| Members of the Society of the Temple, founded in Württemberg, Germany, in the mid-1800s by Christoph Hoffman, Georg David Hardegg and Christoph Paulus, who believed that the second coming of Christ would occur sometime soon. When their prediction of the second coming of Christ apparently failed, they focused instead on the idea of a Christian community living together in Jerusalem following the true precepts of Christ. |
| The first and largest settlement of Templers was in Haifa, established under Hardegg's leadership in 1868-9. The houses of the Templers with their distinctive red-tiled roofs can be seen at the foot of Mount Carmel, many bearing pious quotations carved into the lintels over their doorways. |
| Bahá'u'lláh stayed some nights in one of the Templer buildings, now called Oliphant House, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá had cordial relations with the Templers. The Templer Wilhelm Deiss planted the cypresses behind the Shrine of the Báb and became gardener to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. |
| [BD 223-4] |
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