The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

minority in

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 ...

came into existence with immigration during the industrial age. The "

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 ...

" colony was founded in Paraguay in 1888; though regarded as a failure, it still exists despite being abandoned by many of its founders in the 1890s. Paraguay was a popular place for German leaders accused of war crimes to retreat after the

second World War 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 opposin ...

. There are large communities of German descendants living in the department of Guairá, in a town called (Colonia Independencia), the department of Itapúa, mainly in the Departmental Capital, Encarnación and the German towns of Obligado, Bella Vista and Hohenau. Some recent Brazilian immigrants to Paraguay also have German ancestry (

Brasiguayos Brasiguaio ( Portuguese) or brasiguayo (Spanish) is a term referring to Brazilian migrants in Paraguay and their descendants. The word Brasiguaio has been used by members within and outside this group to categorize individuals whose lives are conn ...

). Notable Paraguayans of German descent include the former president of Paraguay

Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...

Russian Mennonites

Another large group of Germanic people who immigrated to Paraguay are Plautdietsch-speaking

Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...

s, people of Dutch and Prussian ancestry who immigrated to Russia under the rule of Czarina Catherine the Great. The Paraguayan Mennonite community left Russia in two waves: the first in the 19th century when their exemption from military service ended, and the second to avoid Stalin's collectivization programs. Russian Mennonites are different from another German-Russian group, the

Volga Germans The Volga Germans (german: Wolgadeutsche, ), russian: поволжские немцы, povolzhskiye nemtsy) are ethnic Germans who settled and historically lived along the Volga River in the region of southeastern European Russia around Saratov ...

, through religion, ethnicity, and reasons for immigrating to Russia. Russian Mennonites are religious

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

while the Volga Germans are religious

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Russian Mennonites are mostly of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

and Frisian origin. They migrated to German settled parts of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

where they stayed for some 200 to 250 years and then went on 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 government. Some Russian Mennonites saw Paraguay as a perfect place to settle because it looked isolated. The government of Paraguay wanted more people to settle 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 of them left Paraguay for neighboring Argentina, where they met many Volga Germans, who had decided to settle in Argentina to escape the persecution in Russia. However, the situation changed, and the Russian Mennonites began to prosper in Paraguay. The Russian Mennonites settled in the

Boquerón Department Boquerón may refer to: * Boquerón, Cuba * Boquerón, Las Piedras, Puerto Rico *Boquerón, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico * Boquerón Bay, Puerto Rico * Boquerón, Chiriquí, Panama * Boquerón Department, Paraguay * Boquerón (island), an island in the Ar ...

in Paraguay. They established the

Fernheim Colony The Fernheim Colony is a Plautdietsch-speaking settlement of Russian Mennonite, Mennonites originally from Russia of about 5000 in the Gran Chaco, Chaco of Paraguay. Mennonites from the Soviet Union founded it between 1930 and 1932. Filadelfia i ...

, which includes the town of

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. With a population of about 20,000, it is the largest ...

;

Neuland Colony Neuland Colony (Plautdietsch: Nielaunt /ˈnilɔnt/) is a Mennonite settlement in Paraguay. After thousands of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites fled the Soviet Union during the Great Trek of World War II, many were left displaced by the w ...

; and

Menno Colony Menno Colony is a Mennonite settlement located in the central part of the Chaco region, in northwest Paraguay, occupying an area of 7500 km² (2900 mi²). It was founded in 1926 by Plautdietsch-speaking descendants of Russian Mennonites ...

. Descendants of the Russian Mennonite immigrants continue to live in these colonies.

Education

German schools: * Deutsche Schule, Asunción *Colegio Aleman Concordia, Asunción *Colegio Gutenberg, Asunción Historic German schools:Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672

Archive
.

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

(West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 26-28/51. * Deutsche Schulen Alto-Parana-Gebiet * Deutsche Schulen, Zentralschule Filadelfia, and Lehrerseminar Filadelfia Kolonie Fernheim * Deutsche Schulen and Zentralschule ( Kolonie Friesland) * Deutsche Schulen ( Kolonie Independencia) * Deutsche Schulen, Vereinschule Loma Plata, and Lehrerfortbildungsanstalt Loma Plata ( Kolonie Menno) * Deutsche Schulen and Zentralschule Halbstadt ( Kolonie Neuland) * Deutsche Schule and Zentralschule Tiefenbrunn( Kolonie Volendam)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germans In Paraguay Immigration to Paraguay

* Ethnic groups in Paraguay

Russian Mennonites

Education

See also

References