Germans encouraged to immigrate to Chile

Legislative and Strategic Context. Chilean authorities approved colonization plans for southern territories to prevent European occupation and ensure territorial continuity. The Law of Colonization and Vacant Lots, signed in 1845, provided the legal framework for recruitment. Bernhard Eunom Philippi proposed colonization schemes in 1842 and 1844, targeting areas like Llanquihue Lake and the Maullín River, aiming to attract economically independent settlers through fixed land prices.

Recruitment and Early Settlement. Bernhard Eunom Philippi recruited immigrants in Germany between 1848 and 1851, most of whom were Protestant. These settlers arrived in Valdivia in 1850, where Vicente Pérez Rosales was declared the colonization agent. Philippi was later admonished for sending too many Protestant settlers, and he was killed in Magallanes in 1852, leaving Pérez Rosales to continue the work.

Expansion to Llanquihue. By 1850, initial groups were too small to establish a functional settlement at Llanquihue Lake as envisioned. However, Vicente Pérez Rosales succeeded Philippi as the government agent in Europe. In 1852, he returned to Chile with many German families to settle the shores of Llanquihue Lake, marking a significant expansion of the colonization effort beyond Valdivia.