- 1868-10-30 —
Christoph Hoffman, founder of the Templers, and Georg David Hardegg, his principal lieutenant, landed in Haifa to gather the Children of God in Jerusalem in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. Hardegg remained in Haifa to head the Tempelgesellschaft while Hoffman went to Jaffa in 1869 to found a school and a hospital there. [BBD224; BBR204, 2, 15–16; DH133, SBBH1p215-218]
- The colony on Mount Carmel was composed of a few dozen Templer families from Württemberg (S. Germany) and they were joined by kindred families of German origin from southern Russia and by some who had emigrated to America and become citizens, mainly from New York state. [Tablet to Hardegg (Lawh-i-Hirtík): A Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh to the Templer Leader Georg David Hardegg by Stephen Lambden and Kamran Ekbal, A Tablet of Bahā'-Allāh to Georg David Hardegg, the Lawḥ-i Hartīk by Stephen Lambden]
- DH139 and GPB277 say this was 1863.
- See BBR215–18 for the relationship between Bahá'u'lláh and the Templers.
- A tablet addressed to Georg David Hardegg, Lawh-i-Hirtik, contained the proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh as the Promised One and the return of the Father. He also was warned not to make the same errors of the Pharisees who neglected the validity of Christ's own claims.
- Bahá'u'lláh stayed in the houses of the colony several times. [BBR234]
- Palestine was a neglected outpost of the Ottoman Empire when the Templers first settled in Haifa. Other settlements were soon founded in Jaffa (1869), Sarona (1871) and Jerusalem (1873) and, a generation later Wilhelma (1902), Bethlehem (1906) and, but a splinter group in Waldheim (1907). From initially hard beginnings, these communities went on to build the foundations for success: farms, flourmills, workshops, factories, shops, banks, hotels, hospitals, schools and even roads. Haifa was the largest Templer settlement. To this day, its main road is said to be the most magnificent in Israel.
The Templers flourished in Palestine for nearly 80 years; they even survived the British occupation during World War I when many Templers were deported and interned in Egypt. Palestine was a British Mandated Territory from 1923 until 1948. Great Britain's entry into World War II signalled the end for the Templers in Palestine. The settlements of Wilhelma, Sarona, Betlehem and Waldheim were turned into internment camps, housing close to 2,000 people. In 1941, a large number of Templers (536) was deported to Australia along with 129 other German nationals. The last remaining Templers were expelled in 1948 when the State of Israel was established. [TSA website]
- See BBR236–9 for articles written about the Bahá'ís by Templers.
- See Der Herr ist Nahe: The Lord is Near: The Divine Mystery of the Transformation of Mt. Carmel by Harry Liedtke.
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