Templers (religious believers)

Templers are members of the Temple Society (). It is a German Protestant sect. Their roots are in the Pietist movement of the Lutheran Church. The Templers were expelled from the church in 1858. This was because of their millennial beliefs. Their aim was to realize the apocalyptic visions of the prophets of Israel in the Holy Land.
Christoph Hoffmann founded the Temple society in 1861. He had 60 followers when they left the Wuerttemberg state (Lutheran) church. Hoffmann believed his calling was to build Christian communities in the Holy land. They founded Templer communities at Haifa (1869), Sarona (1871) and Rephaim near Jerusalem (1873).