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Sauerkraut in Valparaíso - German Traditions in Chile

December 9, 2013

Black forest cake, sauerkraut and a brewery where they brew beer according to the German purity laws can be found 12,000 kilometers away from Germany: in Chile!

https://p.dw.com/p/1AHan

The story begins in the mid-19th Century, when German artisans and farmers emigrated to Chile. The country’s development, and especially the mining of copper, which is Chile’s economic mainstay, was greatly accelerated by German engineering. Some 500,000 Chileans are of German ancestry and, for many, German is still their native language.

In 1973, after the overthrow of President Salvador Allende, around 20,000 people from Chile fled either East or West Germany. Although most of them returned to their home country after the end of the military dictatorship, the years of exile had left their mark on them. For many Chileans, life in an open society was a formative influence. Their experience of democracy and liberalism played an important role in the rebuilding of Chilean society after the Pinochet era.

In this documentary, Chileans share their personal experiences and memories of Germany. Carmen Zuñiga has called her little hotel in Viña del Mar near Valparaíso "Offenbacher Hof” in tribute to the 20 years she spent living in exile in Germany. She is still grateful for the refuge and support she received back then. After Ernesto Parra was rescued from a death camp, he got the chance to study music in Germany and now conducts a youth orchestra in Santiago. Alvaro Camu, whose father was killed by the military junta, fled to East Berlin. Today, he is director of the Goethe Institute in Santiago de Chile.

25.11.2013 DW TV Im Focus Sauerkraut 02
Carmen Zuñiga was in exile in Hessen. Now she lives in Valparaíso again.
25.11.2013 DW TV Im Focus Sauerkraut 06
Chileans are also fond of German beer.

A moving film about the special historical links between the two countries.


Broadcasting Hours:

DW

THU 26.12.2013 – 22:15 UTC
FRI 27.12.2013 – 06:15 UTC
FRI 27.12.2013 – 13:15 UTC
FRI 27.12.2013 – 17:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 04:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 10:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -8 | Edmonton UTC -7 | New York UTC -5

DW (Europe)

FRI 27.12.2013 – 04:15 UTC
FRI 27.12.2013 – 17:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 06:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 13:15 UTC

London UTC +0 | Berlin UTC +1 | Moscow UTC +4

DW (Arabia)

FRI 27.12.2013 – 13:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 04:15 UTC
SAT 28.12.2013 – 11:15 UTC

Tunis UTC +1 | Cairo UTC + 2 | Dubai UTC +4

DW (Amerika)

FRI 27.12.2013 – 06:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -8 | New York UTC -5 | Sao Paulo UTC -2