Ludwig Bernhard Förster (31 March 1843 – 3 June 1889) was a German teacher. He was married to

Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche (10 July 1846 – 8 November 1935) was the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the creator of the Nietzsche Archive in 1894. Förster-Nietzsche was two years younger than her brothe ...

, the sister of the philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Life

Förster became a leading figure in the

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

faction on the

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

of German politics and wrote on the

Jewish question The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other "national ...

, characterizing Jews as constituting a "parasite on the German body". In order to support his beliefs he set up the ''Deutscher Volksverein'' (German People's League) in 1881 with

Max Liebermann von Sonnenberg Max Liebermann von Sonnenberg (21 August 1848 – 17 November 1911) was a German officer who became noted as an anti-Semitic politician and publisher. He was part of a wider campaign against German Jews that became a central feature of national ...

. In 1883, Förster left Germany in order to emigrate to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. His

belief system had resulted in social ostracization and the loss of his teaching job. After searching the country for many months, Förster found a suitable site to establish a settlement. It was 600 square kilometres and almost 300 kilometres north of

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

. The settlement was to become known as "

Nueva Germania Nueva Germania (New Germania, german: Neugermanien) is a district of San Pedro Department in Paraguay. It was founded as a German settlement on 23 August 1887 by Bernhard Förster, a German nationalist, who was married to Elisabeth Förster-Niet ...

". Förster returned to Germany in March 1885 and married Elisabeth Nietzsche on 22 May. The couple assembled a group of 'pioneers' who shared their anti-Semitic views and wished to live in a new '

Fatherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

' where an

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

could prosper. They travelled to Paraguay from Hamburg in February 1886. The initiative was a failure for many reasons, not least the harsh environment. Förster, with unserviceable debts, drank heavily and became depressed. He eventually committed suicide by poisoning himself with a combination of

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

and

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

in his room at the Hotel del Lago in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

, Paraguay on 3 June 1889. He was buried in San Bernardino. Kracht, C., & Woodard, D.
''Five Years''
(

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

: Wehrhahn Verlag, 2011). After his death, his widow Elisabeth wrote a book entitled ''Bernhard Förster's Colony New Germany in Paraguay''. Intended to salvage Förster's reputation by portraying him as a hero, the book first appeared in print in 1891.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Bernhard 1843 births 1880s suicides 1889 deaths Antisemitism in Germany Far-right politics in Germany German emigrants to Paraguay German nationalists German schoolteachers People from Delitzsch People from the Province of Saxony Suicides by poison