Pozuzo is a village and
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in the
Oxapampa Province
The Oxapampa Province ( es, Provincia de Oxapampa) is the largest of three Provinces of Peru, provinces that make up the Pasco Region in Peru. The capital of the Oxapampa province is the city of Oxapampa. The province is located on the eastern s ...
and
Pasco Region
Pasco () is a department and region in central Peru. Its capital is Cerro de Pasco.
Political division
The region is divided into 3 provinces ( es, provincias, singular: ), which are composed of 28 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito ...
of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
. The village, at an elevation of , is situated near the left bank of the
Huancabamba River
The Huancabamba River ("Stony Plain" in the Quechua language) in the Pasco Region of Peru has its origin in the confluence of several small rivers near the town of Oxapampa: the Chontabamba, the Llamaquizú, and the Esperanza rivers. From an ...
which is renamed the Pozuzo River after it passes by the village. The population of the village in 2017 was 1,366. Pozuzo was established in 1859 by Austrian and German immigrants to Peru and traces of German culture and architecture survived into the 21st century. Pozuzo was isolated and difficult to access until 1976 when a vehicle road was completed linking the village with the town of
Oxapampa
Oxapampa is the capital of Oxapampa District and Oxapampa Province in Peru in the eastern part of the Pasco Region. . Oxapampa belongs to the natural region known as Selva Alta or high jungle. northward down the valley of the Huancabamba River ...
, north.
History
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
missionaries established a mission at Pozuzo in 1712, but the colony and mission was abandoned or destroyed in the 1740s or 1750s in the
Atahualpa Rebellion by the
Asháninka (or Campa) people of the area. The colony was reestablished and a bridge was constructed across the Pozuzo river about 1790. The
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of the area were ravaged by smallpox epidemics. When explorer William Smyth reached Pozuzo in 1828 the Franciscans had abandoned Pozuzo and the only inhabitants were one Asháninka family although other indigenous farmers lived nearby and cultivated
coca
Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
,
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
,
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
, and
cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
(yuca). Smyth described the mule trail leading eastward from the Andes highlands to Pozuzo as narrow and dangerous.
In the 1850s, Peruvian President
Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla y Marquesado (; 31 August 1797 – 30 May 1867) was a Peruvian ''caudillo'' who served as President of Peru three times as well as the Interim President of Peru (Revolution Self-proclaimed President) in 1863. His earliest pr ...
proposed to build a railroad from the capital city of
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, across the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
Mountains, and onward to the navigable rivers of the
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
. Part of the plan (the only part realized) was to import German and Austrian Catholics to settle on the eastern slopes of the Andes and in the tropical
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
s of the Amazon region, then populated only by indigenous people.
[ Downloaded from JSTOR.] In 1855, the Peruvian leader signed an agreement with German traveler
Kuno Damian von Schütz-Holzhausen to recruit 10,000 Germans and Austrians to emigrate to Peru and establish colonies on the eastern flanks of the Andes. The Peruvian government agreed to pay the cost of the passage from Europe to Peru of the emigrants and the cost of transporting them overland to Pozuzo and other areas designated for their settlement. On arrival in Pozuzo, each family would receive of farmland. Single men would receive .
[ Part One, Two, and Three.]
Schütz traveled to Germany in 1856 to recruit settlers and assembled a group of 302 persons, about 200 from the
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
and 100 from
Moselle and
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
. Among the colonists were two
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
priests, one of whom was José Egg, a leader among the colonists. Most of the colonists were poor peasants and artisans with large families. They group departed
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, on the sailing ship ''Norton'' on 26 March 1857 and arrived in the port of
Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists o ...
, Peru on 8 August 1857. On arrival Schütz found that the Peruvian government had done little to prepare for the arrival of the colonists and their transportation to Pozuzo. The colonists undertook a difficult journey on foot and
mule to reach Pozuzo, starting from the port of
Huacho
Huacho () is a city in Peru, capital of the Huaura Province and capital of the Lima Region. Also is the most populated city of the Lima Region and Norte Chico. It is located 223 feet (68 metres) above sea level and 148 km north of the city of ...
, reaching an elevation of more than crossing the Andes, to
Cerro de Pasco
Cerro de Pasco is a city in central Peru, located at the top of the Andean mountains. It is the capital of the Pasco region, and an important mining center. At elevation, it is one of the highest cities in the world, and the highest or the sec ...
, onward to Acobamba (
Ambo), and, constructing the road enroute, to Pozuzo. The town was established in 1859 by 172 of the original 302 colonists who had departed Europe together. Many had deserted en route or had died or been killed during the journey.
One of the early decisions of the colonists was to separate the land allocated to the Prussians and the Tyroleans. The Prussians settled south of Pozuzo and established the village of Prusia; the Tyroleans established the village of Pozuzo.
Pozuzo was one of the few German colonies in the Amazon basin of Peru in the 19th century that survived and prospered. By 1889, Pozuzo had a population of 565 persons, nearly all of them farmers. Among a variety of crops grown the most important commercial crops were
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
,
coca
Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
, and
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
.
In 1891, colonists from Pozuzo founded the town of
Oxapampa
Oxapampa is the capital of Oxapampa District and Oxapampa Province in Peru in the eastern part of the Pasco Region. . Oxapampa belongs to the natural region known as Selva Alta or high jungle. northward down the valley of the Huancabamba River ...
, which quickly eclipsed Pozuzo in population, and in 1928 founded the town of
Villa Rica, a coffee growing area. Both towns were at a higher elevation and enjoyed a milder climate that Pozuzo.
Over the years the Germanic heritage of the people of Pozuzo has become diluted by intermarriage and in-migration from the Andes and the local indigenous people. In 2005, only about 15 percent of the population of about 4,000 in Pozuzo district claimed to have German heritage. In the same year, the first non-Germanic mayor of the town was elected, a man with an Andean heritage.
Climate
Pozuzo has an Af (tropical with adequate precipitation throughout the year) climate under the
Köppen Classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...
system. Measured by the
Trewartha climate classification
The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...
system the climate is Arbb (tropical, adequate precipitation throughout the year with warm summers and warm winters) Pozuzo's climate is modified by its altitude which results in temperatures several degrees lower year round than the nearby low-elevation tropics. The difference in average temperatures between the warmest and coolest months is only 1.5 degrees C (3 degrees F). The austral winter months of June, July, and August are the driest of the year.
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Pasco Region
Peruvian people of German descent
Ethnic groups in Peru
Geography of Peru