In Our Sphere of Life: German-Speaking Immigrants in Yucatán and Their Descendants, 1876-1914 9783964564153

Table of contents :
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
TABLES & FIGURES
1. INTRODUCTION
2 . THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3. ANTECEDENTS: THE GERMAN STATES AND MÉXICO ( 1821 - 1876 )
4. THE RECEIVING SOCIETY
5. GERMAN-SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS
6. IN THE "LAND OF THE PHEASANT AND THE DEER"
7. IN OUR SPHERE OF LIFE
8. CONCLUSION
APPENDIX 1. LIST OF SOURCES
APPENDIX 2. CHRONOLOGY
APPENDIX 3. GLOSSARY
APPENDIX 4. LIST OF THE IMMIGRANT GENERATION
APPENDIX 5. SOURCES EVALUATED FOR THE FAMILY PORTRAITS
APPENDIX 6. FAMILY TREES

Citation preview

Alma Durán-Merk "In Our Sphere of Life" German-Speaking Immigrants in Yucatán and Their Descendants, 1876-1914

T I E M P O EMULADO H I S T O R I A DE A M É R I C A Y E S P A Ñ A La cita de Cervantes que convierte a la historia en «madre de la verdad, émula del tiempo, depósito de las acciones, testigo de lo pasado, ejemplo y aviso de lo presente, advertencia de lo porvenir», cita que Borges reproduce para ejemplificar la reescritura polémica de su «Pierre Menard, autor del Q u i jote», nos sirve para dar nombre a esta colección de estudios históricos de uno y otro lado del Atlántico, en la seguridad de que son complementarias, que se precisan, se estimulan y se explican mutuamente las historias paralelas de América y España. Consejo editorial de la colección: Walther L. Bernecker (Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) Arndt Brendecke (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) Jorge Cañizares Esguerra (The University of Texas at Austin) Jaime Contreras (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares) Pedro Guibovich Pérez (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) Elena Hernández Sandoica (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) Clara E. Lida (El Colegio de México) Rosa María Martínez de Codes (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) Pedro Pérez Herrero (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares) Jean Piel (Université Paris V I I ) Barbara Potthast (Universität zu Köln) Hilda Sabato (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Alma Durán-Merk

"In Our Sphere of Life" German-Speaking Immigrants in Yucatán and Their Descendants, 1876-1914

Iberoamericana - Vervuert - 2015

Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Förderungs- und Beihilfefonds Wissenschaft der V G W O R T Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde von dem Fachbereich Europäische Ethnologie/ Volkskunde der Universität Augsburg unter dem Titel "IN OUR SPHERE OF LIFE." Dimensions of Social Incorporation in a Stratified Society: The Case of the German-Speaking Immigrants in Yucatán and Their Descendants, 18761914, im Jahre 2013 zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Doktorin der Europäischen Ethnologie/Volkskunde angenommen.

Cualquier forma de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública o transformación de esta obra solo puede ser realizada con la autorización de sus titulares, salvo excepción prevista por la ley. Diríjase a C E D R O (Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos) si necesita fotocopiar o escanear algún fragmento de esta obra (www.conlicencia.com; 91 702 19 70 / 93 272 04 47)

© Iberoamericana, 2015 Amor de Dios, 1 - E-28014 Madrid Tel.: +34 91 429 35 22 Fax: +34 91 429 53 97 © Vervuert, 2015 Elisabethenstr. 3-9 - D-60594 Frankfurt am Main Tel.: +49 69 597 46 17 Fax: +49 69 597 87 43 [email protected] www.ibero-americana.net I S B N 978-84-8489-878-8 (Iberoamericana) I S B N 978-3-95487-439-2 (Vervuert) Cover design: Carlos Zamora Photo cover: Members of the Milke Milke Family in Mérida. Photo Collection Wilhelm Schirp Laabs, Universität Augsburg. Courtesy of Juan Erwin Arthur Schirp Milke Depósito legal: M-19040-2015 The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of ISO 9706 Este libro está impreso íntegramente en papel ecológico sin cloro Impreso en España

INDEX

Acknowledgments

7

Abbreviations

11

Tables & Figures

15

1 . INTRODUCTION

19

1.1. State of the Art 1.2. Objectives and Relevance of This Work 1.3. Research Methods and Strategies 1.4. Sources

29 36 40 53

2 . T H E O R E T I C A L FRAMEWORK

61

2.1. The Migration Process 2.2. The Immigrant Experience

62 70

3 . ANTECEDENTS: T H E G E R M A N STATES AND M É X I C O ( 1 8 2 1 - 1 8 7 6 )

87

3.1. Economic and Political Context 3.2. Migration From the Various German States Into México Before 1876

87 91

4 . T H E R E C E I V I N G SOCIETY

109

4.1 .Yucatán 4.2. Immigrants in "The Land of the Pheasant and the Deer"

110 189

5 . G E R M A N - S P E A K I N G IMMIGRANTS AND T H E I R DESCENDANTS

217

5.1. A Group Portrait 5.2. Types of Immigrants Received by Yucatán

218 257

6 . I N THE " L A N D OF THE PHEASANT AND THE D E E R "

6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4.

Structural Incorporation Social Memberships Cultural Incorporation Identificational Aspects

269

270 332 366 382

7 . I N O U R SPHERE OF LIFE

393

7.1. Occupational Insertion Into the Yucatecan Social Stratification System 7.2. Superordinate Group 7.3. The Middle Classes 7.4. Lower Strata and Special Cases

393 395 409 458

8. CONCLUSION

509

APPENDIX 1. LIST OF SOURCES

535

Non-Print Sources Print Sources Electronic Sources

535 565 601

APPENDIX 2 . C H R O N O L O G Y

617

APPENDIX 3 . GLOSSARY

627

APPENDIX 4 . LIST OF THE IMMIGRANT G E N E R A T I O N

631

APPENDIX 5 . SOURCES EVALUATED FOR THE FAMILY PORTRAITS

639

APPENDIX 6 . FAMILY TREES

653

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

If trying to piece together this multifaceted book was often challenging but never tedious it is partly because of the great support I had throughout. T o start with, I had three solid, thoughtful, and tactful, main mentors. Professor Sabine Doering-Manteuffel offered me the possibility to become a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Augsburg. She knew how much this work meant to me, and always gave me her full support. Even after October 2011, when she became President of the same institution, she found the way, in spite her busy schedule, to be my first Ph.D. thesis adviser. From the beginning Professor Walther L. Bernecker, second mentor of this study, has unswervingly expressed in many ways his interests in this project. His scholarship provided an awe-inspiring example to follow, while his timely and clear observations have guided my research though the years. As I was well into my research, in the winter of 2012, Professor Günther Kronenbitter came on the scene. In him I found also a trustworthy counselor who was of great help by critically reading all my manuscripts, giving me valuable comments and overall insights. He really went beyond the scope of what he had to do and I am quite appreciative of his efforts. Given the scope and methodology followed in this study, I had the opportunity to conduct most of the necessary research in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico City, and in various European locations. My thanks to Professor Doering-Manteuffel and to Professor Kronenbitter for allowing me to do that and to accommodate my teaching schedule. Likewise, I acknowledge here the privilege of having colleagues who gave me their unwavering support: thanks to Marion Einsiedler, Tobias Gingele, Lena Grießhammer, Leonie Herrmann, Ina Jeske, Foteine König, Christiane Lembert-Dobler, Claudia Miller, Anna Ruile, and Margaretha Schweiger-Wilhelm.

