Hermann Eberhard

Hermann Eberhard ( born February 27, 1852 in Ohlau, Silesia, † May 30, 1908 ) was a German captain and entrepreneur. He is considered the discoverer and founder of the first settlements in western Patagonia.

Life

Hermann Eberhard went into the Navy in 1869. As captain, he later worked for the shipping company cosmos on whose behalf he traveled to the Falkland Islands. In 1887 he left the shipping company in order to examine the possibilities of a settlement in Western Patagonia. He leased 40,000 hectares of land by the Argentine government.

In May 1892 his expedition began on the southeast coast of Chile. Finally, he settled in August of the same year at Puerto Consuelo in the province of Última Esperanza and founded a large sheep. In 1894 he received the Governor General Edelmiro Mayer additional 20,000 acres of land on the Río Turbio.

In 1895 he was in the Mylodonhöhle to Puerto Natales, the remnants of an extinct 10,000 years ago, giant sloth. Since he also found fur remnants, the discovery was a scientific sensation. The cave is now a tourist attraction at the National Park Torres del Paine.

In 1899 he was appointed German Consul in Rio Gallegos; this post he filled out until 1904.

On August 17, 1904 Law on the redistribution of land was passed, which should destroy the possessions of the first settlers. The lands were then in possession of only 30 families, mostly foreigners. They included 3620 km ². The winter of 1904 was extremely cold up to -31 ° C; the settlers lost almost their entire sheep population. 1905 Eberhard traveled to Santiago, Chile, to resolve the land issues, but his trip was unsuccessful.

In his honor, a fjord is named, the Eberhard Fjord ( Fjordo Eberhard ). Hermann Eberhard applicable in Chile as one of the most important figures in the colonization of the Región de Magallanes y Antártica Chilena de la.