A walk through the German colony and the lower terrace of the Bahai gardens

This relatively new hotel belongs to a rich Christian family from Nazareth. Excellent location, modern design and good service made this hotel a convenient place for recreation for many tourists. Over time, when the Barcelona project was realized, when the old port part became a tourist area, the demand for rooms in Golden Crown will undoubtedly increase even more. In the meantime, just across the square, construction of a new hotel complex, calculated for 350 beds, is underway. Translated with Google Translate

There are three historical buildings here one after another. Numbered 8, 10 and 12. The building in which the Aroma (number 8) cafe of the Israeli global network comfortably settled used to serve the Dick family. Abraham Dick (1848-1917), the father of the family came to Israel from the Caucasus. The company he owned was founded in Haifa in 1878. The company was engaged in a number of cases, but mainly imported agricultural equipment and was then one of the largest in the country. The company was later inherited by Timothy (Timothy) Lange (1869-1947) and Gottlieb Schumacher (1857-1925). Timothy was the son of Anna Lange (1843-1930) of Abraham Dick’s sister. And Gottlieb Schumacher - Maria's husband from the house of Lange - Anna's sister. Their house was built at the end of the 19th century and stretched over 4 levels: 2 main floors (about 170 square meters), an attic and a basement (about 100 square meters). At the entrance are arched passages and large windows in which agricultural machinery and goods were exhibited. At the top of the building you can observe the gable, which characterizes the architecture of the Templars - the religious German Christian community, who founded the colony itself at the end of the 19th century. As in many other houses in the colony, it was customary to engrave inscriptions from the Old Testament above the entrance door. On this house is the inscription "EBEN EZRA 1893". This is a year of construction and a psalm: "And Shemuel took one stone, and put it between Mitzpa and Shane, and named it Even-Aizer (Help Stone), and said: God has helped us to this place." Today, the expression symbolizes the help of God (like the expression "with God's help"). Opposite the house there used to be the Carmel Hotel, then the bus station, now the hotel complex is being built again.

The next building at number 10 (not renovated) is the Schumacher family home. They arrived in Palestine from America. Jacob - the father of the family joined the templars and built this house in 1870. As is customary among the Templars, above the entrance of the psalm from the book Teyilim: “Test the light of Thy face on us (show us), Yehova!” Jacob was appointed honorary consul of the USA and his house became a consulate, the post was inherited by his son Gotlib. In this house were the British officers Condor and Kichner (the future lord) who created the Golan and Galilee cartography. They continued their work and multiplied Jacob’s son, Gottlieb Schumacher. He designed the Haifa Damascus railway, led Armagedo struts, where he found the famous seal in the form of the lion of the biblical king Jeroham. He designed a winery in Rishon Lacione, built a pier for Kaiser Wilhelm in Haifa, the house of Muscovy in Nazareth. During the First World War, Gottlieb joined the ranks of the German troops and after the defeat of Germany he could not return to English Haifa until 1924, and returning, he died a year later. The Schumacher family was deported by the British in 1939 during the Second World War. The symbols of Schumacher’s house were the American flag and the sundial donated by Lord Kitchner.

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The hotel building was built in 1905 by the Christian family Epener from the Templar community, which founded the German colony in Haifa in 1869. Two sisters, Christine and Helena, ran the hotel until the early 1940s. Their brother Gottlieb Epener, who owned a horse-drawn carriage workshop, assisted them in the administrative and financial management of the hotel. Near the hotel were planted the first in the German colony of Washington palm trees. They are famous for their great height and, they say, served as a guide for guests, so that you can always easily find a hotel. The archives of the Schumacher Institute, located in Haifa and exploring the history of the city, mention the way of life in the German colony of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The archival records refer to the Epener sisters, as well-known culinary experts, whose restaurant located at the hotel was in great demand among the guests of the colony and was popular among British officers until the liquidation of the German community in the 40s - World War II. Also interesting is the fact that the Peel Commission (the British Departmental Commission that resolved the partition of Palestine) was located in this hotel for a long time. The British Government of Palestine decided to deport a large part of the German community to Australia as a result of the open support of the National Socialist Party of Nazi Germany. The property was more nationalized and subsequently acquired by private individuals. In 1950, Shmuel Drezner, a Jew who survived the Holocaust, bought a hotel and worked under his leadership until 1978. In December 2006, the building was acquired by a construction company and repaired, fully preserving its historical appearance (the restoration was carried out under the supervision and supervision of the Department for the Preservation of Historical Monuments of the Haifa City Hall). The hotel’s design preserves the building’s original atmosphere, including terracotta tiles, original wooden balustrades, windows, wooden shutters and a general style that matches the character of the building. Many bathrooms have a four-poster bath, wooden windows and blinds are preserved in accordance with the original, the rooms have old-style oak furniture, and the original floor tiles from 1905 have been preserved in many rooms and corridors of the hotel. Translated with Google Translate

A small hotel boutique, restaurant, nice courtyard - all this is one complex of interesting and revered places in the city. Here, art workers, students, representatives of the Haifa bohemia, for the most part, people of free views and liberal mores, like to meet and spend time. Here you will meet the Arab intelligentsia of the city, Jewish, university youth, artists, bloggers, people who like to smoke hookah, taste the not expensive snacks of the Fatush restaurant and enjoy the atmosphere of unobtrusive coexistence of two different worlds: the west and east. Translated with Google Translate

In this typical for the Templers for its architecture and internal structure of the house, today settled the municipal not profitable organization - the tourist information center. Here you can find out absolutely everything related to tourist places and places of recreation in the city. Various museums, exhibitions, events - the tourist center will tell and tell about everything. It is also convenient that you can buy tickets here and make preliminary registrations to the places and objects where it is recommended. Translated with Google Translate