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N o t being a Yucatecan, I had the fortune of finding experts who took me under their wing: Emiliano Canto Mayen and Laura Machuca Gallegos became true intellectual companions. I have also benefited from the thoughtful responses to my presentations of parts and working versions of this text in seminars or lectures at a number of universities and conferences: at the Center for Global Studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland (2011); in the X V Mesoamerikanisten-Tagung in Bonn, Germany (2012); within the frame of the 54th International Congress of Americanists, in Vienna, Austria (2012); at the Kolloquium Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in the University of Augsburg (2012), and as part of the Seminario de Metodología de la Historia e Historiografía of the CIESAS Peninsular, in Mérida, Yucatán. Particularly fruitful has been my attendance since winter 2011 at Professor Evelyn Dürr's colloquiums "Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die Amerikas," and "Forschungen zu den Amerikas aus kulturwissenschaflicher Sicht," at Ludwig Maximilians Universität, in München. I thank Professor Dürr for allowing me to be part of them and for letting me present this material as work-in-progress on two occasions. Her practical comments and those of her team have been most helpful. I am especially grateful to Professor Peter Waldmann —an admirable friend and supporter— for his host of unusually valuable and constructive suggestions, as well as to several colleagues for their interest and encouragement of my research and for their scholarly examples: Inés de Castro, John Chuchiak IV, Joaquín Domínguez, Felipe Escalante Tió, Wolfgang Gabbert, José Luis Gutiérrez May, Silvana Hernández, Stefan Krotz, Bodil Liljefors Persoon, Luis Ángel Mezeta Canul, Erika Panni, Ana María Rojas Marín, Ute Schüren, Arturo Tarracena Arrióla, Rosa Torras Conangla, Olivia Topete, and Katrin Vogel. In the research of this book, additionally, I have met many wonderful and interesting people. Special thanks go, of course, to the descendants of the Germans in Yucatán, to whom this book is dedicated. My debts are many, but none is as deep and abiding as the one I owe Juan Erwin Arthur Schirp Milke, a family's most caring historian. His early and enthusiastic support for the project opened many doors, both literally and figuratively. Dozens of members of Yucatecan families of German descent and their friends actively supported my efforts to recover this part of the past. Moreover, also descendants of former immigrants to the Mayab now living in different European locations shared their

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

9

knowledge with me, specially the brothers Marie and Friedrich Catoir. On both sides of the Atlantic dozens of families trusted me with their stories, granted me unlimited access to family papers in their possession, took time from their hectic lives to speak candidly about the past with me, spent long hours responding to my questions, answered my emails patiently, and even made themselves available for Skype sessions. They taught me what it means to be a Yucatecan of German descent. For that lesson, as much as for their invaluable help in gathering information for this monograph, I am forever obliged. I am particularly indebted to Gerda Schöder, Dr. Kirsten Süselbeck, and the interlibrary loans team of Augsburg's University Library, all expert bibliothecaries and unconditional allies, who have been especially helpful in assisting me with numerous crucial sources I needed. I express my sincere appreciation to the staff members of the numerous archives in four countries I consulted over the years, some of whom went out of their way to help me. It would be impossible to thank them all by name. However, I want to especially mention Dr. Martin Kröger and his staff at the Politisches Archiv Auswärtiges Amt (Berlin); Ulrich Kreutzer, Corporate Communication and Government Affairs for Siemens AG (München); Dafne David López Martínez, Registro Civil de Yucatán; and Monseñor Dr. José Florencio Camargo Sosa and Don Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, for giving me access to the records of the Arquidiócesis de Yucatán. Thanks also to Dr. Piedad Peniche and her assistants, and to Faulo Sánchez Novelo and his colleages: without their archival resources and personal assistance this work could not have been written. When specific sources were especially difficult to access, other experts extended their generous hands, such as Juan Doerbecker y Ancona, Karl Herbert Mayer, Joaquín Rodríguez de la Gala Faller, Bernardo Schwering, Joachim von Mentz, and Otto Wagner, among others. I also appreciate the collaboration of my colleague Lars Frühsorge and other members of the Crasemann family in Hamburg for giving me access to the correspondence of Johannes Karl Heinz Crasemann. I am grateful to the students who have attended my seminars at the University of Augsburg since 2008. Those interactions allowed me to question my own concepts and to explore and test ideas; our discussions encouraged me to intensify certain readings and examine other propositions.

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Apparently offstage, but playing important roles in my life and in the completion of this work were many other people. Manuel and Humberto Bonilla Caamal told me the story of Carlota Seller: that was how this research project started. Especially generous during my long research stay in Mexico City were Gustavo Caballero Camargo, Jasper Eitze, and Georgina Martinez. Friends like the Portillo N a y and the Escobedo Graham families in Yucatan were pivotal helpers on whom I could always rely for anything needed. Through the years, the thousands of small pieces of information required for this publication became like an unmanageable monster: Thomas Merk suggested programs that were up to the challenge, patiently taught me to use them, and never lost his sense of humor; the great computer guru Markus Henze and his team at the University of Augsburg also helped to tame the monster, by assisting me in all computing issues without limits of place and time. When the long hours of sitting by the computer started to take a toll on my health, Holger Zirbeck and Jórg Ostenda reached out with their bags of medical tricks, and always found a new magical remedy. In these times of strict airline baggage limitations, Lee Jones and Ken Boas hauled books from overseas for me without a single hesitation. Susan Craig, Luis Martin, and Stephan Merk put at my service their priceless knowledge of English, Spanish, and German during this work's proofreading process, helping me overcome the not-so-rosy sides of a transnational life such as the one I have lived. I am also indebted to the staff at Vervuert, and particularly to Anne Wigger and Juan Carlos Garcia Cabrera, for their professional support. This work required carrying out transcontinental research for close to a decade, which turned out to be very expensive. Since no research grants were obtained, my husband, my immediate family, and myself carried the burden of financing it. I do not have words to express how much their absolute backup and sacrifices mean to me. My largest debt, however, goes to Stephan Merk, who has helped me in more ways than I can express. Thanks for his unflagging support and confidence in me and in this project, for his clarity as the going got tough, and for suffering through many drafts —and many more dispositions with enormous grace. In spite of some predictions to the contrary, going through this experience together has not only opened new horizons for us: it has made us a better couple.

ABBREVIATIONS

Ancestry

AGAY AGEY

AGN

AHAY

HP Hamburger Passagierlisten MR Mikrofilm Rolle/microfilm roll NOPL New Orleans Passenger Lists NYPL New York Passenger Lists RN Roll Number Archivo General de la Arquidiócesis de Yucatán (Mérida) Archivo General del Estado de Yucatán (Mérida) AN Archivo Notarial JC Justicia Civil JP Justicia Penal HO Li. PE Poder Ejecutivo RC Registro Civil Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico City) DIPS Departamento de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociales SG Secretaría de Gobernación Sxix Siglo xix CS Cartas de seguridad Sxx Siglo xx DM Departamento de Migración A Alemanes Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de Yucatán (Mérida) MU Matrimonios Ultramarinos

12

AHSREM BBL BdlG BdEdEdY CAIHY

cf. coord. DDKiA DdY DY DZvM ed. EEdC e.g. EIPR EMI et al. exp. FCFC-CA FC-Cr FC-Ct

FC-FE FC-RdlGF FC-SM

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Archivo Histórico de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de Mexico Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde Boletín de la Guerra (Mérida) Boletín de Estadística del Estado de Yucatán (Mérida) Centro de Apoyo a la Investigación Histórica de Yucatán (Mérida) FR Fondo Reservado confer, compare coordinator Der Deutsche Kaufmann im Auslande (Hamburg) Diario de Yucatán (Mérida) Diario Yucateco (Mérida) Deutsche Zeitung von Mexiko (Mexico City) editor El Eco del Comercio (Mérida) exempli gratia, for example Ellis Island Passenger Records LN Line Number El Mundo Ilustrado (Mexico City) et alii, et alia, and others expediente, expedientes Family Collection Family Collection Castro Agüero (Mérida) Family Collection Crasemann (Hamburg) Family Collection Catoir (Paris and Barcelona) CcpFG Copiador de cartas particulares de Francisco Gliikher, August 1907-July 1913 Family Collection Faller Espinosa (Mérida) Family Collection Rodríguez de la Gala Faller (Mérida) Family Collection Schirp Milke (Mérida) PCWSL Photo Collection of Wilhelm Schirp Laabs figure, figures folio, folios

ABBREVIATIONS

FS

HAHR Hist Mex ibid. i.e. LC LHASA leg. LRdM LVdlR MR NARA n.d. n.n. no. n.p. Ppp.

PAAA PROHISPEN SAA SH

TLG vol. vs.

