Nuevo Berlin

Nuevo Berlín (New Berlin) is a small Uruguayan city, on the shore of the Uruguay River, the natural border of the country with its neighbour, Argentina.

In the 19th century, some German settlements were created next to the river, mostly composed by farmers. One of the first settlements was named Nueva Melhem (New Melhem) by two brothers, Richard and Karl Wendelstandt. They migrated from Germany around 1850 and then bought the farm “El Curupí” in the Department of Soriano. Some years later, they bought properties in Paysandú which they renamed as Nueva Melhem. This new farm, with some 27,000 hectares was surrounded by 32 “positions”, 31 of which were occupied by other German families.

Meanwhile, the Wendelstandt family in Germany decided to invest in their relatives’ properties in Uruguay. With these investments, the surroundings of farm “Nueva Melhem” became the town Nuevo Berlin around 1865-1868, with the approval of the brothers Wendelstandt, who requested Mr. Fridolin Quincke to design it. The task was finished by the end of 1874.

External links

* [http://www.rionegro.gub.uy/videos.html#5 Videos from New Berlin and other places in Rio Negro, Uruguay]