German Plantation in Mexico 1936 - Deutschmexikaner - Zimmermann Telegram - Hacienda - Adrian Lopez

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This is the Catholic German owner of a plantation in Mexico in 1936. We see him sitting on a hill with his Mexican wife, contemplating his hacienda. Armed with a pistol, this kind of no-nonsense self-made man was certainly romanticized back in mainland Germany.

Today we’ll see how Deutschmexikaner lived in Mexico and how this plantation was organized. Then we’ll talk about the unique history of these settlers. We’ll finish up by taking a look at some related and wonderfully alarmist American WW2 propaganda.

The idea of a German settlement in Mexico really isn’t as strange as it sounds. Those of German decent were known as Deutschmexikaner and many arrived during the liberal policies of the mid to late 1900s with a majority settling around Mexico City.

In 1833 the German botanist Carlos Sartorius founded a settlement know as The Hacienda, which attracted more than 200 settlers from Darmstadt. Most were farmers and skilled craftsmen for example carpenters, locksmiths and shoemakers.

But this would be the exception rather than the rule. After this influx, the majority of German immigrants would be entrepreneurs looking for opportunity, industrial managers, and leaders in commercial sectors. Their businesses were often successful and they quickly became part of upper Mexican society.

This successful plantation owner was able to afford a private car which at this time in Mexico was still considered a luxury. His successful business venture focused on the raising of cattle and the cultivation coffee.

German was considered the language of business and they sent their children to special private schools were German would be spoken and taught. They learned about European history and current events and certainly were kept up-to-date regarding the National Socialist revolution that had swept through Germany.

The sign on the left says Deutsche Schule, German school. The one on the right says the same in Spanish, Colegio Aleman.

Since Mexico was a catholic country, Roman catholic Germans predominantly came to Mexico. Migrant Lutherans tended to go to America. In addition to religious similarities, due to a general lack of German women the businessmen married Mexican’s which quickly advanced cultural assimilation. In contrast the American migrants tended to stay to their own and were less willing to assimilate.

As might be expected the Germans created their own clubs and societies to keep ties to their native heritage.

During the Mexican-American war from 1846 to 48 the German immigrants supported the Mexican side and when the war was lost, those that had been living north of the new border moved South to Mexico. They didn’t actively participate in the war but their choice of allegiance did not go unnoticed by the Americans.

In 1917, at the height of World War 1, the German foreign office sent the secret so-called Zimmerman-Telegram to the Mexican government proposing a German-Mexican military alliance and promising the return of the lost lands from the Mexican-American war, namely Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.

It stated that the Germans intended to begin unrestricted submarine Warfare against the Americans in February and that the two countries should declare war on America at the same time. It also promised direct German economic support to the Mexicans.

The British intercepted the telegram, deciphered it and then made its contents public which had a material effect on getting American to declare war on Germany and add badly needed fresh troops to help hold the Western Front.

Although this diplomatic effort had caused much more damage than it had achieved relations between Germany and Mexico remained constructive. Even under intense pressure from Washington Mexico remained neutral and refused to take part in the embargo against Germany. German nationals with business interests in Mexico were also protected by the Mexican government.

With the American build up to entering WW2, the unfounded fear of the southern neighbor throwing in with the Germans again made its way into some propaganda. In this early 1941 pamphlet created by the artist Adrian Lopez, the cover title is.. Blitzkrieg over America, When will Germany invade the USA?

There is a wonderful illustration of a German paratrooper jumping out of a plane over New York. The pamphlet goes into depth explaining the elements that make up the modern German Blitzkrieg tactic and gives vivid example of what that might look like in a North American campaign.

This page in the pamphlet shows a member of a mariachi band giving directions to a German soldier and states that such an attack would most likely begin in Mexico and would only take a total of 48 hours to be successfully completed. Under the photograph at the bottom it says Parachute troops would find plenty of unprotected open spaces in America for surprise landing of their troops.