German Colony (Emek Refaim), Jerusalem.

Where it is

The German Colony runs along Emek Refaim Street, from the First Station area in the north to Rachel Imeinu Street and beyond in the south. Park HaMesila (the Railway Park) runs along its eastern side. Katamon is to the west and Baka to the south-east.

It is compact. From most homes you can walk to the First Station, the Old City in about 25 minutes, and to the Talbiyeh and Rehavia areas. The small side streets, such as Lloyd George and HaMagid, hold many of the historic houses.

Many people use "Emek Refaim" as shorthand for the whole area. Strictly, Emek Refaim is the street and the German Colony is the neighbourhood around it. Estate agents often stretch the label to nearby streets in Katamon and Baka.

From Templer village to café street

The colony was founded in 1873 by the Templers, a German Protestant movement who believed in settling the Holy Land. They built solid stone houses with red-tiled roofs. Many still carry the German or biblical inscriptions carved over the doors.

During the Second World War, the British authorities interned the Templers as enemy nationals and later deported many of them. Their Templer cemetery still stands on Emek Refaim. After 1948 the area passed into Israeli hands, and Jewish immigrants moved into the houses.

From the 1970s the neighbourhood gentrified steadily. By the 1990s Emek Refaim had become one of the city's main places to eat out. The conservation of the Templer buildings is now written into planning policy, which protects the look of the area but limits building.

What it is actually like today

On a normal day, Emek Refaim has cafés, restaurants, bakeries, boutiques, banks and a supermarket in a few hundred metres. It stays busy in the evenings, and on Saturday night it fills up. Park HaMesila and the First Station add green space, a market-style food hall and events.

The community is broad. Shira Hadasha, the well-known Orthodox partnership minyan, meets here, and there is a spread of other Orthodox, traditional and liberal congregations within walking distance. Schools in Katamon, Baka and Talbiyeh are close by.

The costs of popularity are real. There is little parking, much of the street is loud at night, and weekend crowds spill into side streets. Older houses are often cold in winter, lack a mamad and need expensive upkeep.

The light rail on Emek Refaim

The Blue Line of the Jerusalem Light Rail is planned to run along Emek Refaim. Residents and shopkeepers fought the route for years. They argued it would destroy the street's trees and character and preferred the Railway Park corridor or buses.

The fight went to court. A court at one point set aside an approval, and the plan later received final approval. Works on Emek Refaim began in 2025. Reports have described closures on central streets lasting at least four years and a merchants' legal claim that did not succeed.

Local media have reported businesses worried about survival and some residents choosing to leave. Official opening dates for the Blue Line have slipped, and the national press reports further delays. A realistic view is an opening around the end of the decade.

When it opens, the German Colony will have a direct train to the city centre and beyond. The street itself will look different: narrower traffic lanes, fewer cars and a rail corridor. Whether that feels like a gain or a loss depends on who you ask.

Conservation, renewal and what can be built

The German Colony is not a place for tower-block renewal. Its conservation plan protects most Templer and Arab-era buildings. Owners cannot simply add floors or knock down a listed house.

That protection supports value but limits upside. A buyer paying for "building rights" should see them in an approved plan, not an agent's sketch. The few newer boutique buildings on the edges sell at a large premium because supply is so tight.

TAMA 38 has expired in most of the country, with the transitional deadline passing on 18 May 2026. Only projects with a valid permit continue. New schemes go through the "Shaked Alternative" (amendments 136 and 139 to the Planning and Building Law) or pinui-binui, and conservation rules still apply on top.

Who lives here

The German Colony is affluent. It mixes long-time Israeli owners, English-speaking immigrants, and a growing number of overseas owners who use their homes part of the year. French buyers have become more visible in recent years.

There is also a rental population: students, young professionals and families renting while they decide where to buy. Some long-time residents feel that holiday homes leave parts of the area quiet outside the festivals.

It is religiously mixed, from Modern Orthodox to secular. Families who want a wholly religious or wholly secular environment tend to look elsewhere.

Prices and what you get

Registered sales make the German Colony the dearest of its neighbours: a median of ₪4.64m and about ₪55,700 per m², well above Baka and Old Katamon.

Registered sales, Jan 2023 – Jun 2026 (the city figure runs to Aug 2026).

Recent registered deals in the German Colony:

• Ezriel Hildesheimer St: 3 rooms, 78 m², ₪3,050,000 (Jun 2026)
• Masaryk St: 4 rooms, 92 m², ₪4,150,000 (May 2026)
• Emek Refaim St: 2 rooms, 44 m², ₪2,200,000 (Jan 2026)

Only about 30 homes a year change hands here, so supply is thin and single sales move the figures. Restored Templer houses and large garden apartments sit well above the median and often sell privately; a plain flat in a 1960s block on a busy stretch is much cheaper per metre. At these prices many buyers are in the additional-home tax band or using large cash deposits, so check recent sales on the same street before you offer.

The risk is timing. National prices fell about 2% in the year to April–May 2026 on the CBS index. With the main street under works, some sellers are pricing in patience, and some buyers are pricing in disruption.

Buying here: what to check before you sign

Who it suits

The verdict