13

Family Search FN Film Number IPN Index Project Number Hispanic American Historical Review Historia Mexicana ibidem, the same id est, that is La Campana (Mérida) Landeshauptarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt legajo, legajos La Revista de Mérida (Mérida) La Voz de la Revolución (Mérida) microfilm roll, Mikrofilm-Rolle National Archives and Records Administration (Washington D.C.) no date no number number no place, no publisher, no page page pages Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes (Berlin) Centro Cultural Pro Historia Peninsular (Mérida) RyB Ritter y Bock Siemens Aktenarchiv München (Munich) SSW Siemens-Schuckert-Werke Staatsarchiv Hamburg HP Hamburger Passagierlisten (1=1865; 2=1866; 3=1894) QGDIC Quellensammlung zur Geschichte des Deutschtums auf der Insel Cuba The London Gazette volume versus

TABLES &

FIGURES

TABLES

Table 1. Typology of Migration and Suggested Additions Table 2. Foreigners Registered in Yucatán in 1854 Table 3. Population of Yucatán, According to the National Censuses Table 4. Places of Origin of the Immigrant Generation Table 5. Estimated Time of Migration Table 6. Declared Religious Denomination Table 7. First Occupation Registered Table 8. Professionals Table 9. Length of Residence in Yucatán of the Immigrant Generation Table 10. Largest Wholesalers in Yucatán in 1902 Table 11. German Honorary Consuls to Yucatán, 1880-1919.... Table 12. Marriages of the Immigrant Generation While Residing in Yucatán Table 13. Examples of Monthly Salaries Paid in Mérida During the Porfiriato

66 132 203 228 230 232 240 242 264 294 336 356 431

FIGURES

Figure 1. Four Acculturation Strategies Figure 2. Occupations of the Germanophone Immigrants in Mexico, 1829-1871 Figure 3. Map of Yucatán, Quintana Roo, and Campeche Figure 4. View of the Puuc Area

77 101 Ill 112

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Figure 5. Porfirio Díaz Figure 6. Map of Yucatán, the Caribbean, and the United States Figure 7. Loading and Unloading in the Port of Progreso Figure 8. Topographic Map of Mérida, 1864-1865 Figure 9. Olegario Molina Solis Figure 10. Gente de vestido. Peter Schirp Malmedi, members of his family, and a Maya person Figure 11. People wearing traditional outfits Figure 12. Houses in a barrio in Mérida Figure 13. Traditional Maya House Figure 14. Contemporary Maya Kitchen Figure 15. Maya People in Their Kitchen Figure 16. The Faller Manzanilla Family on the Veranda of Their Colonial House Figure 17. City of Mérida and Its Suburbs, 1920 Figure 18. Wooden House in Mérida Figure 19. Quinta San Fernando Figure 20. Interior of Emilio Móller's Colonial House in Mérida Figure 21. Customs Office in Progreso Figure 22. Mérida in 1866 Figure 23. Mérida's Cathedral and Main Square Figure 24. Local People Walking in Calle 61, Flooded Figure 25. Playing Music at Home. Members of the American-Yucatecan Gaumer family in Izamal, Yucatán Figure 26. Bullfight in Pustunich Figure 27. Carnival of Mérida, 1913 Figure 28. Juan Enrique Hiibbe and His Wife, María Gertrudis García Rejón Figure 29. German-Speaking Immigrants: Sex and Generation... Figure 30. Estimated Number of German-Speaking Immigrants Living in Yucatán, Year by Year Figure 31. Civil Status of the Germanophone-Born Immigrants Figure 32. El Candado, Ferretería y Mercería Figure 33. Félix Faller (left) in the Offices of El Candado Figure 34. Interior of El Candado, Seen From the Third Floor....

117 120 120 134 139 156 158 160 160 162 162 164 166 168 168 170 172 175 176 178 184 186 186 192 219 225 235 282 283 283

T A B L E S

&

F I G U R E S

Figure 35. One of El Candado's Sales Floors Figure 36. Drawing of the Ritter y Bock Hardware Store Figure 37. Ritter y Bock Building in Our Days Figure 38. Example of the Secret Price Code Used by the Hardware Store Ritter y Bock Figure 39. El Candado's Parade Float in Mérida's 1913 Carnival Figure 40. El Candado's Symbol Showing the Transition of a Corporate Name Figure 41. Exterior of Siemens & Halske, Mérida Figure 42. Machinist in the Siemens & Halske Mérida Plant Figure 43. Interior of the Elevator Provided by Siemens & Halske for the Palacio Cantón Figure 44. Detail of the Elevator in the Palacio Cantón, Mérida Figure 45. Executives and Employees of Siemens & Halske, Mérida Figure 46. Planning Area of Siemens & Halske Figure 47. Offices of Siemens & Halske in Mérida Figure 48. Siemens & Halske Store in Mérida Figure 49. The Faller Manzanilla House, Beeing Remodeled Figure 50. Former Quinta Los Alemanes, Calle 59 with 82, Mérida Figure 51. Church of The Eknakán Hacienda Figure 52. Porfirio Díaz in Yucatán Figure 53. "El Divino Redentor" Figure 54. Arch Dedicated to Porfirio Díaz by the German Community, 1906, View Towards the East Figure 55. Arch of the German Colony, View Towards the West Figure 56. The " C l u b de Caballeros" Figure 57. Emma Milke and Some of Her Descendants in Their Dining R o o m in Mérida Figure 58. Lucrecia Móller Escoffié, Mérida, ca. 1905 Figure 59. Visit to the Ruins of Uxmal in 1913 Figure 60. Immigrants Born Before and After 1871 Figure 61. Pro-Madero Demonstration in Mérida, 1909 Figure 62. Invitation to the Baptism of Marie-Louise Schirp Figure 63. The Second Generation

17

284 286 286 288 291 295 309 311 314 314 320 321 322 322 329 330 330 340 342 344 344 349 378 378 380 383 390 398 406

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Figure 64. Hugo Victor Boehm Rowe and Rosa Maria Gasque Molina Figure 65. Remembrance of Edgardo Emilio Augusto Möller Escoffié's Baptism Figure 66. The Milke Milke Family in the Quinta Kiuik Dzotz Zeitung, Figure 67. Karl Wildfeuer, Reading the Illustrierte in His Rented Room in Calle 65, Mérida Figure 68. Inheritance From the Great Grandfather Figure 69. Félix Faller Rombach Figure 70. The Faller Manzanilla Family in Mérida Figure 71. Laurence Meinhardt de Figueroa Figure 72. Agustín Figueroa Font and His Son, Siegfried Figueroa Meinhardt Figure 73. Immigration Card of Agustín Meinhard Krosker Figure 74. A Member of the Third Generation Figure 75. Castillo Seller Family Figure 76. Carlota Seller Figure 77. Second Generation: Vicente Castillo Seller and His Wife, Victoria Colli Figure 78. Agustina Lange and Federico Worbis Figure 79. Cristina Franke de Worbis Figure 80. Second Generation, Matilde Worbis Lange Figure 81. Pedro Worbis Franke and Angela Ribo, 1912 Figure 82. Luis and Carlos Worbis Franke with Their Mother, Cristina Franke

407 413 416 435 437 443 444 453 456 456 459 483 486 488 491 493 496 500 501

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N In México, it is characteristic that occupations are clearly assigned to specific national groups. Almost all pawn shops, grocery stores, and ordinary pubs are in the hands of Spaniards. The French own hotels and fashion houses; mines and large trading businesses belong to the Americans; the Germans represent the academic class and large wholesalers. Because of this, the Germans are the most respected foreigners in México.1 Arnold Krumm-Heller, ca. 1910. Medical doctor, founder of the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua. Around 27 years ago I immigrated (into Yucatán) with my now deceased husband, Federico Worbis. We arrived from Germany in complete poverty [...] with the intention to work, and to be able to earn honestly our subsistence and that of our then small children [.. .]2 Cristina Franke viuda de Worbis, 1909. 56 year-old, poultry street vendor in Yucatán.

1. "Uberhaupt ist es für Mexiko charakteristisch, dass dort die verschiedenen Berufe streng an die Nationalitäten gebunden sind, die sich damit befassen. So sind zum Beispiel die Pfandhäuser, Kolonialwarengeschäfte und ordinären Kneipen fast alle in spanischen Händen. Die Franzosen haben Hotels, Modehäuser, die Amerikaner Minen und größere Handelsunternehmen, der Deutsche vertritt den Gelehrtenstand und die Großhandelshäuser, und schon deswegen ist der Deutsche von jeher der geachtetste Ausländer in Mexiko." Cf. Arnold Krumm-Heller, Mexiko, mein Heimatland,!, (Halle: Dr. Krumm-Hellersche Verlagsanstalt, 1919), pp. 45f. All translations, unless otherwise indicated, are my responsibility. The citation style used in this book is an adaptation of the Chicago Notes and Bibliography Style, see Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007). Spelling and capitalization of words and sources' titles in languages other than English follow the principles of the specific language in question. When referencing original documents, I will be writing the names, titles, and signatures exactly as they are classified in their respective depositories. This explains the variations in spelling. When dates are indicated, these follow the day/month/year format. 2. "Hace el espacio de veintisiete años poco más o menos, que en unión de mi finado esposo Don Federico Worbis, venimos de Alemania en completo estado de pobreza [...] con el ánimo de trabajar honradamente para procurarnos nuestra subsistencia y la de nuestros pequeños hijos [...]" Cf. Archivo General del Estado de Yucatán (hereinafter AGEY), Poder Ejecutivo (hereinafter PE), Gobernación, 1909-1910, caja 497, Cristina Franke viuda de Worbis to the German Consul in Mexico City, Mérida, 28.07.1909; additional information about Mrs. Worbis obtained from AGEY, Justicia Civil (hereinafter JC), 1918, Robo, caja 98, exp. 13, Franke de Worbis vs. Maas. More about the Worbis family in Chapter 7.

