Puerto Varas
Encyclopedia
Puerto Varas is a city and commune located in the southern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an province of Llanquihue
Llanquihue Province
Llanquihue Province is one of four provinces of the Chilean region of Los Lagos . Its capital is Puerto Montt. Chile's second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue, is located in the province as well as four volcanoes: Osorno, Calbuco, Puntiagudo and Cerro Tronador....

, in the Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region
Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains the country's second largest island, Chiloé, and the second largest lake, Llanquihue.Its capital is Puerto Montt;...

.

The city is well known for its German traditions, its food, its fish and seafood, the natural environment, its casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 and 5 star hotels. Only 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) from Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...

, located on the shore of the Llanquihue Lake, one of the largest natural lakes in South America. The perfect cone of Osorno Volcano and the snowcapped peaks of Mt. Calbuco and Mt. Tronador
Tronador
Tronador is an extinct stratovolcano in the southern Andes, located along the border between Argentina and Chile near the city of Bariloche. The mountain was named Tronador by locals in reference to the sound of falling seracs...

 are clearly visible from the lakefront. On the western shore of Llanquihue Lake are the tourist localities of Frutillar
Frutillar
Frutillar is a city and commune located in southern Chile in the Los Lagos Region. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake entirely within Chile.-History:...

 , Llanquihue
Llanquihue, Chile
Llanquihue is a Chilean commune and city in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The city lies on the western shore of Lake Llanquihue, where the Maullín River starts. It is located north of Puerto Varas and south of Frutillar and is connected to both cities by Chile Highway 5.- History :On 19...

 and Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay is a town and commune located on the north shore of Llanquihue Lake in Los Lagos Region in the south of Chile. It was settled by German colonists in 1852. Puerto Octay was an important port with regular traffic to Puerto Varas before the coming of railway in 1912.-History:Its origin...


History

The city of Puerto Varas, also known as "La ciudad de las rosas" or “the city of roses”, was founded in 1854 by Vicente Pérez Rosales
Vicente Pérez Rosales
Vicente Pérez Rosales was a politician, traveller, merchant, miner and Chilean diplomat that organized the colonization by Germans and Chileans of the Llanquihue area. Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park is named after him....

.

Puerto Varas is a city located in southern Chile a territory of northern Patagonia in the Los Lagos Region. The Chilean Patagonia starts at Latitude 39º South in Valdivia and then it continues through the Chiloe Island and the fiords that continue its course south through the Pacific Ocean and the Cordillera de los Andes until it reaches Latitude 56º South at Cape Horn.

The city is named after Antonio Varas
Antonio Varas
Antonio Varas de la Barra was a Chilean political figure, statesman and conservative politician. He served several times as minister....

, minister of the interior during the presidency of Manuel Montt
Manuel Montt
Manuel Francisco Antonio Julián Montt Torres was a Chilean statesman and scholar. He was twice elected President of Chile between 1851 and 1861.-Biography:...

, when the city was founded. The Montt administration offered lands around Lake Llanquihue for mostly German speaking Europeans (Germans, Swiss, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

ns, Silesians
Silesians
Silesians , are the inhabitants of Silesia in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. A small diaspora community also exists in Karnes County, Texas in the USA....

, Alsatians
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, etc) to settle and farm those lands. Puerto Varas was founded as the main port on the lake, connected by road to the nearest seaport, Puerto Montt. This homeste ading program continued through the remainder of the 19th century. So at the end of that year came the first German colonists who settled the shores of Lake Llanquihue
Lake Llanquihue
Lake Llanquihue is the second largest lake in Chile with an area of about . It is situated in the southern Los Lagos Region in the Llanquihue and Osorno provinces. The lake's fan-like form was created by successive piedmont glaciers during the Quaternary glaciations...

. Arriving the following families from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

: Beck, Bittner, Hoffmann, Gebauer, Klenner, Kuschel, Luckeheide, Minte, Mittesteiner, Muller, Nettig, Schminke, Schwabe, Schwalz, Strauch, Tampe, Vyhmeister, Von Bischofshausen, among many others.

Colonization of Southern Chile

The Chilean government encouraged German immigration in 1848, a time of revolution in Germany
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...

