Nueva Germania
Encyclopedia
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
. Förster's idea was to create a model community in the New World and to show German superiority.
In the town there are still many German remnants. There is a museum that exhibits memories of the town’s origin.
It is located about 297 kilometres from Asunción
, capital of the Republic of Paraguay.
, about 250 kilometers from Asunción by five - later fourteen, largely impoverished families from Saxony
. Led by Bernhard Förster
and his wife, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
, the colonists emigrated to the Paraguayan rainforest to put to practice ideas about the superiority of the Aryan race. It was the declared dream of Förster to create an area of Germanic development, far from the influence of Jews, whom he reviled.
Förster, who had negotiated the town's titles of property with General Bernardino Caballero
, committed suicide in 1889 in the city of San Bernardino
, a local center of German population. His wife returned to Germany in 1893.
The colony's development was hampered by the harshness of the environment and those colonists that stayed soon abandoned the supremacist idea of its founders, and integrated into the Paraguayan culture.
Josef Mengele
, a major German war criminal, spent some time in Nueva Germania while a fugitive after World War II
.
Nueva Germania is now a quiet community of San Pedro dedicated to agriculture, specializing in the cultivation of yerba mate
.
One of the most important products of the district is yerba mate, along with sugarcane
, cotton
, manioc (cassava
), tobacco
, sunflower
, soy, wheat
, banana
, sweet
and sour orange
, Paraguayan lemon verbena
and sesame
.
.
Many of the roads are of sand or pebbles and they communicate with the different districts and the capital of the department.
is predominant; about 80% of the population speak it; the rest speak a combination of Spanish
and Guarani called Jopará
.
Nowadays only 10% of the inhabitants are of mainly German origin.
and the streams: Tutytí, Empalado and Aguaray mí.
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...
. It was founded as a German colony on August 23, 1887 by Bernhard Förster
Bernhard Förster
Bernhard Förster was a nineteenth century German teacher...
, who was married to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche , who went by her second name, was the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the creator of the Nietzsche Archive in 1894....
, sister of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
. Förster's idea was to create a model community in the New World and to show German superiority.
In the town there are still many German remnants. There is a museum that exhibits memories of the town’s origin.
It is located about 297 kilometres from Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
, capital of the Republic of Paraguay.
History
Nueva Germania was founded in 1886 on the banks of the Aguaray-Guazú RiverAguaray-Guazú River (Jejuí Guazú River)
-References:*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.*...
, about 250 kilometers from Asunción by five - later fourteen, largely impoverished families from Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. Led by Bernhard Förster
Bernhard Förster
Bernhard Förster was a nineteenth century German teacher...
and his wife, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche
Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche , who went by her second name, was the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the creator of the Nietzsche Archive in 1894....
, the colonists emigrated to the Paraguayan rainforest to put to practice ideas about the superiority of the Aryan race. It was the declared dream of Förster to create an area of Germanic development, far from the influence of Jews, whom he reviled.
Förster, who had negotiated the town's titles of property with General Bernardino Caballero
Bernardino Caballero
Bernardino Caballero Melgarejo was the President of Paraguay from 1881 until 1886 and founder of the Colorado Party....
, committed suicide in 1889 in the city of San Bernardino
San Bernardino, Paraguay
San Bernardino is a town and distrito in Paraguay, located on the shores of Ypacarai Lake in the Cordillera Department...
, a local center of German population. His wife returned to Germany in 1893.
The colony's development was hampered by the harshness of the environment and those colonists that stayed soon abandoned the supremacist idea of its founders, and integrated into the Paraguayan culture.
Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
, a major German war criminal, spent some time in Nueva Germania while a fugitive after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Nueva Germania is now a quiet community of San Pedro dedicated to agriculture, specializing in the cultivation of yerba mate
Yerba mate
Maté, yerba maté or erva maté , Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...
.
Economy
The evolution of the population of Nueva Germania reveals the situation of the locale, one of the poorest in the department.Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, manioc (cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
), tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, sunflower
Sunflower
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
, soy, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
, sweet
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
and sour orange
Bitter orange
The name "bitter orange", also known as Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange, and marmalade orange, refers to a citrus tree and its fruit. Many varieties of bitter orange are used for their essential oil, which is used in perfume and as a flavoring...