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In Mexican popular imagery, the German immigrant experience remains as one intrinsically marked with economic attainment. According to Friedrich Freiherr von Gerolt, Prussian Consul to México, by 1836 his fellow countrymen are already "among the most important and successful migrants" in the country.3 Until the First World War, the migrants that came to México were, supposedly, largely businessmen, scientists, intellectuals, professionals, well-paid craftsmen, and students.4 Even those in remote, isolated regions are described as wealthy, highly educated, self-sufficient, hardworking, courageous, intelligent, prosperous, "pioneers." 5 This stereotype6 is widely encountered even now. For example, a scholar specializing in Latin American Studies reacted to information about German commoners saying that in his mind "in México being German is equal to being rich." 7 This does not mean, however, that information to the contrary is not available. It has often been overlooked. In the Fall of 1887, The New York Times published an article about the conditions in which Germans, who had once been part of a failed colonization project, found themselves in Yucatán, México.8 The article shines a light on the fact that the path of migrant social incorporation into a stratified society —as México and most Latin American societies were at the turn of the twentieth century— took varied forms, which is the theme I am interested in. The newspaper details that these German-speaking residents of modest means could only find 3. Cited by Marianne Oeste de Bopp, "Deutsche Auswanderung nach Mexico," in: The German Contribution to the Building of the Americas: Studies in Honor of Karl J. R. Arndt, ed. Gerhard K. Friesen and Walter Schatzberg (Hanover, NH: Clark University Press, 1977), pp. 21-45, (p. 29). 4. Marianne Oeste de Bopp, "Una curiosidad bibliográfica," Historia Mexicana (hereinafter Hist Mex) 12, no. 1 (1963): pp. 117-21, (p. 117). 5. Helen H. Seargeant, San Antonio Nexapa, (Chiapas: Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, 2000), pp. 70, 130, 280-3. 6. Stereotypes in the context of historical intercultural encounters can be defined as characteristics that arbitrarily are attributed to a group, and supposed to characterize it. These do not have to be accurate, are usually over emphasized, and could be positively or negatively charged. Some people show resistance to reviewing these propositions, even when facing contradictory evidence. See: Frauke Gewecke, Wie die neue Welt in die alte kam, (Stuttgart: Klett, 1986), p. 343. 7. Fieldnote, 16.09.2011. 8. S. J. B., "Yucatan and her Slaves," The New York Times, 02.10.1887, http:// query.nytimes.com/mem/ archive-free/pdf?_r=l&res=9F04ElDB1530E633A25751C 0A9669D94669FD7CF, (accessed 28.08.2008).

1.

INTRODUCTION

21

e m p l o y m e n t in a limited n u m b e r of l o w - p a i d trades. In s o m e cases, t h e y f o u n d themselves r e d u c e d t o daily laborers, w h i c h the a u t h o r considered c o m p a r a b l e to situations o f serfdom. A s part of the article, the 5 9 y e a r - o l d F r i e d r i c h W o r b i s was interviewed in Mérida, w h e r e he had been living with his family for a r o u n d 2 0 years. Q u e s t i o n e d as t o w h e t h e r he had been deprived o f his f r e e d o m o r f o u n d animosity a m o n g the locals, W o r b i s said: The reverse. They are a warm-hearted people. And have assisted us in many ways, but, unfortunately, the natives belonging in our sphere of life have the same troubles to contend with that we have.9 W o r b i s had immigrated w i t h his family into Y u c a t á n as m e m b e r s o f the failed Villa C a r l o t a c o l o n i z a t i o n project. 1 0 T h e W o r b i s , as several o t h e r families, stayed in the state and tried to m a k e a living as " n o r m a l " immigrants. R e c o r d e d m o r e than t w o decades after W o r b i s ' entrance into the c o u n t r y , this part o f his statement provides insights into five interesting features that challenge the until n o w p o p u l a r i m age o f the G e r m a n s as privileged and lucratively successful migrants in M é x i c o . First: G e r m a n o p h o n e c o m m o n e r s w e r e w o r k i n g in n o n skilled jobs during the Porfiriato. 1 1 Second: the presence of foreign

9. Ibidem. 10. Alma Durán-Merk, Identifying Villa Carlota: German Settlements in Yucatán, México, during the Second Mexican Empire, 1864-1867, (Magister Artium, Universität Augsburg, 2007). This work was published as a book in Spanish as Villa Carlota. Colonias alemanas en Yucatán, (Me'rida: CONACULTA, ICY, CEPSA, 2009). The Villa Carlota settlements were farming colonies, not to be misunderstood as territories under the immediate control of a foreign state: they were not founded as part of a conquest or territorial expansion of another country. Those who joined this project renounced their nationality of origin and accepted Mexican citizenship. 11. The Porfiriato, also referred to as Porfirismo or the Diaz Era, is the historical timespan when México was under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Traditionally defined to be from 1876 until 1911, this is considered by some historians to have actually started in 1877. For examples of the first case, see Daniel Cosío Villegas, "El Porfiriato: su historiografía o arte histórico," in: Extremos de América, ed. Daniel Cosío Villegas (México: Hermes), pp. 113-8; Paul Garner, Porfirio Díaz, Del héroe al dictador, (México: Planeta, 2001). The second case is represented by Elisa Speckmann Guerra, "El Porfiriato," in: Nueva historia mínima de México, ed. Pablo Escalante Gonzalbo et al. (México: El Colegio de México, 2004), pp. 192-224. Given that Díaz ruled through others during two short periods —parts of 1876, and 1880-1884 the whole epoch is considered as the Diaz Era.

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workers, such as this family, did not awaken expressions of xenophobia among the Yucatecans,12 which according to the academic literature was prevailing at that time.13 Third: Friedrich Worbis declared that the "natives" helped them in many ways. This, on one side, speaks for interactions, instead of social self-segregation, the latter being the mode of acculturation14 that ethnic literature proposes was found as prevalent by the Germans in México. Fourth: when Worbis referred to those "natives in our sphere of life" he was probably pointing out to Yucatán's social stratification,15 implying that as underprivileged migrants they integrated into the lower strata, that of the poor local laborers —in those days mostly native Maya people, and underprivileged Creole16 that worked long hours for a miserable salary. The fifth and final point: Friedrich Worbis' statement is an expression of his own, unique, experience of migration: his Lebenswelt,17 life-world, was different from those of the propertied migrants' we have known about until now. Thenceforth, these five features question the widespread image that deems pecuniary success as a constitutive part of the German migrant experience in Mexico since the first generation, which still transcends 12. When referring to "Yucatecans," or yucatecos, it is hereby meant the residents of the Mexican state of Yucatán, without distinction of their ethnocultural admixture or language usage. "Meridanos" are those who reside in Mérida. 13. There is abundant literature about this theme, for example: Moisés González Navarro, "Xenofobia y xenofilia en la Revolución Mexicana," Hist Mex 18, no. 4 (1969): pp. 569-61; Moisés González Navarro, Historia Moderna de México. El Porfiriato. La vida social, ed. Daniel Cosío Villegas (México: Hermes, 1973); Moisés González Navarro, Los extranjeros en México y los mexicanos en el extranjero, vol. I (México: El Colegio de México, 1993); Delia Salazar Anaya, ed. Xenofobia y xenofilia en la historia de México siglos xixy xx: homenaje a Moisés González Navarro, (México: INM, SEGOB, INAH, 2006). 14. John W. Berry, "Conceptual Approaches to Acculturation," in: Acculturation: Advances in Theory, Measurement, and Applied Research, ed. Kevin M. Chun et al. (Washington: APA, 2003), pp. 17-38, proposes four modes, or strategies, by the process of acculturation: segregation, marginalization, integration and assimilation. I will go into more details in the following chapter. 15. Emphasis by author. Stratification refers to a form of hierarchical division of a society, whereby people are ranked into patterns of unequal power, wealth, or prestige. Thomas Barfield, The Dictionary of Anthropology, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997), pp. 450f. 16. As Maya are here designated the descendants from the Maya Mesoamerican civilization; Creole or mestizos are people of Indigenous and either European or African parentage. 17. The meaning of this term will be explained in Chapter 2.

