The German Templer Colony in Jerusalem Self-Guided Walking Tour

We are standing at the entrance to the Orient Hotel, right at the gateway to Jerusalem’s famous German Colony.
Take a look around. Behind the cafés, restaurants, and modern hotel, you can still spot traces of a very different Jerusalem — a quiet 19th-century German settlement built long before this became one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods.
The German Colony was founded in the late 1800s by the Templers, a Protestant Christian movement from southern Germany. They believed that by settling in the Holy Land and building an ideal community, they were helping prepare the world for redemption. Unlike pilgrims who simply visited Jerusalem, the Templers came to live here permanently. They built homes, farms, schools, workshops, and businesses, creating an organized European-style neighborhood in Ottoman Jerusalem.
Their architectural style still defines the area today. Notice the Jerusalem stone houses, the red-tiled roofs, arched windows, and symmetrical façades. Many homes even included German biblical inscriptions above the entrances. The neighborhood blended European planning with local materials, creating the unique atmosphere that still makes the German Colony stand out today.
Now look at the two historic buildings built into the hotel complex behind us. These were once the school buildings of the German Colony.
The Templers moved their school from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and by 1878 students here were studying German, French, English, Arabic, history, geography, mathematics, and science — an advanced education for the time.
If you look carefully at the building on the left facing Emek Refaim Street, you can still see the round clock near the top. In the 1880s, this clock symbolized precision, order, and modern European culture at a time when many local residents did not even own a personal watch.
The German Colony itself was much more than a residential neighborhood. It was a carefully planned community with schools, farms, workshops, transportation services, and businesses. The Templers became known for agriculture, construction, carpentry, mechanics, and trade, helping introduce European organization and technology into Jerusalem during the Ottoman period.
Now let’s talk about the modern structure behind us.
The Orient Hotel, part of the Isrotel group, opened in 2017, but its construction sparked years of debate.
Many Jerusalem residents strongly opposed earlier plans for a much larger hotel project here. They feared a massive modern building would overpower the historic low-rise neighborhood, increase traffic, and change the character of the entrance to Emek Refaim Street.
The debate raised a classic Jerusalem question: how do you allow a historic city to grow while still preserving its past?
Eventually, compromises were made. The final project preserved and restored the two original Templer school buildings and integrated them into the hotel design.
So what you see today is a very Jerusalem kind of compromise: modern luxury standing side by side with preserved history.
And honestly, that tension between old and new is part of what makes Jerusalem so fascinating. Nearly every street here contains layers of history, preservation, religion, politics, and modernization all competing for space at the same time.
Now, from where you are standing at the entrance to the hotel, carefully cross Emek Refaim Street and turn left.

You are standing in front of Matthäus Frank`s House, at 6 Emek Refaim Street, also known as “Eben-Ezer” — “the Stone of Help.”

This was the first house built in the German Colony, and also the largest house in the early colony. Matthäus Frank was one of the key founders of the settlement. He bought the land of the future German Colony from Arabs of Beit Safafa, and later the Templer community purchased the land from him in order to establish their colony here.

Architecturally, the house is a classic early Templer building: solid Jerusalem stone, simple European proportions, a practical rural character, and a clear sense of order and stability. It was both a family home and a working house. Frank was a miller, and the house was connected with his flour mill and productive life.

The most important detail is the inscription above the entrance: “Eben-Ezer.” This name comes from the First Book of Samuel. During the battle against the Philistines, the text says: “The Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and threw them into confusion; and they were defeated before Israel.” After the victory, Samuel set up a stone and called it Eben-Ezer, saying: “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

For a German Templer settler in the Holy Land, this name had deep symbolic meaning. It connected the house to the biblical story of divine help, victory, settlement and taking root in the land. Frank was not only building a private home; he was marking the beginning of a German Christian settlement in Jerusalem.

The property around the house was also significant. On part of Frank’s former garden, a sports and tennis center was later established, serving the residents of the local community. This reminds us that the German Colony was not only a place of houses and work, but also a living neighborhood with communal and social life.

Today, the building is known as Beit Yuri Stern. It houses the Yuri Stern Holistic Center, which offers support and complementary care for people coping with cancer and for their families.

Continue walking in the same direction.