Bernhard Eunom Philippi

Bernhard Eunom Philippi

Bernhard Eunom Philippi , or Bernardo Philippi (born September 19, 1811 in Charlottenburg , Prussia , † October 27, 1852 near Cabeza del Mar, Chile ) was a Prussian seaman, natural resource collector and explorer. As colonization commissioner for the Chilean government, he was the initiator of the wave of German immigration to southern Chile in the 19th century.

Life

Family and studies

He was born on September 19, 1811 in Charlottenburg, then Prussia, as the youngest son of Johann Wilhelm Eberhard Philippi and Maria Anna Krumwiede. His brother was the botanist Rudolph Amandus . He first learned to read and write under the guidance of his mother, which was not uncommon back then. From 1818 he attended the school of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi with his brother in Yverdon (Switzerland) , where he also learned the French language. In 1822, back in Berlin, he first attended a grammar school. Because he had difficulties with grammar and Latin, his mother took him to a secondary school (Technische Schule Berlin). He was an avid reader of travel literature. After successfully completing school, he did a year of military service in a pioneer unit. The attempt to pursue a military career failed because he failed the exams.

He then joined the Prussian merchant navy (Royal Prussian Sea Trade). From September 1830 to April 1832 he was a simple seaman on the merchant ship Princess Louise during a circumnavigation that took him to Chile , Peru and China, among others . On the ship, he met the doctor and naturalist Julius Meyen , who collected objects for the Natural History Museum in Berlin during the long berths in the ports. Philippi accompanied him on an excursion to Lake Titicaca .

Back in Hamburg, he studied at a naval school during the winter months and made trips to Saint Petersburg , Matanzas and New Orleans during the rest of the year .

Sailor and natural resource collector

After successfully passing his exams as a helmsman , he started a second circumnavigation in November 1836, this time as the third helmsman of Princess Louise . In March 1837 he arrived in Valparaíso. The surgeon Dr. Carl Segeth, who collected objects for the Natural History Museum Berlin and took Philippi on excursions several times. With the prospect of a lucrative business, the two founded a company to export little-known natural history objects from Chile to Germany. Philippi asked for his release from the merchant navy, which he was granted. After a while there was a falling out between the two and Philippi ended the collaboration. He traveled to Peru and settled there for a time on the eastern side of the Andean Cordillera. He tried unsuccessfully to grow corn. In Lima, he was offered the management of a company that tried to extract potash from sugar cane . This company also failed.

Philippi fell ill with malaria and left Peru. He settled in the port city of Ancud on the island of Chiloé because the climatic conditions there appealed to him and began to explore the south of Chile. In January 1838 he undertook a first exploration expedition along the east coast of Chiloe and further into the Chonos archipelago to the mouth of the Río Aysén.

In 1839 he was hired again as a helmsman and came back to Germany via China. In the spring of 1840 he came to his brother Rudolph in Kassel . Together they went to Berlin to sell the things they had collected in Chile and to present knowledge about Chile to the Berlin Natural Science Society.

Equipped with a one-year scholarship as a naturalist and collector, he returned to Chile in June 1841. He began to explore the areas around Valdivia and Osorno and in January 1842 he succeeded in rediscovering Lake Llanquihue . During this time the idea matured in him that this region would be particularly suitable for colonization by German settlers. During that period he collected numerous objects for the Zoological Museum Berlin.

Integration in Chile

Bernhard Philippi (right) and Captain Williams
(photograph around 1842)

At the beginning of 1843, in the seclusion of Chiloé, the acting general manager Domingo Espiñeira and the port captain of Ancud John Williams Wilson prepared the equipment of a small sailing ship that was to be sent on a secret government mission to take possession of the Strait of Magellan. Philippi, who had good relations with Espiñeira, volunteered for this expedition and was accepted.

After a difficult journey, the expedition reached Puerto del Hambre on the Brunswick Peninsula on September 21, and Captain Williams formally took possession of the Strait of Magellan and the areas around it, the future Magallanes region . When a French ship arrived nearby and its crew hoisted the French flag ashore , it was Philippi who defended the Chilean position thanks to his good language skills and skillful negotiation and persuaded the French captain to recognize the Chilean sovereignty in this area . For this he was appointed Capitán de Ingenieros (about: Captain of the Pioneers) in the Chilean army in 1844 by President Manuel Bulnes .

