German Mexican
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| German Mexican
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| Total population |
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150,000-1,000,000[citation needed] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Mexico City, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Chiapas, Quintana Roo. |
| Languages |
| Mexican Spanish, German |
| Religions |
| Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic and Protestantism) |
| Related ethnic groups |
| German, German Americans, German Canadian |
A German Mexican (German: Deutsch-Mexikaner or Deutsch-Mexikanisch, Spanish: germano-mexicano or aleman-mexicano) is a Mexican citizen of German descent or origin. Germans first arrived in Mexico during the mid to late 1800s. The majority of which settled in Mexico City and Puebla. Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after the first and second World War. The Plautdietsch language is also spoken by the descendants of German and Dutch Mennonite immigrants in the states of Chihuahua and Durango. Other German towns lie in the states of Nuevo León, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and other parts of Puebla, where the German culture and language have been preserved to different extent.
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[edit] Colonization
The German settlement in Mexico goes back to the times they settled Texas when it was under Spanish rule, but the first permanent settlement of Germans was at Industry, in Austin County, established by Friedrich Ernst and Charles Fordtran in the early 1830s, then under Mexican rule. Ernst wrote a letter to a friend in his native Oldenburg which was published in the newspaper there. His description of Texas was so influential in attracting German immigrants to that area that he is remembered as "The Father of German Immigration to Texas." The Germans, especially Roman Catholics who sided with Mexico, left Texas for the rest of present-day Mexico after Americans defeated Mexicans in Mexican War in 1846. After 9 years, 213 German-speaking people, (men, women, and children), from Hamburg were brought specifically to the village of Nohcacab in 1865. This was a project of foreign colonization promoted during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico with the governing body of the state of Yucatan. The majority of these people were farmers and craftsmen: wheelwrights, shoemakers, cabinet makers, etc. Other colonies were established in: Santa Elena, Yucatan by Emperor Maximilian, El Mirador, Veracruz by the German botanist Carls Sartorius, and the state of Tamaulipas by Baron Juan Raiknitz (Johan von Raknitz). Sartorius' settlement, known as The Hacienda, attracted more than 200 settlers from Darmstadt, Germany. The Hacienda was visited many times by Maximilian I, and Sartorius was made the Minister of Agriculture under the Empire.
In 1890, Porfirio Diaz and Otto von Bismarck collaborated to take advantage of southern Mexico's agricultural potential by sending 150 German families to Soconusco near Tapachula in the southern state of Chiapas. Extensive coffee cultivation quickly made Soconusco one of the most successful German colonies, and between 1895 and 1900, 11.5 million kgs of coffee had been harvested. Fincas were erected in the Chiapaneco Jungle and given German names such as: Hamburgo, Bremen, Lubeck, Agrovia, Bismark, Prussia and Hanover.
Twenty-five thousand Germanic Mennonites migrated from Canada to northern Mexico in the 1920's. Today, there are about 95,000 descendants of Mennonites in Mexico, who have preserved the Plattdeutsch dialect. German Mexican Mennonite men are allowed to speak Spanish, while women must only speak German. The most prosperous Mennonite colonies in Mexico lie in the states of Chihuahua (Cuauhtémoc, Swift Current, Manitoba), Durango (Patos (Nuevo Ideal), Nuevo Hamburgo), Zacatecas (La Honda) and Campeche.
[edit] Cultural legacy
Homes in the town of Nueva Alemania resemble the architectural style of northern Germany, and many of this area's settlers came from the cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck. In San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa (Mazatlan) and Veracruz, settlers from Bavaria built structures similar to those found in the Black Forest. The German Cultural Center building in San Luis Potosi is a Bavarian mansion that had been owned by the Baron of Baden-Baden.
Oktoberfest is usually held in several large cities with German-Mexican communities throughout the country. German Mexicans were important in the development of the Mexican cheese industry and brewing industries. Also of note, the Alexander von Humboldt school in Mexico City is the largest German school outside Germany.
[edit] References
- Buchenau, J. 2002. The Life Cycle of a Trade Diaspora:The German “Colony” in Mexico City, 1821–present. Jahrbuch für Geschichte Lateinamerikas. 39:275-297.
- Buchenau, J. 2001. Small Numbers, Great Impact: Mexico and Its Immigrants, 1821–1973. Journal of American Ethnic History. Spring:24-49.
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[edit] External links
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