Nueva Helvecia

Nueva Helvecia
City
Nueva Helvecia
Coordinates: 34°17′S 57°12′W / 34.283°S 57.200°W / -34.283; -57.200Coordinates: 34°17′S 57°12′W / 34.283°S 57.200°W / -34.283; -57.200
Country  Uruguay
Department  Colonia
Founded 1862
Population (2011 Census)
 • Total 10,630

Nueva Helvecia is a Uruguayan city located in Colonia.

Nueva Helvecia (Spanish for "New Helvetia"; formerly known as Colonia Suiza) is 120 kilometres west of Montevideo, the capital and largest city of Uruguay. It's a few miles from the coast where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Río de la Plata and East of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is known nationwide for its Swiss heritage.

History

The first wave of immigrants arrived at the end of 1861. However the day of its foundation is considered to be 24 April 1862. This year marks the time when a large number of immigrants, mostly from Switzerland, but with a significant number from Austria, Germany, Italy and France, settled in the area. Colonia Suiza, Colonia Valdense, Colonia Miguelete, Rosario and other towns are the consequence of this European immigration. The name "Nueva Helvecia" was given to "Colonia Suiza" some decades later. The first Swiss settler was David Salomon Bratschi from Bern, Switzerland. He arrived in 1858, three years earlier than the first large group of settlers who arrived in 1861.

Swiss emigration

Europe was undergoing severe economic hardships during the second part of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution affected many small artisans and family businesses. By law the Swiss mercenary soldiers no longer could fight for other countries and were coming back home to find their families in precarious conditions that could not support any more members.

Like many others in Europe, America was a chance for progress and prosperity. Many came to North America during the Gold Rush, but once the Civil War started in the United States the Swiss emigrants started looking further south in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay for a better future. In Brazil there was a law that foreigners could not own land. In Argentina the colony settled in Indian territory and were not welcome, but Uruguay welcomed immigrants with open arms. They were desperate to populate the country, which had but a few inhabitants at the time. The Swiss Colony was given autonomy, and the first democratic secret vote in Uruguay happened en "Colonia Suiza". The Swiss immigrants helped shape many Uruguayan laws, giving Uruguay the name of "Switzerland of the Americas" among many other things, like the classical production of Swiss cheese, also known as "Queso Colonia"

The people

The people of Nueva Helvecia have maintained to this day the customs and traditions inherited. There are several groups, like "Los Alegres Alpinos" or the "Alpenveilchen Grupo de Danzas", who still practise the songs and dances of their ancestors. Currently, it is clear that despite the passage of time, Nueva Helvecia is still related to the customs of their ancestors and still maintains a strong social and cultural bond. They are proud to be descended from hard-working people that had the necessity to leave their countries and learn a new language in the new world. Today, very few "New Helvetians" speak the language of their ancestors, perhaps because they married people of other countries. Even among Swiss the different dialects prevented them from communicating with each other, unless they used the Country's official language, which is Spanish.

The arrival of Swiss, Austrian, Italian, French, and German immigrants was of significant importance in the subsequent political organization of a country that was receptive to foreign influences. Uruguay offered a range of alternatives to immigrants, like fertile lands for agriculture and grassland for livestock productivity.

The holidays and festivities include: 1. The 25 of April, corresponding to the foundation of Nueva Helvecia 2. The "first of August", anniversary of the formation of the Swiss Confederation, is even more notorious and extravagant in Nueva Helvecia. 3. The "Bierfest" in December attracts visitors from other departments and countries.

Switzerland–Uruguay relations. There has always been a bond between the people from Nueva Helvecia and the people of Switzerland.

Architecture

The city, though located in Uruguay, shares a number of features and similarities with Europe, mainly Switzerland, Germany and France, as a result of its close link with the cultural and social monopoly of those countries. Unlike what happens in other cities in Uruguay, every building bears a symbolic shield representing the different Swiss cantons where the family living in the house came from. This has become more evident in recent years.

Places to visit

  • Plaza de los Fundadores
  • Tiro Suizo
  • Hotel Suizo
  • OSE Watertank
  • Molino Quemado
  • Evangelical Church
  • Roman Catholic Church
  • Cine Helvético[1]

Production

Dairy products, like milk, Swiss cheese, cream cheese, "dulce de leche", yogurt and many other milk products. They also produce a variety of sausages and animal products, fruits and vegetables, cereals and wine.

Location and population

It is located in the southeastern part of Colonia Department, Uruguay. Its population, as of 2004, was 12,000.

Notable people

Economic activity

Nowadays, Nueva Helvecia is famous for its milk production. Until 1980 the Facansa enterprise produced bodywork for road vehicles.

Sources

  • Annaheim, Hans (1967). "Die Kolonie Nueva Helvecia in Uruguay". en Regio Basiliensis. 8: 27–76. ISSN 0034-3293.
  • Arlettaz, Gérald (1979). "Emigration et colonisation suisses en Amérique 1815-1918". Etudes et Sources, Archives Fédérales Suisses. 5: 5–236. ISSN 1420-8725.
  • Aschwanden, Prisca: Die schweizerische Einwanderung in Uruguay zwischen 1880-1929, Lizentiatsarbeit, Universität Zürich, 1990.
  • Caro, Marice.: Los Bratschi en el Río de la Plata. David Salomón Bratschi, el primer colono suizo en la colonia agrícola de Nueva Helvecia. ISBN 978-0-692-48115-8
  • Caro, Marice Ettlin.: The Swiss Colony of Uruguay. David Salomon Bratschi, the first settler of "Nueva Helvecia". ISBN 978-0-692-59318-9
  • Caro, Marice Ettlin.: La Genealogia de los Ettlin, del canton de Unterwalden a la Americas. ISBN 978-0-692-54276-7
  • Caro, Marice Ettlin.: The Ettlin Genealogy, from the Canton of Unterwalden to the Americas. ISBN 978-0-692-57332-7
  • Caro, Marice Ettlin.: La Colonia Suiza que casi no lo fue: Nueva Helvecia. ISBN 978-0-692-78715-1
  • Caro, Marice Ettlin.: Bienvenidos a Nueva Helvecia. ISBN 978-0-692-66079-9
  • Wirth, Juan Carlos F.: Historia de la Iglesia Evangélica de Nueva Helvecia, 1944.
  • Wirth, Juan Carlos F.: Colonia Suiza hace 80 años, 1947.
  • Wirth, Juan Carlos F.: Historia de colonia suiza [de l'Uruguay], ed. por el Comité Ejucutivo pro-festejos del centenario de Colonia Suiza, Nueva Helvecia, 1962.
  • Wirth, Juan Carlos F.: Del Havre al Río de la Plata en 47 días, 1974.
  • Wirth, Juan Carlos F.: Génesis de la colonia agrícola suiza Nueva Helvecia: historia, documentos y carografia, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Montevideo, 1980.
  • Zbinden, Carl: Die schweizerische Auswanderung nach Argentinien, Uruguays, Chili und Paraguay, dissertation, Universität Bern, Affoltern a. A., 1931.
  • Ziegler, Sonia; Naón, Ignacio: Suizos en Uruguay, 224 pp., Montevideo, febrero de 2007. ISBN 9974-32-320-7
  • Ziegler, Sonia .: Pequeña historias de Grandes mujeres. La historia de la Colonia Suiza en Uruguay a través de sus mujeres. ISBN 978-9974-98-594-0

References

  1. ↑ Caro, Marice (2015). Bienvenidos a Nueva Helvecia. USA: JFC Solutions. ISBN 978-0-692-66079-9.

Ancestors and descendants of Swiss immigrants to Nueva Helvecia, Colonia, Uruguay. The site contains the surnames Ettlin, Greising, Odermatt, Bratschi, Bratsche, Hugo, Haller, Ackermann, Frey, Ernst. First immigrants from Switzerland in the 1800s.

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