Nueva Helvecia

History

In the 1850s, following the Uruguayan Civil War, the land on which Nueva Helvecia lies was among those designated for exploitation. As part of a broader process of rural settlement in the department of Colonia, which also included the colonies of Colonia Valdense and La Paz, the entrepreneur Doroteo García, who was engaged in promoting land settlement in the department of Colonia, acted as an intermediary between the Uruguayan government and the Basel-based financial institution Siegrist & Fender to establish an agricultural colony in the area. Driven by economic hardship, rural overpopulation, and the social and economic transformations associated with the Industrial Revolution, Central European immigrants settled in Uruguay, a phenomenon framed within the historical period known as the “Great Transatlantic Migration”, which reached Uruguay from the 1860s onward. The first migratory waves arrived in the area in late 1861, composed mainly of Swiss immigrants, together with smaller numbers of French, Austrian, and German settlers. On 25 April 1862, the largest number of immigrants arrived in the area, a date traditionally regarded as the foundation of the “Swiss Colony” (Colonia Suiza). The colony organized its political life along the lines of the Swiss Landsgemeinde and, under an agreement with the Uruguayan government, enjoyed a degree of autonomy during its first decade. In 1875, amid broader national political instability, secret balloting was introduced as a mechanism for resolving internal affairs. Agriculture and cattle raising formed the economic foundation of the colony, with, later, dairy farming emerging as its principal activity. In its early years, the settlers faced a number of difficulties, including periods of drought and the bankruptcy of the…

Most-observed species

• Rufous Hornero

  Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  162
• Great Kiskadee

  Pitangus sulphuratus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  154
• Eared Dove

  Zenaida auriculata (Des Murs, 1847) · Aves
  147
• Red-crested Cardinal

  Paroaria coronata (J.F.Miller, 1776) · Aves
  142
• Southern Lapwing

  Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782) · Aves
  137
• Rufous-collared Sparrow

  Zonotrichia capensis (P.L.S.Müller, 1776) · Aves
  115
• Monk Parakeet

  Myiopsitta monachus (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  113
• Saffron Finch

  Sicalis flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  113