Nuevo Berlín (New Berlin) is a town in the

Río Negro Department Río Negro Department ( es, Departamento de Río Negro, ) is a department of the northwestern region of Uruguay. It has an area of and a population of 54,765. Its capital is Fray Bentos. It borders Paysandú Department to the north, Tacuarembó D ...

of western

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Geography

It is located on the east bank of

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

northwest of the junction of Route 24 with Route 20. South of the town flows the stream Arroyo de la Yeguada and to its west, in the Uruguay River, is the island Isla del Burro. Its distance from the capital of the department

Fray Bentos Fray Bentos () is the capital city of the Río Negro Department, in south-western Uruguay, at the Argentina-Uruguay border, near the Argentine city of Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos, Gualeguaychú. Its port on the Uruguay River is one of the nation's ...

is via Route 42 and

Route 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

History

In the 19th century, some

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 ...

settlements were created next to the river, mostly composed of farmers. The brothers Richard and Karl Wendelstandt migrated from Germany around 1850 and bought the farm "El Curupí" in the Department of Soriano. Some years later, they bought properties in

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital of Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Location The city is located on the banks of the Uruguay River, which forms the border with Argentina. It lies northwest of Montevideo via Route 1 and Route 3, on the ju ...

which they renamed as Nueva Melhem (New Melhem). This new farm, with some 27,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s was surrounded by 32 "positions", 31 of which were occupied by other German families. Meanwhile, the Wendelstandt family in Germany decided to invest in their relatives' properties in Uruguay. With these investments, the surroundings of farm "Nueva Melhem" became the village Nuevo Berlín around 1865–1868, with the approval of the brothers Wendelstandt, who requested Mr. Fridolin Quincke to design it. The task was finished by the end of 1874. On 16 March 1875, it was declared a "Pueblo" (village) and on 19 December 1974 its status was elevated to "Villa" (town) by the Act of Ley Nº 14.326.

Population

In 2011 Nuevo Berlín had a population of 2,450. Source: ''National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay''

Air disaster

On 10 October 1997, a

Douglas DC-9-32 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

, en route from

Posadas, Misiones Posadas () is the capital city of the Argentine province of Misiones, in its south, at the far north-east of the country on the left bank of the Paraná River, opposite Encarnación, Paraguay. The city has an area of and a population of 324,756 ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, crashed near the town after entering a storm. All 74 occupants of the plane perished in the crash.

Notable people

* Giorgian de Arrascaeta, footballer

References

External links

Videos from Nuevo Berlín and other places in Río Negro, UruguayINE map of Nuevo Berlín
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuevo Berlin Populated places in the Río Negro Department Populated places established in 1892 Uruguay River 1892 establishments in South America