INTRODUCTION

23

until today in multiple forms. In the media and in social interactions people associate a last name of this origin with belonging to the propertied classes, many stories present them as wealthy migrants of choice and high achievers who "help to modernize México,"18 and their descendants claim to have noble origins. Even if a substantial number of people of this parentage gained influence over time,19 —considering the reduced quantity of the original flow—20 why has it not been asked if this could be, for example, the result of structural conditions, individual, familial, and communal strategies, or of upper social mobility gained through generations? Probably because of the presumptions that Germans never arrived "poor," and that their pathways in México invariably led to boundless achievements. In this paper, I will show how these clichés can be deconstructed. Additionally, we need to take into consideration that most of the scholarly literature dedicated to this migration has focused, until now, on the propertied classes, the so-called Handelskonquistadoren.21 Walther L. Bernecker coined this term in his analysis of government interests, business practices, political sympathies, and integration of European and North American business people in México before 1860. Reflecting on the term per se, the idea of trade conquistadors evokes connotations of supremacy, power, superiority, dominance, and of a position marked by privilege over other peoples. The association with such characteristics is also found in the works of Brígida von Mentz and her associates, who see the German residents

18. Fieldnote, 27.02.2003. 19. Among other publications, this theme has been treated by Jürgen Buchenau, "Auge y declive de una diáspora. La colonia alemana en México," istor, Revista de Historia Internacional 8, no. 30 (2007): pp. 71-98. In popular media —such as Wikipedia, blogs, webpages, and ethnic discussion forums— these kinds of ideas are extensively present. 20. Several scholars have acknowledged that German-speaking migration into México was not significant numerically, such as Bernecker, Berninger, Buchenau, and von Mentz and her associates. Please see the bibliography. 21. Walther L. Bernecker, Die Handelskonquistadoren. Europäische Interessen und mexikanischer Staat im 19. Jahrhundert, (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1988a). Please note that for the sake of readability, non-English, unfamiliar, isolated words are italicized every time they appear in this manuscript; when a translation is required this is set next to it or as a footnote the first time that it appears. A glossary of the most commonly used terms is included as Appendix 3.

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in México as representatives of German Imperialism. 22 These merchants were "entrepreneurs and middle-class fortune seekers rather than a stream of lower class immigrants" 23 and resided mostly in the Mexican capital.24 These Handelskonquistadoren have been categorized as part of an affluent and industrious elite, who "armed with considerable investment capital" 25 and wealthy family ties rapidly obtained great influence in Mexico's economy and incorporated themselves into the Mexican elite.26 The characteristics of these "migrants of choice" 2 7 can be summarized by saying that at their arrival the majority of them were single, rich, young, urban males with a sojourn mentality; most of them, according to the literature, belittled the host society, avoided private contact with the locals, married endogenously, and precluded from reinvesting their profits in México. Their sole objective was to become rich as quickly as possible, according to some authors, in order to go back to Germany. At group level, these Auslandsdeutsche, German residents abroad, have

22. Brígida von Mentz et al., Los pioneros del imperialismo alemán en México, (México: CIESAS, 1982); Brígida von Mentz et al., eds., Los empresarios alemanes, el Tercer Reich, la oposición de derecha y Cárdenas, vol. I (México: CIESAS, 1988). 23. Jürgen Buchenau, "Small Numbers, Great Impact: Mexico and Its Immigrants, 1821-1973," Journal of American Ethnic History 20, no. 3 (2001): pp. 23-49, (p. 27). 24. There is a considerable body of scholarship that focuses on the elite German migration into México. The more in-depth studies about the German entrepreneurs in Mexico are those from Walther L. Bernecker, "Los alemanes en el México decimonónico: cuantificación, estructura socio-profesional, posturas político-ideológicas," in: Jahrbuch für Geschichte von Staat, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Lateinamerikas, ed. Hermann Kellenbenz (Köln: Böhlau, 1988b), 385-414; Walther L. Bernecker, "Deutsche im Mexiko des 19. Jahrhunderts," in: Wirkungen von Migrationen auf aufnehmende Gesellschaften, ed. Hans Hopfinger and Horst Kopp (Neustadt an der Aisch: Degener, 1996), 231-5; von Mentz et al. 1982. The former contains a case study about family entrepreneurship in Veracruz, see: Beatriz Scharrer, "Estudio de caso: el grupo familiar de empresarios Stein-Sartorius," in: Los pioneros del imperialismo alemán en México, ed. Brígida von Mentz et al. (México: CIESAS, 1982), pp. 231-86. 25. Buchenau 2001:27. 26. Von Mentz et al. 1982. 27. Jürgen Buchenau, Tools of Progress: A German Merchant Family in Mexico City, 1865-Present, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004), p. 16. "Migrants of choice," or "migrants of plenty," are terms commonly used to refer to people who make a self-aware decision to migrate, instead of being "forced," or influenced, by structural, political, social or economic conditions. The application of these terms to migration motivated by financial progress is contested in current migration research, as I will address in Chapter 2.

1.

INTRODUCTION

25

been occasionally described as a relatively cohesive and self-segregated "colony" in which many successfully refused miscegenation and socio-cultural integration at least until the eve of the Second World War.28 This image created the myth of the Germans as a group who found it "difficult to acculturate." The aforementioned features, although based on the analysis of part of the German capitalist class in México City during the nineteenth century, appear to have been uncritically extended to all immigrants of European, especially German, origin both in academic as well as in public discourse. Is this the only ethnic group in México around which such myths of origin and influence have been created? No. This type of imagery was also constructed around the migrants from the commune of Ubaye, in the French Alps, in Mexican historiography referred to as the Barcelonnettes. However, there is one important difference: although the Barcelonnettes' generalized image was kept mostly static for a long time, in the last decade an intense process of scholarly deconstruction has been taking place. Many old conceptions and generalizations have been corrected and re-evaluated thanks to multiple regional contributions using new sources, methods, and interpretations. 29 The oversimplified image of other Western European clusters has not been revisited yet. I intend to contribute, with the present work, to revealing the different roles taken by the germanophone people in a specific regional society. Whereas the chronicle of capitalists' newcomers does indeed report a good deal of the German historical migration experience in México, to focus only on this has also abridged its real complexity. First, it portrays the Germans in México as a relatively dominant, coherent unit that held a straight ethnic, class, and religious separation until the third decade of the nineteenth century. The idea, however, that 28. Friedrich Ratzel, Aus Mexiko. Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1874 und 1875, (Stuttgart: Brockhaus, 1969); Joachim Kühn, "Das Deutschtum in Mexiko um 1850," in: Jahrbuch für Geschichte vom Staat, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Lateinamerikas, ed. Richard von Konetzke (Köln-Graz: Böhlau, 1965), 335-7; Buchenau 2001: 28-30; Buchenau 2004: passim. However, some Germans married Mexican citizens and were well integrated in the local economy, according to Silke Nagel, Ausländer in Mexiko. Die Kolonien der deutschen und US-amerikanischen Einwanderer in der mexikanischen Hauptstadt, 1890-1942, (Frankfurt am Main: Vervuert, 2005), p. 14. 29. Leticia Gamboa Ojeda, ed. Los barcelonnettes en México: miradas regionales, siglos xix-xx, (Puebla: BUAP, 2008).

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shared cultural traits lead directly to group solidarity has been challenged since the 1970s.30 Second, this vision restricts acknowledgment of the variations developed over time and space, and it is exclusory because it silences the important and diverse paths followed by those germanophone populaces of humble origins. Finally, those who lived in other locations are marginalized in accounts whose central focus is the Mexican capital. The experiences of German residents in Mexico City, who apparently were only about one-third of the total of those in the whole country, 31 have been monolithically applied to what is, in reality, a highly diversified group. While some historians have reported on small numbers of German craftsmen, laborers, unskilled workers, the poor and indigent, the traces of the latter have not been followed and they remain unstudied.32 Furthermore, the term Kaufmann, merchant, translates generally in Spanish as comerciante. People with a large range of statuses can use this term to describe their occupation: from a petty trader, street vendor, retailer or salaried clerk, to a bookkeeper, an assistant, cashier, manager or investor. It should be noted that by 1841, these employees in the German states could be differentiated in eight sub-categories in terms of socio-economic background, preparation, salaries, possibilities of upward mobility, etc.33

30. Fredrick Barth, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. The Social Organization of Culture and Difference, (London: Universitetsforlaget, 1969); Magnus Mörner, Adventurers and Proletarians. The Story of Migrants in Latin America, (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985), p. 70f; Alejandro Portes and Rubén G. Rumbaudt, Immigrant America. A Portrait, (Berkeley: University of California, 1996). Steven Vertovec, Migration and Social Cohesion, (Cheltenham: Elgar, 1999) is a volume dedicated especially to this issue. In it, the importance of analyzing interdependence and reciprocity among the groups in contact is emphasized. 31. In 1891 about 1,500 German-speaking people lived in Mexico, 500 of them in the capital, cf. Oeste de Bopp 1963: 118. 32. Ratzel 1969: 47; Orla Holm, Aus Mexiko, (Berlin: F. Fontane & Co., 1908); Kühn 1965: 34; Geo A. Schmidt, Mexiko, (Berlin: Reimer, 1925), p. 17; von Mentz et al. 1982: 35; Bernecker 1988b: 393; Brígida von Mentz, "Presencia alemana en la economía y la sociedad mexicanas del siglo xix," in: Las relaciones germano-mexicanas. Desde el aporte de los hermanos Humboldt hasta el presente, ed. León Bieber, (México: El Colegio de México, 2003), pp. 131-41, (p. 135). 33. Rolf Engelsing, "Die wirtschaftliche und soziale Differenzierung der deutschen kaufmännischen Angestellten 1690-1900, Teil 1," Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft 123, (1967a): pp. 347-80, especially 357f; Rolf Engelsing, "Die wirtschaftliche und soziale Differenzierung der deutschen kaufmännischen Angestellten 1690-1900, Teil 2," Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft 123, (1967b): pp. 482-514.

