German families flee Covid-19 frenzy back home in Europe and migrate to Paraguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to reports, the newcomers left their country due to their discontent with the government’s restrictive measures linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Francisco Morales confirmed that at least 30 families have arrived in the area in recent months and have settled in different parts of the city. Most of them live in a gated community called Manantial, boasting an idyllic natural park.

WHY ARE GERMANS MOVING TO PARAGUAY?

As to the reasons why these families have migrated to Hohenau, Mayor Morales said he did not have that information, although he was aware of new families arriving and settling in the neighborhood. He pointed out that this was not an abrupt phenomenon, but developed over the months.

The news that the immigrants are “fleeing” from the restrictions in their country of origin imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic has been corroborated after being published in a German media, with one of these immigrants commenting on the trip and talking about “packing his bags” to move to that part of Paraguay. The article was published in the Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which reports on the phenomenon of a new wave of German migration to Paraguay.

The article begins with the following introduction: “From Baden-Württemberg to South America: The Breitbachs want to settle near the city of Encarnación. Give up, pack up and go: Hundreds of Germans are currently emigrating in dissatisfaction with the measures taken against the coronavirus. Meet a family that wants to leave everything in Paraguay.”

TOWN FOUNDED BY 4 GERMAN IMMIGRANTS

Hohenau is the first of 3 German colonies founded in that part of the country. It was founded on March 14, 1900 by 4 German immigrants. It was followed by the Obligado and Bella Vista colonies. It is famous for the “Fiesta Nacional de las Colectividades,” which every year offers a sample of the culture and traditions of the different countries that immigrated to the region.

GERMAN IMMIGRATION TO PARAGUAY IN CYCLES

According to researcher Horst Eschgfäller, the presence of Germans in Paraguay dates back to before 1870 and the majority chose San Bernardino and Nueva Germania as their place of residence.

“Most of them left the country because of economic and social problems, especially from northern Europe, some also in connection with the world wars (…) Paraguay at that time advertised in the German press for immigrant peasants, especially from Germany. And it was known that there were already Germans in Paraguay at that time (1930-1933). This campaign was launched by Paraguay to repopulate the country after World War I.”

The majority came from the regions of “Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Bavaria, also from Austria and South Tyrol (now part of Italy) and the Sudetenland (now part of the Czech Republic).

Most of them were rural producers who ran production cooperatives and produced mainly foodstuffs and excelled in the dairy and yeast industry.

Hohenau and the other colonies are prosperous cities in which German culture is deeply rooted and manifested in gastronomy, festivals, music and other festivities.