The first colonization project

In 1845 he bought the Hacienda Bellavista south of the Río Bueno, near La Unión, in the province of Valdivia. He brought German settlers there for the first time, recruited by his brother Rudolph. On the brig Catalina , which belonged to the Prussian consul in Valparaiso Ferdinand Flindt, submitted on 19 April 1846 the Port of Hamburg nine families from the city and the Office Rotenburg ad Fulda (North Hessen) and came on August 25, 1846 Port Corral on . The male heads of the family were: the blacksmith Georg Aubel and Nikolaus Ruch, the carpenter Johannes Bachmann, the mill builder Johannes Ide, the carpenter Johann Lorenz Hollstein, the brandy distiller Adam Konrad Bachmann, the shoemaker Bernhard Henkel, the gardener Joseph Jäger and the shepherd Heinrich Krämer.

At the beginning of 1846, Bernardo Philippi accompanied the artistic director Salvador Sanfuentes Torres on his exploration of the province of Valdivia. On this short trip full of incidents and dangers, Philippi made geographical sketches and general maps. Although these were somewhat imprecise for methodological reasons, they served as a good basis for reports to the Chilean government and for publication in Germany. A year later, Sanfuentes served as minister in Santiago. On the basis of the knowledge gained from the joint trip and influenced by Philippi's ideas, Sanfuentes presented the government with a colonization project. Philippi took part in the government deliberations and his reports had a decisive influence on the government's decisions. In June 1847, Philippi was promoted by President Bulnes to Sargento Mayor de Ingenieros (about: Lieutenant Colonel of the Pioneers) and hired as his adjutant and political advisor .

Colonization Commissioner of the Chilean Government

In 1848 , the year of the European revolution , Philippi saw the chance to win German emigrants as colonists for Chile and to implement his colonization ideas for southern Chile. He offered to travel to Germany to the Chilean government. Philippi was appointed colonization commissioner in August 1848 and was sent to Germany to recruit emigrants who were to be settled around Lake Llanquihue . His task was to select 150 to 200 Catholic farming or artisan families, as well as two Catholic priests, two school teachers and a doctor. On behalf of the Chilean government, he should offer the emigrants to pay for the crossing. Each father should receive 10 to 15 cuadras (1 cuadra corresponds to about 1.57 hectares ) of land and tax exemption for twelve years. The Catholic priests were to be paid by the government for eight years. The colonists should take Chilean citizenship while renouncing their current citizenship. Anyone wishing to come to Chile at their own expense could buy land from the government at auction and would receive six years of tax exemption.

In Germany, Philippi began to publish articles in newspapers promoting the advantages of Chile. He also wrote a little booklet: News about the province of Valdivia, especially for those who want to emigrate there, with a map . But the Catholic bishops opposed him and successfully advised their believers not to emigrate. At first, Philippi only managed to recruit a few Catholic traders and craftsmen in Kassel who wanted to escape the turmoil and repression in Germany and were able to travel to Chile at their own expense. There were 34 people who arrived in Valdivia in January 1850 . Philippi asked the Chilean government to expand its powers. Without waiting for an answer, he organized another group of 32 people in November 1849, this time all Protestants. Because the Elbe was frozen over in Hamburg , they could not leave until the beginning of March 1850 and arrived in Valdivia in June.

The Chilean government was disappointed with the hitherto meager results of Philippi's efforts, without realizing that the conditions imposed with regard to the colonists' denomination were holding back the company. In October 1850, the entrepreneur Vicente Pérez Rosales was appointed colonization officer in order to prepare the arrival of more settlers. Finally, in December, another 102 immigrants came from Hamburg on the Susanne ship . Philippi also convinced his brother Rudolph to emigrate to Chile. In 1851 he took over the administration of the Hacienda Bellavista in the province of Valdivia.