1.

INTRODUCTION

27

Until now, this diversity has been ignored for analytical purposes. How to assume, then, that the migration experience of a simple employee could be the same as that of the owner of the company? The Lebenswelten of commoners most surely diverged from those of the elite. To reconstruct them will allow us to demystify the historical incorporation processes of ethnic minority groups in México, and help us to understand how and why the lives of migrating commoners differed from those of privileged newcomers. This is especially important in the present, when we attempt to comprehend to what degree the challenges and opportunities that contemporary migrants face are related to antecedents and long-duration processes. Though it has been said that probably the integration modes of the unprosperous Germans were different from those of the Handelskonquistadoren,34 those migration experiences have still not been sufficiently reviewed.35 Thinking about the words of Friedrich Worbis that we read before, I wonder: what was it like to be a poor Prussian or Bavarian, for example, in a Mexican province during the nineteenth century? What did that mean in his daily life, and that of the members of his family? Was it easier to be accepted in a smaller city than in the Mexican capital? The Worbis family was Protestant: which strategies did they use to adapt to a mostly Catholic society? Besides, not only German nationals of modest means were in Yucatán at that time. There were Austrians, Swiss, Poles, Hungarians, and others who also spoke German; additionally, there were a number of middle and upper class newcomers. Considering the diversity of the group: how did the migration experience diverge according to the premigratory socio-economic status of the family? Were there special challenges that the subaltern sectors had to overcome to recreate a life in a new society? In Mexico City, according to the academic literature, only those in the upper social ranks formed the "German colony." 36 Were there intra-ethnic contacts among different classes? Was "Germanness" contested in Yucatán? Some of the migrants did not fulfill the blond and blue-eyed stereotype;37 were they perceived as "non-

34. Von Mentz et al. 1982. 35. There is only one descriptive study, carried out in Puebla. I will discuss it later. 36. Nagel 2005: 15f. 37. How elite people with those characteristics lived in Mexico's capital is explored by Jürgen Buchenau, "Blond and Blue-Eyed in Mexico City, 1821 to 1975," in: The

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white"? Was being "German" enough to be in a position of power? H o w did women who migrated individually experience migration? What about children who, for various reasons, were separated from their original families and stayed in the state? 38 Many questions remain unanswered because of the lack of a systematic study that investigates in detail the migration and incorporation processes in Mexican provinces of German-speaking migrants of diverse socio-economic origins over a long period of time. The present ethnography seeks to fill in this research gap by exploring the Yucatecan experience. Yucatán became home to a considerable number of foreign commoners. As part of the Villa Carlota colonization project, 443 germanophone-born individuals, mainly impoverished farmers and artisans and their families, settled during 1865 and 1867 in the predominantly Maya villages of Santa Elena and Pustunich. 39 While the project collapsed together with the Second Mexican Empire in 1867, several of those families remained in Yucatán, where today some of them are now in the seventh generation. Mistakenly perceived as a marginal region, Yucatán was an active participant in the international economy from 1876 until the 1930s because of its henequen production, 40 which also attracted a moderate amount of German-speaking middle class and a few elite migrants to the peninsula. However, there was also a relative number of newcomers of modest means who carried on semi-skilled and un-skilled jobs. From the Colonial Period, members of all socio-economic groups concentrated in Mérida, the capital and

Heimat Abroad. The Boundaries Press, 2005), pp. 85-110.

of Germaneness, (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan

38. Please note that in Mexico the term "state" refers to a province. This is how the term is used in this work when referring to the Mexican states. 39. Durán-Merk 2009: especially Chapter III. 40. Henequen (Agave fourcroydes) —in English also called sisal h e m p — is a variety of the agave cactus, or maguey, that has been cultivated in Yucatán since before the Spanish invasion. Rope and burlap bags were made from it, which were in great demand for the USA's mechanized agriculture. As a point of reference, the Yucatecan henequen production rose from 112,911 bales in 1880 up to close to one million bales in 1915. F o r an overview of the accumulation of capital of certain Yucatecan families see Allen Wells, "Family Elites in a Boom-and-Bust Economy: The Molinas and Peons of Porfirian Yucatán," Hispanic American Historical Review (hereinafter HAHR) 62, no. 2 (1982): pp. 224-53. F o r a good bilingual overview of the history of henequen, see Maureen Ransom Carty, coord. Henequén, leyenda, historia y cultura, (Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2006).

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29

center of almost all activities.41 This means that these immigrants and their offspring participated in Yucatán's Golden Age as hacendados,42 ranchers, administrators, investors, small to large scale entrepreneurs, educators, technicians and qualified professionals, but also as clerks, artisans, draymen, laborers, house maids, mechanics, and construction workers. The analysis of this particularly wider configuration will provide a more differentiated report of the migration and incorporation43 experiences and their conditions.

1.1.

STATE OF THE

ART

As already mentioned, a methodical study of the incorporation of a socio-financial diverse group of germanophone-born individuals in México has not been carried out. Most of the published data relates to the entrepreneurial presence in Mexico City. I will move on to an overview of research in the area to date, highlighting the main perspectives, focuses, contributions, findings, and shortcomings of the works that are relevant. German Immigration

to México

Most of the first writers in German language who reported how their fellow countrymen lived in Mexico were not particularly interested in projecting the real conditions they found.44 Commonly diplomats, businessmen, travelers, or promoters of colonization, their devotion to celebrating the image of the wealthy, cultured, industrious and highly

41. Robert Redfield, The Folk Culture of Yucatan, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1941), pp. 32f; Asael Hansen and Juan Bastarrachea, Mérida: Su transformación de capital colonial a naciente metrópoli en 1935, (México: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1984), pp. 91f. 42. In this work, I refer to the owners of large estates or plantations as hacendados, reserving the English term "rancher" for those who had small properties. 43. This term is discussed in the next chapter. 44. T w o of the few exceptions are the reports of Ferdinand Seiffart, Consul General of Prussia to Mexico from 1846 to 1850, which has been studied in detail by Kiihn 1965: passim; and the one written by B. von Boguslawski, Ueber deutsche Colonisation in Mexico, (Berlin: Hempel, 1851).

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successful Hanseatic or Prussian migrant45 has done so well that until the present some of those myths still endure, such as assigning to all foreigners of this origin noble and affluent roots. These narratives that equate European migration with "development,"46 mentioned compatriots in places other than the Mexican capital only occasionally.47 The next generation, formed by academics, had a different approach. Led by specialists in German studies, these works attempted for the first time to include some interactions with the host society.48 However, these scholars were still predisposed to some degree by modernization theory, and their major interest seem to have been to record the efforts made by this foreign community to keep their Deutschtum (Germanness) alive, and to praise their accomplishments while in Mexico. Nevertheless, they serve as orientation and provide data about sources for further research. Although the largest contributions were in German language, for the first time some of these works were written in Spanish, which have served as reference to almost all subsequent efforts. The formation of power groups in Mexico's capital has been sufficiently studied, thanks to the broad and relevant scholarly production of a third generation of researchers. The most significant for the present work are the texts of Walther L. Bernecker,49 and two extensive analyses carried out by the research team spearheaded by

45. Among them Wilhelm Pferdekamp, Auf Humboldts Spuren - Deutsche im jungen Mexiko, (München: Max Hueber, 1958); Ratzel 1969; Holm 1908; Heinrich Lemcke, Mexico. Das Land und seine Leute, (Berlin: Alfred Schall, 1900). Although published later, Victor W. von Hagen, Der Ruf der neuen Welt. Deutsche bauen Amerika, (München: Droemer, 1970), approaches the theme similarly. 46. According to this premise-cum-model, countries "progress" linearly towards "civilization." Migrants from "advanced" nations could help those in "underdeveloped" areas to "improve" their conditions. The application of this paradigm to migration studies will be discussed in more detail ahead. 47. For example, Ratzel 1969: 156ff, briefly reports his impressions of the Germans in the port of Veracruz. 48. Oeste de Bopp 1963; Oeste de Bopp 1977: pp. 21-45; Marianne Oeste de Bopp, "Die Deutschen in Mexico," in: Die Deutschen in Lateinamerika. Schicksal und Leistung, ed. Hartmut Fröschle, (Tübingen: Erdmann, 1979), pp. 475-564.. 49. Bernecker 1988b; Walther L. Bernecker, "Competencia comercial europea a través del atlántico: el caso de México," in: México y la economía atlántica. Siglos xixy xx, ed. Sandra Kuntz and Horst Pietschmann, (México: El Colegio de México, 2006), pp. 109-42.

