German colonization of Valdivia, Osorno and Llanquihue

Early colonization Beginning in 1842, German expatriate Bernhard Eunom Philippi sent a proposal for German colonization of Southern Chile to the Chilean government; he presented a second colonization scheme in 1844. Both schemes were rejected by Chilean authorities. The second scheme considered the colonization of both the shores of Llanquihue Lake and the mouth of the Maullín River in what is now the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile. The mentioned river was also to be made navigable. Land purchases of dubious legality were made by Kindermann and his father-in-law Johann Renous around Trumao with the aim of re-selling these lands to German immigrants. The bankrupt Flindt had made similar purchases near Osorno. The Chilean legislature entered colonist recruitment with passage of the Law of Colonization and Vacant Lots (Ley de Colonización y Tierras Baldías), which was signed by president Manuel Montt in 1845. The Chilean government initially ordered Philippi to recruit 180–200 German Catholic families. Troubled by Catholic bishops in Germany who opposed the departure of their parishioners, Philippi asked for and was granted permission to recruit non-Catholic immigrants. One of the most notable early immigrants was Carl Anwandter, who settled in Valdivia in 1850 after having participated in the Revolution of 1848 in Prussia. Most immigrants had their own economic means and were therefore free to settle where they wished. They settled mainly around Valdivia. The few Catholic families from Württemberg, who needed Chilean state support, could be allocated as the government wished. By 1850, this last group was too small to establish a functional German settlement at the shores of Llanquihue Lake as Philippi had envisioned. He instead decided to settle the Catholic families in the interior of Valdivia Province. Upon his return to Chile in 1851, Philippi was admonished by minister Antonio Varas for sending too many Protestant settlers. As punishment Philippi was appointed governor of Magallanes instead of being appointed leader of the future Llanquihue settlement as he wished. In Magallanes, Philippi was killed by indigenous people in 1852. , a town at Llanquihue Lake with strong German influence. The sponsored colonization of Valdivia and Osorno lasted until 1858. The shores of Llanquihue Lake were largely colonized between 1852 and 1875, but Puerto Montt (then called Melipulli) and Puerto Varas had already been founded by Chileans in 1850. Frutillar, on the shores of Llanquihue Lake, was founded in 1856. Compared to Germans who settled in the big cities and ports of northern Chile, the Germans of southern Chile retained much of their German culture or Deutschtum.{{Citation ==Economic impact==

Following independence in 1820, Valdivia entered a period of economic decline. The nature of the German immigrants to Valdivia contributed to the city's urban and cosmopolitan outlook, especially when compared to Osorno. This became particularly egregious in the period after 1870, when improved roads made connection from the hinterland of Llanquihue Lake to the coast easy. in 1850 by Vicente Pérez Rosales Among the achievements of the German immigrants was a deepening of the division of labour, the introduction of wage labour in agriculture, and the establishment of Chile's first beer brewery in Valdivia in 1851 by Carl Anwandter. The city of Bariloche in present-day Argentina grew out by a shop established by German-Chilean merchant Carlos Wiederhold. Beginning with him, businessmen of German heritage brought in labourers from the Chiloé Archipelago to the Bariloche area. German and German-Chilean enterprises in southwestern Argentina acted as brokers for both Chile and Argentina, assisting both nations in controlling traffic across the southern Andes. ==Relations with Mapuches and Chileans==

Early German settlers had good relations with the indigenous Mapuche and Huilliche, in contrast to their more uneasy relations with the Spanish-descent elite of Valdivia, whom they considered lazy. A pamphlet published in Germany by Franz Kindermann to attract immigrants states that while neither Chileans (meaning those of Spanish descent) nor the Mapuche liked to work, the latter were honest. For this reason after the Occupation of Araucanía was accomplished in 1883, settlers of nationalities other than Germans were preferred in colonization programs. The Huilliche called the German settlers leupe lonko, meaning blond heads. ==Land ownership conflicts==

As German colonization expanded into new areas beyond the designated colonization areas, such as the coastal region of Osorno and some Andean lakes and valleys, settlers began to have conflicts with indigenous peoples. The Chilean state ignored laws that protected indigenous property, in some instances purportedly because people who were Christian and literate could not be considered indigenous. In 1847 and 1848, this society purchased about 15,000 km2 under fraudulent conditions from Huilliche west of Osorno. According to Mañil, the Chilean government had granted Mapuche land to the immigrants, although it was not under national control. In the Ranco area a conflict known as "La guerra de los moscos" around 1970 marked the end of loss of land for Mapuche-Huilliche families. ==Forest fires and volcanic eruptions==

Vicente Pérez Rosales burned down huge tracts of forested lands to clear lands for the settlers. Another area affected by these fires spanned a strip in the Andean foothills from the Bueno River to Reloncaví Sound. This burning took advantage of a drought in 1863. ==Cultural legacy==

Architecture While Pre-German architecture of southern Chile was already different from that of Central Chile, The introduction of German architecture elements into the local wooden architecture was possible due to the arrival of carpenters among the immigrants. The temporary decline in the use of Spanish is exemplified by the trade the Manns family carried out in the second half of the 19th century. The family's Chilean servants spoke German with their patrons and used Mapudungun with their Mapuche customers. Lagunen-deutsch evolved from various dialects of southern Germany, most particularly Bavaria, Baden, and Rhineland. The word for blackberry, a ubiquitous plant in southern Chile, is murra instead of the ordinary Spanish word mora and zarzamora from Valdivia to the Chiloé Archipelago and some towns in the Aysén Region. The use of rr is an adaptation of guttural sounds found in German but difficult to pronounce in Spanish. Similarly the name for marbles is different in Southern Chile compared to areas further north. From Valdivia to the Aysén Region, this game is called bochas contrary to the word bolitas used further north. The word bocha is likely derivative of the Germans bocciaspiel. Most German Chileans currently speak Spanish as native language; they speak German as second or third language. ==Notes==