. Before that Bernhard Eunom Philippi
Bernhard Eunom Philippi
Berhard Eunom Philippi was a German naturalist, explorer and colonization agent for Chile.-Biography:His father was John Wilhelm Eberhard Philippi and his mother Mary Anne Krumwiede. In 1818 the family moved to Switzerland, where Rodolph and his brother Bernard entered the school of Johann...

 recruited nine working families to emigrate from Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

 to Chile.

German Colonization in Chile took place in the nineteenth century by German immigrants. Thanks to the "selective immigration law" enacted in 1845, more than 6,000 families (between 30,000 and 40,000 Germans) settled in the area of Valdivia
Valdivia
-Geography:*Chile** Valdivia, Chile, a city and municipality in the Province of Valdivia** Valdivia River, a river which begins in the city of Valdivia** Valdivia Province, the Province of Valdivia...

, Osorno
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...

 and Llanquihue
Llanquihue
Llanquihue may refer to:*Lake Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile*Llanquihue Province, a province of Chile located in the southern Los Lagos Region*Llanquihue, Chile, a Chilean commune and city in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region...

 in the towns of Frutillar
Frutillar
Frutillar is a city and commune located in southern Chile in the Los Lagos Region. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake entirely within Chile.-History:...

, Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay is a town and commune located on the north shore of Llanquihue Lake in Los Lagos Region in the south of Chile. It was settled by German colonists in 1852. Puerto Octay was an important port with regular traffic to Puerto Varas before the coming of railway in 1912.-History:Its origin...

, Puerto Varas, Faja Maisan
Faja Maisan
Faja Maisan is a coastal town located in the commune of Pitrufquén. Formed mostly by descendants of Germans, Dutchs and Swiss, whose grandparents came to the Araucanía between 1905 and 1912.- History :...

 and Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...

 all areas known as Northern Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

, in the south of the country.

The exact number German-Chilean
German-Chilean
German Chileans are an important ethnic group in Chile; they are Chileans of German descent deriving their German ethnicity from one or both parents – they also include a minority of German citizens holding permanent residency in Chile...

s is unknown, because many of the early arrivals' descendants have intermarried and assimilated over the past 150 years. Almost 56,000 are known to have been born in Germany (2009), and approximate figures suggest 500,000 to 600,000 direct descendants.

The German military culture had great influence on the Army of Chile. At the end of the 19th century, adopted the Prussian military tradition, especially after the Civil War of 1891. A German-Chilean, Emil Körner, reached the rank of commander-in-chief of the Army in 1900.

Subsequently, a new wave of German immigrants arrived in Chile, with many settling in Temuco
Temuco
Temuco is a city and commune, capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning "temu water"; "temu" is a tree used by Mapuches for medicinal purposes. The city is located 670 km south of Santiago...

, and Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...

.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 of the National Statistics Institute
National Statistics Institute (Chile)
The National Statistics Institute of Chile is a state-run organization of the Government of Chile, created in the second half of the 19th century and tasked with performing a general census of population and housing, then collecting, producing and publishing official demographic statistics of...

, Puerto Varas spans an area of 4064.9 sqkm and has 32,912 inhabitants (16,645 men and 16,267 women). Of these, 24,309 (73.9%) lived in urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s and 8,603 (26.1%) in rural areas. The population grew by 24.1% (6,383 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Architecture

What most distinguishes the city of Puerto Varas is its architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, strong German influence, which resembles a people taken from a European spot. Although of course, the beauty of the landscape has an attractive beaten. Puerto Varas is located in a spectacular natural environment with. A route that connects to a border crossing into the town of Bariloche in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, offers a route along Lake Llanquihue
Lake Llanquihue
Lake Llanquihue is the second largest lake in Chile with an area of about . It is situated in the southern Los Lagos Region in the Llanquihue and Osorno provinces. The lake's fan-like form was created by successive piedmont glaciers during the Quaternary glaciations...

 with its landscapes framed by snowy peaks. Most of the Forest and the area are completely unspoilt and are ideal for hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

.

Puerto Varas a historical treasure of strong German features. The house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

s that have been declared cultural heritage are the Sacred Heart Church, the Kuschel House (presently owned by Douglas Tompkins
Douglas Tompkins
Douglas Tompkins is an American environmentalist, conservationist and a former businessman.Tompkins co-founded and ran two clothing companies: the outdoor clothing company The North Face; and with his then-wife Susie, the ESPRIT clothing company. Since leaving the business world in 1989, Tompkins...