1.

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31

Brígida von Mentz. 50 Using a dependency theory framework, 51 the content of the latter is mainly interested in pecuniary and political interactions, with the exception of some interesting notes and a short chapter about the social relationships and daily lives of the Germans before the Porfiriato. 52 Newer production, such as the study of the acculturation process of a Prussian Handelskonquistador family in Mexico City from a transnational perspective, also provides some aspects that can be paralleled or contested. 53 In his study, Jürgen Buchenau details, for example, that the third generation still spoke German as first language, kept German traditions alive, and married endogamically. It will be interesting to compare those outcomes to those resulting from this study. The same applies to the comparative analysis carried out by the historian Silke Nagel. She examined the internal dynamics and roles played by the German and the American "colonies" in the nation's capital from 1890 until 1942, paying special attention to the institutions they formed and the strategies they developed in order to maintain their unity and national identity.54 Defining as members of the German "colony" those who were active in the group's ethnic life through their support and participation in their own churches, associations and schools,55 the universe Nagel studied concentrates on the upper-middle and the upper class aliens who belonged to those organizations. Among her conclusions, she maintains that the German-speaking people in Mexico City before 1876 did not have large attachments to a specific country of origin, official representation on the part of the sending and receiving 50. Von Mentz et al. 1982; ibidem 1988. In a recent book, Margarita Theesz Poschner, Migración húngara en México y Argentina (1939-1949), (México: U N M - C E M , Tilde Editores, 2012) analyses the identity of Hungarian immigrants in Mexico starting in 1939. 51. Dependency theory, a neo-Marxist critique of modernization theory, seeks to identify the causes of underdevelopment, some of which are the result of colonial encounters. It "theorizes historic macro-economic relations and processes at national and international level." Michael Kearney, "From the Invisible Hand to Visible Feet: Anthropological Studies of Migration and Development," Annual Review of Anthropology 15, (1986): pp. 331-61, (p. 338). 52. Brígida von Mentz, "Relaciones sociales y vida cotidiana," in: Los pioneros del imperialismo alemán en México, ed. Brígida von Mentz et al., (México: CIES AS, 1982), pp. 331-62. 53. Buchenau 2004. 54. Nagel 2005. 55. Ibidem: 13f.

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societies was weak, and the newcomers required the establishment of meaningful contacts with locals and other foreigners in order to attain success. She also detected changes during the Porfiriato, when many elite Western-Europeans identified themselves as some sort of "carriers of modernization," which found echo within part of the Mexican political program of that period; at the same time, the group intensified its internal social stratification, which excluded those of reduced income and weak communal position. Smaller cities with diverse socio-economic conditions could have undergone a different development: the Yucatecan case could give insights into these differences. Two recently written academic theses about the Germans in the province of Puebla can also provide data to compare and contrast against the findings in Yucatán. An account of the immigration experience and integration into the receiving society of a small group of elite and middle-class immigrants in Puebla from 1821 until 1910, from a historical perspective, is offered in one of these studies, which has also been recently published as a book. 56 It sees this phenomenon as successful because of its moneymaking achievements and its partial cultural and religious adaptation, but does not address the issue of diversity in detail. More than on migration processes, it concentrates on resettlement. The work is mostly descriptive and it is based on the ample consultation of multiple primary sources. It contributes refreshing information about the life paths of some German people 57 in the Mexican province: their socio-financial positions in the host society varied, and not all of them became ostensibly rich; some moved up socially because of their marriage strategies; contrary to what was believed, many married locals and formed German-Pueblan families; a good number of the Protestants converted into Catholicism, which apparently was relatively easy. These are all important aspects that can be compared to the migration experiences in Yucatán.

56. Ana Luisa Rojas Marín, Del bosque a los árboles. Miradas a los alemanes residentes en la Ciudad de Puebla, 1821-1910, (Maestra en Historia, ICSyH, BUAP, 2007). After presenting an overview of the composition of the migrant group, the study describes the trajectories of three immigrants and four German-owned businesses. As a book, it can be found as Ana Luisa Rojas Marin, Del bosque a los árboles, (Puebla: BUAP, 2012). Although a detailed study of the migrants in question, it does not analyze their situation from the theoretical perspective of such concepts as integration and adaptation. 57. Other German-speaking people were excluded from that study.

1.

INTRODUCTION

33

The objective of the second Master's thesis was to analyze the German migrants in Puebla from 1910 to 1945, 58 focusing on the composition of the migrant group and relocation processes. Besides certain conceptual ambiguity, the major drawback of this study lies in the intrinsic limitations of primary sources used. Relying mostly on the Censuses, the Registro Nacional de Extranjeros (National Registry of Foreigners) and the Filiaciones de Población (Enlistment Records) —the first known for their serious shortcomings and lack of accuracy, 59 the second starting 1932, and the third in 1933— those primary elements offer only a snapshot in time and cannot provide accurate information about the German community and their socio-economic characteristics from 1910 until 1945. Another weakness is that it attempts to analyze the changes of the German "colony" in Puebla solely through its ethnic institutions, without taking into account the host society. Well-documented regional studies carried out in Chiapas, Colima and in the Mexican Northeast provide reports about the presence and activities of German migrants, many of whom were of humble origins, remained in the country, married locals, and established solid businesses and families.60 This means, that the Pueblan and the Yu-

58. Katharina Happ, Deutsche Einwanderer in der mexikanischen Provinzhauptstadt Puebla 1910-1945, (Magister Artium, Freie Universität Berlin, 2003). The work suffers from serious irregularities, such as the use without a proper reflection of the binary and linear-typology of migration by William Petersen, which has long been discredited. 59. For a well-founded and detailed critique of the inaccuracies of the Mexican censuses, see Sergio Camposortega Cruz, "Análisis demográfico de las corrientes migratorias a México desde finales del siglo xix," in: Destino México. Un estudio de las migraciones asiáticas a México, siglos xixy xx, ed. María Elena Ota Mishima, (México: El Colegio de México, 1997), pp. 23-53. 60. See for example: Servando Ortoll, Vogel. Conquistas y desventuras de un cónsul y hacendado alemán en Colima, (Hermosillo: El Colegio de Sonora, 2005); Julia Preciado Zamora, Por las faldas del volcán de Colima: cristeros, agraristas y pacíficos, (México, Publicaciones de la Casa Chata, 2007), where part of the origin, trayectories and regional influence of the Schöndube and Vogel families are studied from an anthropological perspective. Recently, an essay started to identify the origins of the families of German descent that played a role in the development of Sonora and Baja California: Jesús Méndez Reyes, "Alemanes en el noroeste mexicano. Notas sobre su actividad comercial a inicios del siglo xx," Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México 46 (2013), pp. 55-86. For a diversified view of the German inmigrants in Chiapas turn to José Alejos García, "Dominio extranjero en Chiapas. El desarrollo cafetalero en la Sierra Norte," Mesoamérica 32 (1996), pp. 283-298.

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catecan cases are, by no means, exceptions when it comes to receiving immigrants with a low to middle class origin, who at some level or other integrated themselves successfully into their new environment. Moving on to texts written in Mexico about immigration in general, when it comes to the German-speaking presence, these are mostly compilations of older works printed in Spanish.61 Many accounts of other historical migrations analyzing a specific group such as Mennonites, 62 Jews and political exiles,63 deal with time periods not covered in this volume or, given their characteristics —they are neither guided nor explained by theory— cannot be taken into account as professional analyses. There are also some studies that include anecdotes about how foreigners in Mexico interacted with other cultural groups, 64 but they do not analyze germanophone-born people specifically. The same applies to other publications, which compile statistics and some of the official arguments favoring preferential treatment for elite immigrants.65 These can, however, provide interesting data.

