Fernheim
 
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Location of Fernheim in Paraguay |
Fernheim is a colony founded by Mennonites in the Chaco of Paraguay . It was founded between 1930 and 1932 by German-born Plautdietsch- speaking Russian mennonites who had fled what was then the Soviet Union . The center of the colony is the small town of Filadelfia (Philadelphia). About 5000 Mennonites of German origin live here.
Some Russian mennonites were able to submit a successful application to emigrate to Germany , where they were accepted because of their German descent. However, they did not want to stay there and moved to Paraguay a year later . There were already existing settlements there, such as the villages of Blumengart , Schönbach or Simons , which were founded by German Mennonites from Canada . The Russian mennonites settled in their vicinity and thus the Fernheim (or Fernland ) colony was created .
The immigration took place under extremely difficult circumstances. The immigration area that the Paraguayan government had made available was still undeveloped, and access to it was extremely difficult. First the Río Paraguay had to be driven upstream with a river steamer to Puerto Casado , from where a narrow-gauge railway of the Casado company ran about 150 km to the west into the Chaco bush. From there it was a several days long journey with the ox cart to the settlement area. It was not until 1956 that the construction of the Trans-Chaco route from Asunción to Filadelfia began.
Agriculture and the processing of its agricultural products form the economic basis of the Fernheim colony . These are mainly cotton , peanuts , beef , milk and dairy products .
After the Menno Colony , Fernheim was the second Mennonite colony in Paraguay. The historical and cultural connections of the Russian-Mennonite migration and integration to and within Paraguay are described very clearly , especially in the literature of Peter P. Klassen .
In the vicinity of Filadelfia is the Flor del Chaco leisure camp , which was founded on an initiative in the early 1970s.
The villages of the Fernheim colony
Fernheim's villages were founded by people of different origins. Some founders came from Russia, others from Poland; other villages were founded by immigrants from Harbin and still others were founded by immigrants who were already settled in Fernheim. To date Fernheim has 25 villages, of which the following have already been dissolved: Wiesenfeld (No. 4), Auhagen (No. 9), Rosenfeld (No. 12), Hiebertsheim (No. 13) and Grünfeld (No. 19) These Villages have all been replaced by other villages.
The following table shows today's villages with number and year of foundation:
| number | Surname | founding year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fields of light | 1930 |
| 2 | Kleefeld | 1930 |
| 3 | Gnadenheim | 1930 |
| 4th | Ribera | 1985 |
| 5 | Friedensfeld | |
| 6th | Rest of peace | 1930 |
| 7th | Schönwiese | 1930 |
| 8th | Schönbrunn | 1930 |
| 9 | Tres Palmas | 1996 |
| 10 | Rosenort | 1930 |
| 11 | Forest rest | 1930 |
| 12 | Land crown | 1944 |
| 13 | Flower valley | 1948 |
| 14th | Flower place | 1932 |
| 15th | Orloff | 1932 |
| 16 | Karlsruhe | 1932 |
| 17th | Schönau | 1932 |
| 18th | Desert fields | 1934 |
| 19th | Boqueron | 1938 |
| 20th | Hohenau | 1946 |
| 21st | Valencia | 1960 |
| 22nd | Neuwiese | 1961 |
| 23 | Molino | 1963 |
| 24 | Corrales | 1979 |
| 25th | 15 de Agosto | 1999 |
literature
- Heinrich Duerksen (Ed.): 50 years of the Fernheim colony. A contribution to the development of Paraguay , Filadelfia, Fernheim Colony, 1980
- Kai Rohkohl: The Plautdietsche language island Fernheim, Chaco (Paraguay) , Elwert, Marburg, 1993, ISBN 3-7708-1020-1
Web links
Coordinates: 22 ° 20 ′ S , 60 ° 2 ′ W