A German Nun on her way to Argentina in 1923

Meet sister Georgiana Anna Hamphus born in Lohne, Germany, on 8 June 1892, traveling to Argentina. Her yellow passport was issued on 19 January 1923 at the German Consulate in Maastricht, Netherlands. Sister Anna had the citizenship of Oldenburg according to the entry in her newly issued document – a passport-type which is rare to find. The travel document has two visas. One German transit visa for her journey by ship, issued on the same day when her passport was issued and an Argentinian visa issued in Hamburg on 30 January 1923. The visa was free of charge. German Nun Argentina

German migration to Argentina in the early 1920s German Nun Argentina

The statistical analysis of German migration to Argentina reveals several emigration waves, i.e., periods during which many Germans immigrated to Argentina. As the analysis will show, the years, 1922-24 are particularly striking, as the percentage of emigration to Buenos Aires then rises sharply compared to other destination countries. In the secondary literature, this fact is often completely ignored or explained with a very general and brief reference to an evasive migration of European emigrants to South America due to U.S. immigration restrictions. This approach is based on the assumption that Argentina’s immigration policy concerning Germans between 1922 and 1924 must have been more open than that of other states such as the USA. German Nun Argentina

Even before World War I, Argentina was the main importer and exporter of the German Reich in South America. As early as 1919, the relationship between the two countries at the political level was described as friendship. The German Reich, in particular, had a keen interest in developing this economic connection with the “most important Latin American trading partner.” In fact, shortly after the end of the war, Argentina had a political and economic network of German institutions, visible in the 13 consular representations, the appointment of German officers as advisors in Argentine military schools, and large investments in insurance and electrical sectors. The German banks established in Argentina also survived the war and the problems that followed, and major German entrepreneurs major entrepreneurs such as Fritz Thyssen set up factories in Argentina. The Argentine trade with Germany experienced a major upswing211 between 1920 and 1923. A great upswing, with exports from South America to the German Reich, mostly of foodstuffs such as wheat, corn, and linseed, but also wool and animal skins, where animal skins, was greater than the import of German goods to Argentina. In this aspect the immigration of sister Anna makes sense. German Nun Argentina

Source: Eine Reise ins Ungewisse, Die Deutsch Migration nach Argentinien Anfang der 1920er Jahre, Despina Arnold

Tom Topol | Passport Historian & Author
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