German Chileans (Spanish: germanochilenos; German: Deutsch-Chilenen) are Chileans descended from German immigrants, about 30,000 of whom arrived in Chile between 1846 and 1914. Most of these were from Bavaria, Baden and the Rhineland, and also from Bohemia in present-day Czech Republic, which were traditionally Catholic. A smaller number of Lutherans immigrated to Chile following the failed revolutions of 1848.[2][3][4]
From the middle of the 19th century to the present, they have played a significant role in the economic, political and cultural development of the Chilean nation. The 19th-century immigrants settled chiefly in Chile's Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions in the so-called Zona Sur of Chile, including the Chilean lake district.
The first German to feature in the history of what is now Chile is Bartolomé Blumenthal (Spanish alias Bartolomé Flores) during the 16th century who accompanied Pedro de Valdivia. The latter conquistador ousted the indigenous population and founded the city of Santiago. Valdivia also arrested and took hostage the Cacique (tribal leaders and chiefs) to weaken the society of the local Mapuche people. Blumenthal took part in the defence of the Spanish settlement of Santiago when the Mapuche launched a counter-offensive on 11 September 1541 in attempt to free their caciques held hostage by the conquistadores.
Later Blumenthal took part in the consolidation of the Spanish settlement that would become the Talagante Province; he was the first engineer in the remote colony. Blumenthal's son-in-law, Pedro de Lisperguer (born Peter Lisperger in Worms, Germany), was appointed as mayor of Santiago in 1572.
Johann von Bohon (known in Spanish as Juan Bohón) was also part of Valdivia's expedition and was ordered to establish the city of La Serena in 1544.
In 1818 Chile became independent from Spain and began to engage in trading with more nations. The port city of Valparaíso became a major center for trade with Hamburg, with commercial travellers and merchants from Germany staying for lengthy periods of time to work in Valparaíso. Some settled there permanently.
On 9 May 1838 Club Alemán de Valparaíso, the first German cultural organization was established in the city. German residents and visitors held cultural functions here. The club began to organize literary, musical and theatre productions, contributing to the cultural life of the city. Aquinas Ried, a physician, became widely known in the city for composing operas, and for writing poetry and plays. The club had its own orchestras and academic choir (singakademie) which would perform works composed by local musicians.[5] During World War I, the German Club of Valparaiso welcomed Admiral Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy after they fought the Battle of Coronel off the Chilean coast.[6]
The origin of the German immigrants in Chile began with the Law of Selective Immigration of 1845. The objective of this law was to bring people of a medium social/high cultural level to colonize the southern regions of Chile; these were between Valdivia and Puerto Montt. The process was administered by Vicente Pérez Rosales by mandate of the then-president Manuel Montt. The German immigrants revived the domestic economy, and they changed the southern zones. The leader of the first colonists, Karl Anwandter, proclaimed their goals:
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 stimulate economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focused immigration program under Vicente Pérez Rosales as government representative.[citation needed] 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 cleared for farms.[7]
Valdivia, situated at some distance from the coast, on the Calle-calle river, is a German town. Everywhere you meet German faces, German signboards and placards alongside the Spanish. There is a large German school, a church and various Vereine, large shoe-factories, and, of course, breweries...
By the mid-1930s, most of the farming land around the towns of Valdivia and Osorno had been claimed. Some German immigrants moved further south to places such as Puyuhuapi in the Aysén region (settled by Sudeten Germans from present-day Czech Republic);[8] Sudeten German settlers from Broumov (called Braunau in German and located in present-day Czech Republic) also stayed and lived in Puerto Varas, wherein the village was called Nueva Braunau.[9]
Subsequently, a new wave of German immigrants arrived in Chile, with many settling in Temuco, and Santiago. Many founded businesses; for example, Horst Paulmann's small store in the capital of the Araucanía Region grew into Cencosud, one of the largest businesses in the region.
