German-Chilean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| German-Chilean
|
|---|
    |
| Notable German Chileans: Don Francisco • Hans Helfritz • Miguel Kast• Tomás Hirsch |
| Total population |
|
300,000[citation needed] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, Santiago de Chile, Rancagua, Talca, Concepción, Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Varas. |
| Languages |
| Chilean Spanish, German |
| Religions |
| Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic and Protestant), Judaism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| German, German Americans, German-Argentinians, German-Brazilian, German Mexican, German-Paraguayan |
German-Chileans are an ethnic group established in the south of the country, mainly in the Los Lagos Region, during the second half of the 19th century. The number of descendents today overpasses 300,000[citation needed] in the original southern communities. Even though it is not a great number (near the 2% of the total Chilean population), it has influenced in the region in many cultural and demographic aspects.
It is estimated that most of the thousands of German descendants (by surname) in the centre of the country came from some southern provinces of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue.
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[edit] History
[edit] Valdivian Settlement
The first historic mention of a German in Chile leads back into the 16th century and fells with the Spanish conquest of the country and the foundation of the current capital Santiago together.
With the independence of Spain (1810), sales people found and trade trip in increasing measure its way to Chile. Yet before the Chilean government initiated 1848 first concrete steps to the colonization, Bernhard Eunom Philippi in own initiative reached to win nine Hessian workman families for the emigration to Chile.
The origin of the German immigrants in Chile began chiefly thanks to it called "Law of selective immigration" of 1845 that considered objective to bring people of a medium social/high cultural level to colonize the southern regions of Chile, understood between Valdivia and Puerto Montt, and that according to some reports they totaled near 20.000 people. The work was in charge of Vicente Pérez Rosales by mandate of the, at that time, president Manuel Montt. The German immigrants managed to revive the domestic economy and they changed completely the panorama of the southern zones. Great sample of this constructive spirit was left by the words of the leader of the first colonists Carlos Anwandter, who proclaimed to all the colonizers:
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- We shall be honest and laborious Chileans as the best of them, we shall defend our adopted country joining in the ranks of our new countrymen, against any foreign oppression and with the decision and firmness of the man that defends his country, his family and his interests. Never will have the country that adopts us as its children, reason to repent of such illustrated, human and generous proceeding,...
The expansion and economic development of Valdivia were limited in the early 19th century. To jump-start economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focused immigration program under Vicente Pérez Rosales as government agent. Through this program, thousands of Germans settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. Some of the new immigrants stayed in Valdivia but others were given forested land, which they cut down to turn into farms[1] while native Mapuche and Huilliche) moved by different reasons into reservations and remote areas.
German immigrants in Corral arrived in August the year 1846, whom Valdivia harbour, and were established on country acquired to the Indians.
A large wave of immigrants of Germany, which established themselves especially in the zones around the Llanquihue-lake, Osorno and Puerto Montt, lasted for almost ten years.
Until today, it is the only closed German language settlement that exists in Chile.
Valdivia prospered with industries, including shipyards, the Hoffmann Gristmill, the Rudloff shoe factory and many more. The steel mills of Corral were the biggest recorded private investment in Chile at the time, and were the first steel mills in South America. In 1891 Valdivia became a commune according to a law that created that subdivisions in Chile. After that the Malleco Viaduct had been built in 1890 the railroads advanced further south reaching Valdivia in 1895. The first train with passengers arrived in 1899.
The German military culture had great influence in the Army of Chile, the one that at the end of the 19th century, adopted the Prussian military tradition, chiefly after the civil War of 1891. Even, the German Emil Körner reached the degree of commander-in-chief of the Army in 1900.
Subsequently, a new wave of German immigrants begun that was established along the rest of the country, with emphasis on Temuco, Santiago and the main business districts, as in the case of Horst Paulmann, who after founding a small store in the capital of the IX Region of the Araucanía managed to form Cencosud, one of the largest business consortia of the subcontinent.