At least Philippi managed to bring almost 600 emigrants of German origin to Chile by May 1851, and almost all of them corresponded to the desired profile of well-trained, efficient farmers or craftsmen and had even paid for their passage themselves. The beginning of the colonization of the south of Chile with German immigrants had succeeded, as it was planned, only very few of the colonists were Catholic. When Philippi returned to Chile in 1852, he was criticized for this.

Governor of Magallanes

In May 1852 Philippi was appointed governor of the Magallanes region in Punta Arenas or, if you will, promoted to the end of the world. At that time, Punta Arenas was a colony for so-called incorrigible criminals and was in ruins after a riot in which Philippi's predecessor in office was killed. Philippi immediately began to rebuild. The insurgents had also killed some guaycurú . Although Philippi was known for getting along well with the indigenous people everywhere, he did not succeed in normalizing the relationship. In an act of blood revenge , Philippi was ambushed and killed on October 27, 1852 near Cabeza del Mar (around 50 km north of Punta Arenas).

literature

• Uta Lindgren :  Philippi, Bernhard Eunom. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 392 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Patience A. Schell: The Philippi Family in Chile. In: Relics & Selves. Iconographies of the National in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, 1880–1890. London 2000 ( http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ibamuseum/texts/Schell04A.htm [accessed November 25, 2008]).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ibero-American Institute - Prussian Cultural Heritage (ed.): Phillipi, Bernhard Eunom (1811–1952) . 2007 ( IAI PK - Individual Discounts [accessed December 1, 2008]). IAI PK - Individual Discounts ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ ^{A b} Juan Williams : Diario de la goleta "Ancud" al mando del capitán de fragata don Juan Guillermos (1843): para tomar posesión del Estrecho de Magallanes . Ed .: Nicolás Anrique R. Imprenta, Litografia i Encuadernación Barcelona, ​​Santiago de Chile 1901, p. 115 ff . ( Memoria Chilena documents [accessed December 28, 2008]).
4. ^ Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen : Journey around the earth: carried out on the Royal Prussian sea merchant ship Prinzess Louise, commanded by Capitain W. Wendt, in the years 1830, 1831 and 1832 . Sander'sche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1834, p. 436, 457 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
5. ^ Hermann von Helmholtz Center for Cultural Technology. Catalog of the scientific collections of the Humboldt University of Berlin (pilot project) Dermoplastik, Chimango (as of November 25, 2008)
6. ↑ Barros Arana, Diego: Un decenio de la historia de Chile: (1841-1851) . tape 1 . Imprenta y Encuadernación Universitaria, Santiago de Chile 1905, p. 335 f . ( Memoria Chilena documents [accessed November 25, 2008]).
7. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 1, pp. 338f
8. ^ Bernardo Philippi - Colonizador alemán . Medios Digitales de COPESA, Santiago de Chile 2008 ( Icarito - Personajes [accessed November 29, 2008]).
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Figueroa, Virgilio: Diccionario histórico, biográfico y bibliográfico de Chile . tape 4 . Impr. Y Litogr. La Ilustración, Santiago de Chile 1931, p. 505 ( Memoria Chilena documents [accessed November 29, 2008]).
10. ↑ ^{a b} Rudolph Amandus Philippi (1808–1904): The province of Valdivia and the German settlements there and in the territory of Llanquihue. In: Mittheilungen from Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt about important new researches in the total area of ​​geography (Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen). Ed .: August Heinrich Petermann. Justus Perthes, Gotha 1860, p. 125 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
11. ↑ Angela Pooch: Lecture and documentation on the emigration from Rotenburg to Chile, Rotenburg ad Fulda, published in: Rund um den Alheimer Vol. 2004
12. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 153
13. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 180
14. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, pp. 23, 180, 526 f.
15. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 528.
16. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 529.
17. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 529 f.
18. ↑ Barros Arana. Un decenio de la historia de Chile. Volume 2, p. 531.
19. ^ Mateo Martinic B .: Los Anoikenk (Tehuelches), cazadores terrestres de la Patagonia Austral. In: Etnografias: sociedades indígenas contemporáneas y su ideología . Editorial Andres Bello, 1996, p. 156 ( limited preview in Google Book search).