The German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

minority in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 came into existence with immigration during the industrial age

Industrial Age

Industrial Age may refer to:*Industrialisation*The Industrial Revolution...

. The "Nueva Germania

Nueva Germania

Nueva Germania is a district of San Pedro Department in Paraguay. It was founded as a German colony on August 23, 1887 by Bernhard Förster, who was married to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, sister of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche...

" colony was founded in Paraguay in 1888; though regarded as a failure, still exists despite being abandoned by many of its founders in the 1890s. Paraguay and South America in general was a popular place for German leaders accused of war crime

War crime

War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

s to retreat after the second World War.

Also, there is a large minority of German descendants living in the department of Itapúa

Itapúa Department

Itapúa is a department in the southern region of Paraguay. The capital is the city of Encarnación. It is divided into 30 districts, making it the department with the most districts in the country.-History:...

, mainly in the Departmental Capital, Encarnación

Encarnación, Paraguay

Encarnación is the capital city of the Paraguayan department of Itapúa, located at the south of the department, on the right-hand shore of the Paraná River, opposite Posadas, Argentina...

 and the German town of Hohenau

Hohenau (Paraguay)

Hohenau is a city of the Itapúa Department, Paraguay, located 8 kilometers away from Trinidad and 365 kilometers away from Asunción. It has extensive cultivation fields and streams nearby like the Capi'ivary, Poromocó, Mansisovy, Santa María and others.-Name:...

. Most of the Germans who settle in this region came from the larger German colonies from neighboring Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

Notable Paraguayan Germans include the former president of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, whose name is also spelled Strössner or Strößner , was a Paraguayan military officer and dictator from 1954 to 1989...

.

Russian Mennonites

Another large group of Germans who immigrated to Paraguay are Russian Mennonites, Germans who immigrated to Russia under the rule of the ethnic German Czarina Catherine the Great

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

. Russian Mennonites are different from another German-Russian group, the Volga Germans, through religion and reasons of immigrating to Russia. Russian Mennonites are religious Mennonites while the Volga Germans are religious Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Russian Mennonites went to Russia for purposes of freedom of worship, while the Volga Germans went for economic reasons and land.

When the Communists came to power in Russia, the German speaking population were persecuted by the new Soviet Government. Some Russian Mennonites saw Paraguay as a perfect place to settle because it looked isolated. The government of Paraguay wanted settlement in the Chaco region, which was under dispute with its southern neighbor, Argentina, and its western neighbor, Bolivia. The move to Paraguay was difficult for the Russian Mennonites, because they were new to the climate. Some Russian Mennonites left Paraguay for neighboring Argentina, where they met many Volga Germans, who decided to settle in Argentina to escape the persecution in Russia. The situation changed and the Russian Mennonites began to prosper in Paraguay.

The Russian Mennonites settled in the Boquerón Department

Boquerón Department

Boquerón is a department in the western region of Paraguay. It is the country's largest department, with an area of , but its population is only 45,617 . The department includes the Russian Mennonite colonies of Fernheim, Menno and its administrative center Loma Plata and Neuland. The capital is...

 in Paraguay. They established the Fernheim Colony

Fernheim Colony

Fernheim Colony is a Russian Mennonite settlement of about 5000 in the Chaco of Paraguay. Mennonites from the Soviet Union founded it between 1930 and 1932. Filadelfia is the administrative center of the colony...

, which includes the town of Filadelfia

Filadelfia

Filadelfia is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony. It is about a 5 hour drive from the capital of Asunción.-History:...

; Neuland Colony

Neuland Colony

Neuland Colony is a settlement of Russian Mennonites in the Boquerón Department of Paraguay with around 3,400 residents .The site is near Filadelfia, the capital of Boquerón, and not far from neighbouring Presidente Hayes Department...

; and Menno Colony

Menno Colony

Menno Colony is a settlement founded by Russian Mennonites in 1926 in the central Chaco of northwest Paraguay occupying an area of 7500 km² . Neighbouring Mennonite settlements are Fernheim Colony and Neuland Colony.- History :...

. The descendants of the Russian Mennonite immigrants continue to live these colonies.