, Paraguayan lemon verbena
Lemon verbena
Aloysia citrodora is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Common names include Lemon Verbena and Lemon Beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th...
and sesame
Sesame
Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....
.
Communications
A branch of Route No. 3 General Elizardo Aquino, a paved road, is the main access to the town, which connects it with Asunción and other localities of the department. Also, Route No. 11 Juana Maria de Lara, an unpaved road, connects the town with Amambay DepartmentAmambay Department
Amambay is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Pedro Juan Caballero.The name comes from the way is called a part of the Caaguazú Cordillera, “Amambay Cordillera”...
.
Many of the roads are of sand or pebbles and they communicate with the different districts and the capital of the department.
Climate
The climate is tropical, with abundant rains, a maximum temperature of about 35°C, a minimum of 10°C and an average of 23°C, with a humidity of 80%. Precipitation exceeds 1300 millimeters, especially in summer.Language
The Guaraní languageGuaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
is predominant; about 80% of the population speak it; the rest speak a combination of Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Guarani called Jopará
Jopará
Jopará The majority of Paraguayans, particularly younger ones, speak some form of jopará.Since 1992, under the Paraguay's Ministry of Education and Culture Act, Guaraní in its "pure form" — different from the day-to-day speech of jopará — has been taught in schools...
.
Population
The Statistics, Polls and Census General Direction shows the following numbers in regards to population:- In 1992 its population had reached 17,148 inhabitants, but after the part of the territory was separated to begin another city, Santa Rosa del Aguaray, in the 2002 census, Nueva Germania's population had significantly decreased.
- The population is mostly rural and occupied in agricultural activities.
- The projected total population by sex and year is 4,335 inhabitants (2,323 men and 2,012 women).
Nowadays only 10% of the inhabitants are of mainly German origin.
Borders
Nueva Germania borders:- At North: on TacuatíTacuatíTacuatí is a town in the rural Tacuatí District of Paraguay. Current major economic activities include the cultivation of soy and sesame, and cattle ranching...
district. - At South: on LimaLima (Paraguay)Lima is a town of the Department of San Pedro Paraguay. Its capital is the city of San Pedro de Ycuamandiyú.- District of Lima :One of the districts of the Second Department of San Pedro Paraguay, which is more than 330 km from the city Asuncion....
district, separated from it for the Aguaray Guazú River. - At East: on Amambay departmentAmambay DepartmentAmambay is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Pedro Juan Caballero.The name comes from the way is called a part of the Caaguazú Cordillera, “Amambay Cordillera”...
and the Santa Rosa del Aguaray district. - At West: on San Pedro del Ycuamandyyu district and the Tacuati district.
Hydrography
Nueva Germania district is watered by the rivers Aguaray Guazú, VerdeVerde River (Paraguay)
The Verde River is a river of Paraguay. It is a tributary of the Paraguay River.-References:*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.*...
and the streams: Tutytí, Empalado and Aguaray mí.
Demography
Main social and demographic indicators:- Population under the age of 15: 39%
- Average of children per woman: 3.4
- Percentage of illiterate in the district: 15.4%
- Percentage of population occupied in the primary sector of production: 60.1%
- Percentage of population occupied in the secondary sector of production: 14.3%
- Percentage of population occupied in the tertiary sector of production: 25.0%
- Percentage of housings that count with power service: 82.0%
- Percentage of housings that count with running water: 39.6%
- Population with unsatisfied basic necessities:
- Percentage of population with necessity of more access to education: 13.5%
- Percentage of population with necessity of more sanitary infrastructure: 20.9%
- Percentage of population with necessity of more quality of housing: 41.2%
External links
- Vice Guide to Travel, visit Nueva Germania (2008)
- Norwegian photojournalist Heidi Hattestein's visit to Nueva Germania and Hotel del Lago, where Bernhard Förster passed away(December, 2007)
- Brochure by the Protestant Parish of Dueren (in German), contains pictures
- Macintyre, Ben. Forgotten Fatherland : The Search for Elisabeth Nietzsche. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 1992
- World Gazeteer: Paraguay – World-Gazetteer.com
- Dialog International — "Dick Cheney and Nueva Germania"