The Bahai religion was born and finally formed in the second half of the 19th century in Acre and Haifa. Once persecuted by the Turkish authorities, a group of followers of the Bab, the founder of the faith, was banished to Acre. Adherents, led by the successor of the teachings of Bach Ulla, with time, were able to settle in Acre and Haifa and give the remains of the founder of the teachings of the earth on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Today a tomb with a golden dome stands at this place - a symbol of the Bahai gardens and the whole of Haifa. Around the tomb were gardens, consisting of 19 terraces. The entrance to the upper, lower terrace and the middle one where the tomb is located is open and does not require prior approval. Passing through the terraces is possible from top to bottom as part of organized groups at certain hours. One of the important elements of the Bahai faith is beauty and harmony, which are reflected in beautiful gardens. Translated with Google Translate

Here, hand in hand, the two female silhouettes form an arch that leads to the street called the Church Street. Along the walls of houses and fences on this alley there are poems by Jewish and Arab poets. Therefore, the lane is called the lane of poems or the road of songs. From here the path leads to the old Arab district of the city called Wadi Nishnas. Now two female images at the entrance to the street of songs become clear: it is a symbol of the Jewish Arab coexistence of Haifa. Translated with Google Translate

This is one of the most famous restaurants of the German colony - Dojan restaurant. Its founder and owner Faadi has a difficult and interesting fate. Born in an Arab family and being an unconventional child, Faadi had a hard time. He wanted to be an architect, then a cook, then someone else, but most of all he wanted to be himself! Having gone to France, having lived there and spent many years there, Faadi returned home - here to this house and decided to devote himself and the whole place to the search for universal and authentic values, believing that there was no contradiction between these concepts. His house and his restaurant is a museum at the same time. Here you can find real ancient furniture, on the tables there are historical photos of Haifa from the beginning of the 20th century. The interior is full of replicas from the history of the German colony and the city as a whole. Stories of things, people, people and of course the kitchen. As Faadi himself says: “My mother simply cooked deliciously and only in France I understood what to do to make it happen.” The restaurant’s menu is an exceptional dish combining Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and French recipes. For example, a portion called rolatini: it is fried eggplant filled with goat cheese and olive oil with tomato sauce. Or as a main dish lamb ribs with rosemary sauce. From sweet brand is a drunken pear. It is a chocolate gravy pear cooked in red wine. Translated with Google Translate

The intersection of Ben Gurion and Amagenim streets is the main intersection of the German Colony streets. It arose in the second half of the 19th century on the initiative of the Templlers, the German religious movement, who set themselves the task of opposing and developing the holy land. In the First World War, the British deported the local Germans to Egypt and only in the mid-20s allowed to finally return. In the 30s, here they openly spoke in support of Hitler and posters with slogans hung around the central square stating that entry to Jews and dogs was prohibited. With the beginning of the Second World War, the British deported the local German population to Australia and the Germans did not return here anymore. The State of Israel, created in 1948, did not know how to build and build relations with post-war Germany at all after the death of six million Jews in horror of the Holocaust. However, the then Prime Minister David Ben Gurion was able to build not only diplomatic relations with Germany, but also to convince the people of Israel that this was correct. At this intersection the first traffic light appeared in Haifa. Today, there is a Christmas tree and menorah. They, along with the crescent, are symbols of the Haifa coexistence of Christians, Jews and Muslims. A concept that has turned into a yearbook is a holiday called the Holiday of Holidays, when at the same time throughout the week in the last decade of December in Haifa, all three religions celebrate the holiday. Translated with Google Translate

This rich and large house, in which the restaurant Rak Basar (meat only) is located, was when the home of the Schmidt family - the head physician of the German Colony. Dr. Schmidt was also Deputy Honorary Consul of Great Britain in Palestine. It was he who laid the foundations of modern medicine in Palestine. The house has three floors - the basement, the top - basement. The house has preserved the interior and decoration of the beginning of the century. In the spacious foyer at the entrance there is a glass floor through which you can see the cellar and ancient wine storage barrels, bottles and various tools. Today it houses a restaurant specializing in cooking meat dishes. The peculiarity of the restaurant is the possibility for the visitor to choose fresh meat from the extensive showcase, as in a butcher shop, payment is for weight and cooking over an open fire. The restaurant does not leave indifferent even the most demanding butchers! Asado, Cinta, Chorisos, Fillet, Kebab, Goose Breast and all that you know and do not know about meat and poultry is your choice. Accompanied portions cooked on fire mushrooms, vegetables, salads and local young wine. Translated with Google Translate

Today, after the restoration of the building in 2000, the Haifa City Museum is located in it. The building itself was built in 1869 and became the first stone house of the Templar community in the Holy Land. It was the house of the national assembly, the hall for sermons and meetings, the school and the local council at the same time. The bells from the annex above the facade proclaimed meetings. It is said that Kaiser Wilhelm spoke to people from a balcony during his visit to the Holy Land in 1898. Above the entrance, as usual, there is a quotation from the holy scriptures, this time the dog is mentioned: If I forget you Jerusalem, may I lose my right hand. Translated with Google Translate

Here at the intersection of Jaffa and Ben Gurion streets our walk through the German colony ends. Opposite you can see the city shopping center, next to, on the site of the former bus station, a new hotel complex is being built, a port and merchant ships can be seen in the distance. The German colony in Haifa became in its time an example of a new world, development and construction, which came with a rapid flow of changes to the Middle East with the beginning of the 20th century. Today it is a cozy corner of cute European architecture and the coexistence of peoples and religions after the difficult years of changing power, ideologies and cultures. Translated with Google Translate