German Argentine - German Immigration To Argentina

German Immigration To Argentina

Between 1885 and the First World War the population of Argentina doubled with the influx of three million European immigrants, 100,000 of whom spoke German. Many surnames of Germanic immigrants of 20th century continue resounding up to date like Altgelt, Born, Braun, Bracht, Bunge, Bullrich, Frers, Holmberg, Klappenbach, Mallmann, Meyer, Seeber, Stegmann, Tornquist, Zimmermann, Zuberbühler and others that comprised traditional families of the country. Strong German communities developed in Argentina, and especially in Buenos Aires;they did it with their own schools, hospitals, shops, theaters, sport clubs and banks. Many of those Germans who immigrated directly from Germany were assimilated with the upper middle class of Buenos Aires, but maintained strong ties to German culture, providing high-quality German instruction so that their children would not be at a disadvantage when they returned to Germany.

German immigration to Argentina occurred during 5 main time periods: pre–1870, 1870–1914, 1918–1933, 1933–1940 and post–1945. During the first period till 1870, immigration to Argentina was in general low. Of note are the colonias alemanas, the first one founded in the province of Buenos Aires in 1827. The colonias are a unique and notable phenomenon in Argentina’s immigration history but were also far from an exclusively German practice.

During the second period, from 1870 until 1914, Argentina experienced a massive boom in immigration due to or causing massive economic expansion in the port of Buenos Aires and in the wheat and beef producing pampas. In this time frame, the German speakers of Argentina established themselves and developed several institutions, which are often examined in academic studies, such as newspapers, schools and social clubs. Despite originating from all over German speaking Europe, once in Argentina, a new, Germanic Argentine identity developed. One example of this can be found in the studies of the newspaper Argentinische Tageblatt; it was founded by Swiss immigrants but, by the 1930s, became the primary forum for exiles from Nazi Germany. In this time period Volga German immigrants also arrived in the country and settled in different provinces.

During the third period, after a pause during World War I, immigration to Argentina again resumed and German speakers came in their largest numbers. This can be attributed to increased immigration restrictions in the United States and Brazil as well as the deteriorating conditions in post-World War I Europe. The two largest years of German immigration to Argentina were 1923 and 1924, approximately 10,000 in each year. This period is of particular interest because while the older groups of German speakers began to feel a sense of cultural crisis due to the assimilation policies of the Argentine state, the new arrivals gave new life to German cultural institutions, such as the aforementioned newspaper, and created new ones. Between 1905 and 1933, the number of German schools rose from 59 to 176. Though found throughout Argentina, over 80% were located in Buenos Aires, Misiones, or Entre Ríos in 1933. Further, attendance at German schools rose from 3,300 in 1905 to 12,900 in 1933. The studies inherently favour Buenos Aires, where half of all Germans lived, over the colonias because fewer institutions, particularly newspapers, developed.

During the fourth period, from 1933 to 1940, Argentina experienced another surge in German immigration. The majority were German Jews although other German opponents of Nazism also came. In total, 45,000 German speakers came at this time and half settled in Buenos Aires. From 1933 to 1945, they comprised 28% of total immigration to Argentina, as mass migration to Argentina was slowing. Two recent German studies have been written on these arrivals’ impact on Das Argentinische Tageblatt and how the newspaper was used by anti-Nazi immigrants within the Argentine German-speaking community’s debate about fascism.

The fifth and final category of German immigration to Argentina involves the period following World War II. The numbers were not as large as in the past and the concepts of acculturation and linguistic and cultural persistence are not dealt with in the same way. The group did not congregate as tightly and participated more in mass culture. Further, because of an era of national identities and the post-World War II problems of promoting German identity, the pre-existing process of assimilation was not met with resistance by the new arrivals. The country received 12,000 immigrants from Germany between 1946 and 1952.