Page 13 - Virtual Tour - The German Colony - Historical View, Advanced - 110716

13

Advanced Level – ?המושבה הגרמנית החדש?

The Templerian Cemetery

It is usually customary to establish cemeteries outside of the city.
However, there is a unique phenomenon in Jerusalem: One can find
quite a few cemeteries inside the city.
The reason for this strange phenomenon is that Jerusalem is built of
layers upon layers – every period in history belongs to a different
layer. Therefore, anywhere where we see a cemetery we will know
that there was a time in history in which this was the edge of the city.
Every cemetery has its own abundance of stories and legends. In the
Templerian cemetery on Emek Refa’im Street as well, one can find
interesting stories and a lot of history.
It’s common to think that the country was built by the “Aliyah people”
– Zionist Jews from Europe who immigrated to the Land of Israel in
order to settle it, work the land and build the country.
Most people don’t know that before the Aliyah people, in the
seventies of the 19th century, German Christians came to the Land of
Israel – the Templers.
They established settlements, agricultural farms, built houses and
paved roads.
During this difficult period of time, like the Aliyah people, the
Templers also suffered from various diseases. Death was everywhere.
At first the Templers buried the dead in the cemetery on Mount Zion.
Not much time went by, and arguments and conflict arose between the
Templers and other groups in the city. The Templers could no longer
bury their dead on Mount Zion.
After several searches, they decided to establish a cemetery in the
German Colony. In the cemetery one can find tomb stones that tell life
stories of children, adults and soldiers. One of the monuments from
the time of the world war elicited a harsh argument, since it related to
German soldiers.
Unfortunately (lit. to our sorrow), the place is almost always closed. In
order to enter it one must succeed in convincing nuns who don’t speak
English or Hebrew to open the gate. If we are lucky, maybe we’ll be
able to go in…

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