), the German House, the Schwerter House and the Niklitschek House.

Climate

Puerto Varas has a rainy temperate climate. Rainfall occurs throughout the year, and it is this climate that produces the evergreen forest lakes. While in winter there are more rainy days, as well as snowfall, storms are less intense and accompanied by high winds north and northwest. Spring produces more intense and violent rains, but these are of shorter duration than during the winter.

Culture

Cultural institutions in the region are the Salón Azul of the Municipal Government, in which diverse activities are realized, such as theater plays, movie screenings, concerts and talks.

Gastronomy

The gastronomy stands out for the German pastry, especially the Kuchen
Kuchen
Kuchen , the German word for cake, is used in other languages as the name for several different types of sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux...

 (cake), cookies, cakes, chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

s and craft marmalade
Marmalade
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water. The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the "Seville orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var...

s, and traditional German food, that can be found in many coffees, restaurants and hotels of the area.

There is also an interesting gastronomy
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...

 associated to the good meats of the south of Chile (veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...

, lamb, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

, etc), cured meats and home-made beers brew by the descendants of German colonists
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, the fish and seafood of the neighbour and picturesque Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...

, the southern cheeses and the industry of the salmo] that greatly contributed to the development of the Los Lagos Region.

Tourism

The great growth of Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt
Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...

 (20 kilometres (12.4 mi) south by highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...

), has spurred growth of Puerto Varas as a residential town and an important tourist destination. Puerto Varas now has an excellent hotel infrastructure, wide variety of restaurants, cultural events, in addition to being the departure point for fascinating tourist attractions in surroundings of dramatic geography turning it into the tourist capital of the Lakes Region.

Osorno Volcano has a ski resort that is located less than an hour from the city, which is accessible by a route almost entirely paved, which is bordering Lake Llanquihue. Right on the shore of the lake, the ski resort has a spectacular view over the region.

Administration

As a commune, Puerto Varas is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

, headed by an alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 who is directly elected every four years. The 2008–2012 alcalde is Ramón Bahamonde Cea (UDI).

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, Puerto Varas is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Chile
The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution....

 by Fidel Espinoza (PS
Socialist Party of Chile
The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...

) and Carlos Recondo (UDI) as part of the 56th electoral district, (together with Puyehue
Puyehue, Chile
Puyehue is a commune in Chile located in Osorno Province of Los Lagos Region. It is bordered to the south by Rupanco Lake, to the east by the Andes and Argentina, to the north by Puyehue Lake and to the west by Osorno commune. Cardenal Antonio Samoré Pass that links the Los Lagos Region to...

, Río Negro
Río Negro, Chile
Río Negro is a Chilean city and commune in Osorno Province, Los Lagos Region, 38 km to the south of Osorno and 6 km of 5 Route the South...

, Purranque
Purranque
Purranque is a city in the Chilean Los Lagos Region, which lies on the Pan-American Highway about north of Puerto Montt. It is part of the Osorno Province.-History:...

, Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay
Puerto Octay is a town and commune located on the north shore of Llanquihue Lake in Los Lagos Region in the south of Chile. It was settled by German colonists in 1852. Puerto Octay was an important port with regular traffic to Puerto Varas before the coming of railway in 1912.-History:Its origin...

, Fresia, Frutillar
Frutillar
Frutillar is a city and commune located in southern Chile in the Los Lagos Region. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake Llanquihue, the largest lake entirely within Chile.-History:...

, Llanquihue
Llanquihue, Chile
Llanquihue is a Chilean commune and city in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The city lies on the western shore of Lake Llanquihue, where the Maullín River starts. It is located north of Puerto Varas and south of Frutillar and is connected to both cities by Chile Highway 5.- History :On 19...

 and Los Muermos
Los Muermos
Los Muermos is a city and commune in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region in southern Chile.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Los Muermos spans an area of and has 16,964 inhabitants . Of these, 5,707 lived in urban areas and 11,257 in rural areas...

). The commune is represented in the Senate
Senate of Chile
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...

 by Camilo Escalona Medina (PS) and Carlos Kuschel Silva (RN
National Renewal (Chile)
National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...

) as part of the 17th senatorial constituency (Los Lagos Region).

External links

Municipio de Puerto Varas
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK