Contulmo

Contulmo was settled from 1884 by German families brought under the colonisation schemes, on the southern shore of Lake Lanalhue at the foot of the Nahuelbuta range. The Grollmus house and mill, built by one of those families in the early twentieth century, still stands with its water-driven machinery in place and is open as a museum; the garden around it holds a large collection of copihue, the Chilean bellflower and national flower, in an unusual range of colours built up over generations. The area is also Mapuche country - Lanalhue and the surrounding communities - and the two histories sit side by side, uncomfortably at times.

History

In 1884 a group of 48 Protestant German families from Berlin and its surroundings settled here, gathered by the missionary Oskar von Barchwitz-Krauser, who had held meetings in Berlin for people wanting to found a Christian community in Araucanía. They sailed from Hamburg by way of Liverpool and Rio de Janeiro, through the Strait of Magellan, reaching Talcahuano in April 1884, and cleared a town among the swamps and forests of the coastal range; the first elected mayor of the commune, in 1918, was the German-born Paul Kortwich (Wikipedia, Contulmo).

What you'll find

• A German colonist village from 1884 - on Lake Lanalhue.
• The Grollmus mill - water-driven machinery still in place.
• A copihue collection - the national flower in unusual colours.
• Two histories side by side - colonist and Mapuche, on the same ground.

When to go

December to March; the copihue flower in autumn. Half a day.

Practical notes

The mill and house keep limited hours, mostly summer. The village is small with few services. Rain is frequent. The colonisation history is presented locally in a way that does not always address whose land it was.

Nearby

Canete and its Mapuche museum are north-west; Nahuelbuta park is north.

Key facts