The American – German Settlement in Jaffa is a residential quarter situated between the Florentine quarter and Jaffa. There are two intersecting streets in the quarter: Ohrbach and Bar Hoffman and there are 19 houses in the entire quarter, Mormon settlers instilled with religious beliefs and good intentions, arrived in Palestine from Maine, USA in 1866. Their belief was that settling in the Land of Israel will bring the Jews to return to the Land of Israel thereby resulting in Jesus resurrecting and bring redemption.
The group consisted of 157b people: farmers, carpenters and professionals led by their pastor – George Adams. His church was named “The Messiah Church”.
They brought with them a large cargo on the ship that brought them across the sea, including knocked-down New England style wooden houses. Two storey houses with three rooms and a kitchen. When assembling the houses they added a round balcony with thin rails in order to enable the breeze to come through and enjoy sitting outside. The large investment in the houses explains the intention of the Mormons to settle for good.
Some of the houses were made of stone, e.g. The three storey “Grand Hotel” built by the Driscoe Brothers.
The Mormons encountered many difficulties: initially it was difficult to locate a suitable location for their community, they encountered illnesses, had difficulties to earn a living and they had internal disputes. Two years after their arrival most of them, including George Adams, returned to the USA.
In 1868 the American settlement was mostly abandoned except for Rola Floyd, who lived in the house at 17 Bar Hoffman Street. He had brought with him a chariot on the ship and began a tourist agency and transportation company. He remained in Palestine but moved to Jerusalem.
The German Settlement
The empty houses attracted the attention of the Templars from Wurttemberg, Germany and their leader George Hardag. Once again a sect instilled with religious beliefs, Christian missionaries that preached modesty, simplicity and brotherly love.
They purchased the Grand Hotel and changed the name to Jerusalem Hotel and catered to pilgrims visiting Palestine. The Templars purchased the abandoned houses and the two storey building adjacent to the hotel and converted it to a school and meeting place for the Templar community.
The Templars reinforced the houses with stone and improved them. They erected new buildings; a hospital, a pharmacy, a saw mill, a wine press and a wind mill. Their community included doctors, pharmacists and house painters.
In 1881 there were 26 residential houses, 8 made from wood and the others of stone. The community was enclosed by a wall with two gates that were closed at night. The settlement was center for tourist services, including Thomas Cook, Jerusalem Hotel and Du Park Hotel owned by Baron Ustinov, a Russian who converted to Lutheranism.
In preparation for the visit of Wilhelm II and his wife to the Land of Israel a ceremony inaugurating the Emanuel Church at 5 Bar Hoffman Street was prepared. The erection of a large church was accompanied with many disputes among the Templars since their faith calls for modesty, but since the land for the church was contributed by Baron Ustinov, his position determined the outcome. He engaged German architects to design the church and engaged a German engineer to supervise the construction of the church which was completed in 1904 and Wilhelm II contributed the church bells.
At the beginning of World War II the English deported the entire German community. The houses were abandoned and were eventually transferred to the State of Israel as part of the Reparations arrangements with Germany. Most of the houses have been restored.
What did we have in the American-German settlement in Jaffa ?
Two small communities of settlers with a vision and a dream. The American community aborted and abandoned their dream in a relatively short time. The Mormons did not properly prepare prior to their arrival in Palestine, they weren’t aware of the issues relating to purchasing land from the Ottoman regime, they didn’t know about the farming of the land and the climate of Palestine weren’t really a cohesive group. In addition, they encountered bad luck – the Driscoe brothers were late in opening their hotel before Easter and missed the tourist season.
The German group was much better organized, apparently there were people with academic education, doctors and pharmacists, they had expertize in baking, painting and know-how to build a wind mill powered by steam. The group was much better organized and cooperated among themselves. The Templars were successful in developing the American-German Settlement into a tourist and hotel center.