Even before the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933, a German Chilean youth organization was established with strong Nazi influence. Nazi Germany pursued a policy of Nazification of the German Chilean community.[10] These communities and their organizations were considered a cornerstone to extend the Nazi ideology across the world by Nazi Germany. Many German Chileans were passive supporters of Nazi Germany. Nazism was supported by some in the German Lutheran Church hierarchy in Chile. A local chapter of the Nazi Party was started in Chile.[10]
Shortly after World War II, former members of Nazi Germany tried to take refuge in South America, including Chile, fleeing trials against them in Europe and elsewhere. Among these was SSStandartenführer and war criminal Walter Rauff. Paul Schäfer, a former army medic, founded Colonia Dignidad, a German enclave in the Maule Region, in which abuses against human rights were allegedly carried out. The precise number of Nazi refugees hidden in Chile after WWII remains unknown.
German Chileans today
Raw beefcrudos are considered a typical German-Chilean dish similar to the German mett. The one in picture are from Café Hausmann in Valdivia.Entrance to the Kunstmann Brewery and restaurant in Valdivia, ChileGerman Lutheran church in Frutillar, Chile
The exact number of Chileans of German descent is unknown but one source puts the number at about 500,000, living mostly in the central and southern portions of the country.[11] According to the last census, there were 8,000 German citizens living in Chile.[citation needed]
An estimated 20,000 Chileans speak the German language.[12] There are also German schools[13] and German-language newspapers and periodicals in Chile (e.g., Cóndor – a weekly German-language newspaper).
Claudio Bunster, scientist, theoretical physicist, won the Chilean National Science Award in 1995, and contributed to the foundation of the Centro de Estudios Científicos (Center for Scientific Studies) in Valdivia.
José Weinstein, Chilean politician, sociologist and scholar who served as President of the National Council of Culture and the Arts during Ricardo Lagos' government (2000−2006).
Otto von Moltke, German-Danish military officer who fought in the Franco-Prussian War and, after immigrating to Chile, in the War of the Pacific. He was killed in the last war.
Religious affiliations
Many Germans who migrated to Chile practice Roman Catholicism, but also Lutheranism and Judaism. It is claimed many Roman Catholics now attend Lutheran churches; however, they would no longer be Roman Catholics, so this claim is false.
^"Alemanes en Chile: entre el pasado colono y el presente empresarial" (in Spanish). Deutsche Welle. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2012. Spanish: Hoy, el perfil de los alemanes residentes aquí es distinto y ya no tienen el peso numérico que alguna vez alcanzaron. En los años 40 y 50 eran en Chile el segundo mayor grupo de extranjeros, representando el 25% (213.000 alemanes). Según el último censo de 2002, en cambio, están en el octavo lugar: son sólo 5.500 personas, lo que equivale al 5% de los foráneos. Sin embargo, la colonia formada por familias de origen alemán es activa y numerosa. Según explica Karla Berndt, gerente de comunicaciones de la Cámara Chileno-Alemana de Comercio (Camchal), los descendientes suman 500.000. Concentrados en el sur y centro del país, donde encuentran un clima más afín, su red de instituciones es amplia. 'Hay clínicas, clubes, una Liga Chileno-Alemana, compañías de bomberos y un periódico semanal en alemán llamado Cóndor. Chile es el lugar en el que se concentra el mayor número de colegios alemanes, 24, lo que es mucho para un país tan chico de sólo 16 millones de habitantes', relata Berndt. English: Today, the profile of the Germans living here is different and no longer have the numerical weight they once reached. In the 1940s and 1950s they were in Chile's second largest foreign group, accounting for 13% (13,000 Germans). According to the last census in 2002, however, they are in eighth place: they are only 5,500 people, equivalent to 3% of foreigners. However, the colony of families of German origin is active and numerous. According to Karla Berndt, communications manager for the German-Chilean Chamber of Commerce (Camchal), descendants totaled 500,000. Concentrated in the south and center of the country, where they find a more congenial climate, its network of institutions is wide. 'There are clinics, clubs, a Chilean-German League, fire companies and a German weekly newspaper called Condor. Chile is the place in which the largest number of German schools, 24 which is a lot for such a small country of only 16 million people', says Berndt.
