divided into several small apartments and whole families lived in them, sometimes with shared toilets in the yard and with a shared kitchen.
I personally remember one story (among many) that was told to me by a son of one of the families who immigrated to Israel at that time, he told me about the dilemma his parents had upon their arrival in Jerusalem – the Jewish Agency offered them to live together in a spacious Arab house in the German colony that was shared with 5 other immigrant families and the bathroom was shared by all and placed in the yard, next to the shared outdoor kitchen,
The father of the family insisted and wanted to live in a new railway housing that was to be built in the Baka neighborhood.
Of course, the family moved into the divided house, because the woman’s word and will are valid throughout all periods of history.
Later, the family bought the rest of the divided apartments from the neighbors, and we sold the garden apartment years later for a huge sum.
The father was no longer alive to see how good it was that they did not take his advice.
The German colony has become one of the picturesque and sought-after neighborhoods in Jerusalem, with green and magical alleys, next to the developing Emek Refaim Street.
With the increasing waves of immigration in the late 50s and 60s of the last century, apartment houses were built in the colony to house the mass of new immigrants, who did not take into account the old buildings and the glorious history of the German colony, and thus you can see stone dwellings and small buildings in the Israeli style of those years alongside magnificent buildings and historians who have preserved it to this day with the intention of preserving history for future generations as well.
The Jerusalem Municipality and its conservation department have understood the importance of preserving the magnificent buildings built more than a century ago and preserving the character of the neighborhood in the last two decades.
The German colony had its own master plan designed, which limits construction in old buildings and the permitted height for new buildings as well
And the supply of apartments today in the moshav is more limited than ever.
Many years have passed since the Templars were exiled from the country and in recent decades the German colony is alive and vibrant.
Emek Refaim, which long ago became the main street of the settlement, is full of diverse shops – from the late Smadar Cinema, which was among the only cinemas in the city that was open on Shabbat and was a meeting place for old Jerusalemites, the crepe of Babet’s celebration and ice cream parlors, cafes and restaurants.
With the development of the transportation system in the city, work will soon begin on the street for the construction of the light rail axis that will connect the city center with the south, The Jerusalem pool was destroyed and rebuilt, and the neighborhood is flourishing and more sought after than ever by Jerusalemites, Tel Avivians and non-residents who appreciate its beauty and character.
Old private houses were bought by wealthy Jews from Israel and the world, preserved, renovated, and expanded in the spirit of the required preservation and are part of the neighborhood’s long-lasting appeal.
The population of the neighborhood is changing and the desire to live there is higher than ever.
As part of the urban renewal that is currently regulated in the city, some of the old housing estates that were built hastily and do not fit the nature of the neighborhood will be demolished and in their place will be built new, low buildings with a design that suits the nature of the neighborhood.
After decades, the time has come to repair what was built hastily and without adjustment to the fabric of the neighborhood, and indeed these days the demolition of two ugly housing buildings that stood for decades as a foreign plant among the beautiful buildings around them, in the western part of the neighborhood on Magid Street, near the Green Moon Grove and Hartman High School, have finally been approved.
In their place, a well-known Jerusalem architect specializing in the preservation of a prestigious complex of three five-story low-rise buildings with a common green courtyard will be built, in the spirit of the old moshavah houses, with magnificent stone facades –
After many years, the time has come for a new and modern complex in the spirit of the picturesque neighborhood – a kind of restoration of Atara to its former glory.
better late than never.
This is our Jerusalem-
The train from the days of the Turks was replaced by the electric light rail,
Jews from Israel and all over the world live in the homes of the Nazi-supporting Christian Templars, the wheat fields in Emek Refaim have been replaced by buildings inhabited by the new immigrants, and the restaurants and cafes of Emek Refaim are full and bustling with guests from all over the country and the world.
Shabbat Shalom to all, far and near, from Jerusalem.
