German Colombians (german: Deutschkolumbianer; es, Germanocolombianos) are Colombian citizens of German ancestry. They maybe descendants of Germans who immigrated to Colombia from Germany or elsewhere in Europe. Most German Colombians live in Bogotá, Santander Department,

Atlantico Department ''Atlantico'' is a French news website. Founded on 28 February 2011 amid much media attention, it quickly attracted notice for scoops related to scandals involving the Socialist politician and International Monetary Fund head, Dominique Strauss ...

, Boyacá Department , Magdalena Department and Antioquia Department. Germans have been immigrating to Colombia since at least 17th century. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, thousands of Germans fled to Colombia.

German immigration to Colombia

The first German immigrants arrived in the 16th century contracted by the Spanish Crown, and included explorers such as Ambrosio Alfinger. There was another wave of German immigrants at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century including Leo Siegfried Kopp, the founder of the famous Bavaria Brewery.

SCADTA Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transportes Aéreos german: Deutsch-Kolumbianische Luftverkehrsgesellschaft), or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline in Latin America, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCA ...

, a Colombian-German air transport corporation which was established by German expatriates in 1919, was the first commercial airline in

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. By the mid of the 18th century, German businessmen arrived to Barranquilla in Atlántico, and

El Carmen de Bolívar El Carmen de Bolívar is a municipality in the department of Bolívar, Colombia, 114 km southeast of Cartagena de Indias. It is located in the orographic system of the Montes de María, being the largest population, as well as the one t ...

, in Bolívar, with the purpose of exploiting tobacco. Most of them were from Bremen. Along with them, there were some

Dutchmen The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Arub ...

, and

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

from Curacao; however the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

had absolute control of this business for three decades, expanding their trade quarters to biggest cities like Cartagena and Barranquilla. In 1941, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

government estimated that there were around 5,000 German citizens living in Colombia. Several thousand more joined their ranks in Colombia's burgeoning cities.Latin America during World War II by Thomas M. Leonard, John F. Bratzel, P.117 There were some

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

agitators in Colombia, such as Barranquilla businessman Emil Prufurt, but the majority was apolitical. Colombia asked Germans who were on the U.S. blacklist to leave and allowed Jewish refugees in the country illegally to stay. In the 1980s, thousands of German Colombians emigrated back to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

due to the

Colombian armed conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerril ...

. However, this trend began to decline in the late 2000s (decade) as living standards rose sharply after the Colombian economic boom. According to the German embassy, there are 9,668 German citizens living in Colombia in 2011.

German immigration to Santander

German immigration was of great importance in the Santander region. From the arrival of the engineer Geo von Lengerke to the contributions to the cattle industry by Enrique and Aurelio Gast, who were outstanding cattle breeders in Santander and helped establish this region as a national reference in this industry. Eduardo Gast, Aurelio's son, was a well-known reference and pioneer breeder of the beefmaster breed in Colombia. The recently built event center for livestock fairs and exhibitions in Socorro, Santander, was named after him in 2021 to honor his legacy and contributions to the region's cattle industry. Augusto Gast made important contributions to the medical and scientific community in Colombia. He graduated as a surgeon from the National University of Colombia, directed the Carlos Finlay Institute for more than 12 years and was part of the National Institute of Health. His participation was definitive in establishing in Colombia the viscerotomy program for the diagnosis of yellow fever. In recognition of his merits as a researcher, Dr. Gast represented Colombia in several international conferences on yellow fever and was a reference in the Latin American epidemiological community.

Population of German descent by department

* Bogotá * Santander Department * Antioquia Department *

Norte de Santander Department North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santander is bordered by Venez ...

Atlántico Department Atlántico (, en, Atlantic) is a department of Colombia, located in northern Colombia with the Caribbean Sea to its north, the Bolívar Department to its west and south separated by the Canal del Dique, and the Magdalena Department to its ...

* Boyacá Department * Valle del Cauca Department * Bolivar Department * Magdalena Department

Education

German schools in Colombia: * Deutsche Schule Bogotá * German School of Barranquilla * Deutsche Schule / Colegio Alemán, Cali * Deutsche Schule Medellin

Famous German Colombians

Ambrosius Ehinger Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser concess ...

Nikolaus Federmann Nikolaus Federmann ( es, link=no, Nicolás Féderman, ) (c. 1505, Ulm – February 1542, Valladolid) was a German adventurer and conquistador in what is modern-day Venezuela and Colombia. He is a significant figure in the history of Klein-Vened ...

Carlos Ardila Lülle Carlos Ardila Lülle (; June 4, 1930 – August 13, 2021) was a Colombian entrepreneur and the founder and head of the Organización Ardila Lülle, a major Colombian conglomerate which controls companies such as RCN TV, the Postobon soft drink ...

* Rudolf Hommes * Aura Cristina Geithner *

Helmut Bellingrodt Helmut Bellingrodt (born 10 July, 1949 in Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; ...

Antonio Navarro Wolff Antonio José Navarro Wolff (born 9 July 1948) is an engineer, a former combatant and a Colombian politician. Navarro used to be a former Commandant and leader of the 19th of April Movement (M-19), a former guerrilla movement that operated in C ...

* Carlos Lemos Simmonds * Jacquin Strouss Lucena * Leopoldo Rother * Marino Klinger * Roberto Gerlein *

Carlos Lehder Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas (born 7 September 1949) is a German-Colombian former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medellín Cartel. He was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020. Born in Armenia, Colombia, Lehder ...

* Augusto Gast * Justus Schottelius * Ernest Guhl Nimtz * Guillermo Hoenigsberg * Hilda Strauss * Otto Greiffestein * Leo Siegfried Kopp * Alejandro Brand * Juan Bernardo Elbers * Jacobo Wiesner * Reginaldo Paschke * Enrique Haeusler * Otto de Greiff Haeusler * Reginaldo Wolff * William Wolff * Carlos Bimberg * Ricardo Goerke * Guillermo Schnurbusch * Peter Paul von Bauer * Alfred Hettner * Emil Grosse * Robert Scheibe-Vater * Gerhard Masur * Fritz Karsen * Franz J. Mehr * Juan Herkath * Hermann Halberstädter * Edwin Graus

References