[edit] German-Chilean relations
The long history of relations among the country and other nations, like Germany, which has exercised some degree of influence in Chile's culture, economic development and even values, is an environment that belongs fully to Chile's heritage. Therefore, the importance of some initiatives that seek to survey and to reveal the extent of this interaction, bequeathing to the country a valuable testimony of its past.
The relations between Chile and Germany and the influence that the latter has had on Chile, has left a series of works and facts, among which is worthwhile to mention:
- The establishment of commercial houses and German shipping businesses in Valparaíso
- The foundation of the German Club in 1838
- The exploration of the Patagonia by the German Bernardo Phillipi, and his participation in the Chilean possession of the Strait of Magallanes
- The German immigration to the south of Chile after World War II
- Colonization and development of the city of Valdivia and the outskirts
- The exploitation of the Nitrate fields with participation of Germans
- The close relations between the ports of Valparaíso and Hamburg
- The history of the shipping relations between Chile and the German nation.
- The establishment of a number of Chilean-German fire companies. (Nearly 20)
In Germany is also possible to find testimonies of the links between Chile and Germany. The building Chilehaus (The House of Chile) in the port of Hamburg symbolizes the good trade relations among both countries. It was built in the middle of the 19th century. The building was designed with the form of a bow of ship, alluding at maritime commerce between Germany and Chile
[edit] 20th Century
During World War II, many German Jews were established in Chile fleeing the Holocaust, as in the case of the ancestors of Mario Kreutzberger and Tomás Hirsch.
After the War, many leaders of the Nazi Germany tried to be taken refuge in the central and southern regions of the country, fleeing trials against them in Europe and elsewhere. Paul Schäfer even founded Colonia Dignidad, German enclave in the Maule Region and in which a myriad of abuses against human rights were carried out.
[edit] German Chileans today
It is difficult to establish the quantity of descendants of Germans in Chile today, due to extent of the time elapsed and because many have intermarried with Chileans since over 150 years ago. Almost six thousand people are known to have been born in Germany, and approximate figures speak of some 250 to 300 thousand direct descendants.
Today the German language is used yet of about 20,000 Chile's inhabitants in daily life. There are German schools and German language newspapers and periodicals (u. a. CONDOR - weeks newspaper, levy: 6,000 / economy in Chile).
[edit] Religious affiliations
Many Germans who migrated to Chile practices the Roman Catholicism with Protestant minorities, some Germans introduced the first Evangelical Protestant Churches and many German Jews escaped Germany for the Nazi prosecution in the 1940s and installed synagogues
[edit] Notable German Chileans
- Marlene Ahrens athlete
- Carlos Anwandter Immigrant, one of the pioneers of the colonization
- Otto Anwandter Architect/Engineer
- Alex Von Appen Entrepreneur
- Bartolomé Blumen First Engineer in Chile, who arrived with Pedro de Valdivia's expedition
- Edgardo Boeninger Politician
- Juan de Bohon Founder of La Serena
- Hans Gildemeister Former Tennis Player
- Óscar Hahn writer and poet
- Tomás Hirsch Politician
- Miguel Kast Economist
- Sebastián Keitel athlete
- Mathias Klotz architect
- Emil Körner Commander in chief of the Chilean Army
- Ricardo Krebs Historian
- Mario Kreutzberger TV personality
- Carlos Kuschel Senator
- Rolf Lüders Economist
- Patricio Manns singer, composer, author, writer, and journalist.
- Evelyn Matthei senator
- Fernando Matthei Air Force chief commander (retired), during the Pinochet regime
- Bruno Philippi Businessman
- Rodolfo Armando Philippi paleontologist and zoologist
- Horst Paulmann Businessman
- Óscar Schnake politician co-founder of the Socialist Party of Chile
- Erich Schnake Politician
- René Schneider Commander in chief of the Chilean Army killed in 1970
- Rodolfo Stange Former Chief of the Police Force
[edit] See also
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[edit] References
- ^ Luis Otero, La Huella del Fuego: Historia de los bosques y cambios en el paisaje del sur de Chile (Valdivia, Editorial Pehuen)