61. E.g. Luz María Martínez Montiel and Araceli Reynoso Medina, "Inmigración europea y asiática siglos xix y xx," in: Simbiosis de culturas. Los immigrantes y su cultura en México, ed. Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, (México: C O N A C U L T A , FCE, 1993), pp. 245-424. 62. Luis Aboites Aguilar, "Xenofobia local, xenofobia federal. Los primeros años menonitas en Chihuahua, 1922-1933," in: Xenofobia y xenofilia en la historia de México siglos xix y xx, ed. Delia Salazar, (México: SEGOB, INM, INAH, 2006), pp. 309-22; Jane-Dale Lloyd, "Las colonias mormonas porfiristas en Chihuahua: ¿un proyecto de vida comunitaria alterna?," ibidem, pp. 203-32. 63. Such as the múltiple essays edited by Renata von Hanffstengel et al., Mexiko: Das wohltemperierte Exil, (México: Instituto de Investigaciones Interculturales Germano-Mexicanas, 1995); Ricardo Pérez Monfort, "Apuntes sobre el exilio alemán en México durante las décadas de los años treinta y cuarenta del siglo xx," in: Xenofobia y xenofilia en la Historia de México siglos xix y xx, ed. Delia Salazar Anaya, (México: SEGOB, INM, I N A H , 2006), pp. 469-88. 64. Moisés González Navarro, Los extranjeros en México y los mexicanos en el extranjero, vol. II, (México: El Colegio de México, 1994b). 65. González Navarro 1969; Moisés González Navarro, La colonización en México, 1877-1910, (México: Talleres de Impresión de Estampillas y Valores, 1960); Moisés González Navarro, Población y sociedad en México (1900-1970), vol. I, (México: El Colegio de México, 1974b).

1.

German-Speaking

INTRODUCTION

35

Migration into Yucatan

With regards to immigration into the peninsula/>er se, although a wide range of cultural groups from different native-country socio-economic backgrounds have been analyzed —such as Koreans, 66 Africans, 67 Canary Islanders,68 Cubans, 69 French 70 and Syrian-Lebanese— 71 very little attention has been dedicated to the German-speaking presence. Short accounts of questionable accuracy can be found in encyclopedia entries, pamphlets, and newspaper collaborations. There is also a brief article about the Germans and the henequen industry, written by Mérida's chronicler. 72 Only one scholarly work has studied the German colonization project Villa Carlota. 73 As this State of the Art has shown, there is a need for a scientific study that examines methodically the presence, dimensions of incorporation, and interactions of both elite and non-elite germanophone

66. Javier Amado Corona Baeza, "La inmigración coreana," in: Henequén, leyenda, historia y cultura, coord. Maureen Ransom Carty, (Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2006), pp. 159-7; José Luis Gutiérrez May, Sanos, fuertes y humildes. Los immigrantes coreanos en Yucatán, 1905-1910, (Licenciado en Historia, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 2011). 67. Francisco Fernández Repetto and Geny Negroe Sierra, Una población perdida en la memoria: los negros de Yucatán, (Mérida: UADY, 1995); Jorge Victoria Ojeda and Jorge Canto Alcocer, San Fernando Aké. Microhistoria de una comunidad afroamericana en Yucatán, (Mérida: UADY, 2006); Matthew Restall, The Black Middle: Africans, Mayas, and Spaniards in Colonial Yucatan, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009). 68. Manuel Ferrer Muñoz, "Notas sueltas sobre presencia de canarios en Yucatán (siglos xviii y xix)," AEA 48, (2002): pp. 121-3; Manuel Ferrer Muñoz and Lizbeth Rodríguez Luna, Canarios de Yucatán, (Mérida: UADY, 2011). 69. Carlos E. Bojórquez Urzáiz, La emigración cubana en Yucatán 1868-1898, (Mérida: Imágen Contemporánea, 2000). 70. Emiliano Canto Mayen, Inmigración e influencia cultural de Francia en la región henequenera de Yucatán, 1860-1914, (Maestría en Estudios Regionales, Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora, 201 la). 71. For example Luis Ramírez Carrillo, "Los libaneses en el auge henequenero," in: Henequén, leyenda, historia y cultura, coord. Maureen Ransom Carty, (Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2006), pp. 183-93; Luis Ramírez Carrillo, Secretos de familia: libaneses y elites empresariales en Yucatán, (México: C O N A C U L T A , 1994). 72. Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, "Los alemanes y el henequén," in: Henequén, leyenda, historia y cultura, coord. Maureen Ransom Carty, (Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2006), pp. 174-81. 73. Durán-Merk 2007.

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immigrants and their offspring in provincial Mexico. This is the gap in scholarly knowledge that this publication intends to fill.

1.2. OBJECTIVES

AND R E L E V A N C E OF T H I S

WORK

The two main questions of this study are: what were the social and cultural characteristics of the German-speaking residents in Yucatán between 1876 and 1914? How did these newcomers and their descendants become incorporated into the Yucatecan society? In accordance with the methodological and theoretical challenges of our time,74 movement, resettlement, and possible remigration processes will be included in order to gain a more encompassing understanding of the phenomenon. This implies that extensive research in multiple locations must be carried out to illuminate pre-migration conditions, and returns or further migrations. The two major research objectives expressed above pose certain requirements. In order to answer the first question it is essential to identify the German-speaking people who immigrated. To respond to the second inquiry involves the examination of the Lebenswelten of the migrants through which we have access to their interactions with their receiving society.75 These two pursuits will guide this work as if by using multifocal glasses, i.e., through connecting the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels. In terms of the intercultural contacts resulting from these experienced migrations, I am particularly interested in indications of transculturation, and how these varied according to different markers of identity. It is necessary now to explain some decisions that I have made. The first is the scope of this monograph's research domain, the "Germanspeaking residents of Yucatán." During the investigation it became clear that few people, especially among those born before the 1880s, identified themselves as Germans; more often than the term Prussian,

74. Jan Lucassen and Leo Lucassen, eds., Migration, Migration History, History: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives, (Bern: Peter Lang, 2005b); Caroline Brettell and James Hollifield, Migration Theory. Talking Across Disciplines, (New York: Routledge, 2008b); Christiane Harzig et al., What is Migration History(Cambridge: Polity, 2009). 75. The theoretical framework guiding this study is specified in Chapter 2.

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INTRODUCTION

37

regional or local identities were used as forms of subjective group bonding. Given the time period selected, several geographical or political changes affected self-ascription.76 The Germans, according to substantial evidence collected for this analysis, interacted intensively with people of five other collectives —Austrians, Swiss, Poles, Russians, and Alsatians— that were present in Yucatán at that time. The last four units posed a challenge: there were not enough to be studied independently and too many to be overlooked, especially because of their interconnectedness to the Germans. It appears that beyond whatever dissimilarities they might have had, language created a bridge that invited them, or forced them, to a certain degree of shared action. Not without doubts, I decided to study them together under the label "German-speaking" 77 as a general notion for practical purposes, acknowledging from the start that the group is not homogenous. Other researchers who have studied germanophone groups in other areas —such as Central Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Americas— have successfully taken this path,78 which allows for a more holistic view, is oriented toward interactions, and helps to prevent nation-centered examinations. Even if not fully convinced, as Ronald Cohen has pointed out, anthropologists, as outsiders, must categorize.79 Thenceforth, I name the group German-speaking immigrants, referring to them also as yuca-alemanes —Yuca(tecan)- Germans, which is how some of their descendants identify themselves— and Mayab-Germans. In literature, poetry, and common usage, the Yucatecans refer to their land in three other ways even now, which I also incorporate in my writing: the Mayalands, Mayab, and "The land of the pheasant and the deer." The last two come from oral tradition and Maya narratives: "Letí é lá, ú lúumil cutz, ú lútimil ceh, Mayab ú kabá," "this is the land of the pheasant and the deer, and its name is Mayab," as transcribed by

76. It pertains to immigrants born before 1871 in the different states that would later form the German Empire. There are also cases of ethnic Germans born in third countries, or nationalized Germans, who embraced hyphenated identities. 77. As synonyms I use germanophone and germanophone-born. 78. See, for example, the various essays contained in Mathias Schulze et al., German Diasporic Experiences: Identity, Migration and Loss, (Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008). 79. Ronald Cohen, "Ethnicity: Problem and Focus in Anthropology," Annual view of Anthropology 7, (1978): pp. 379-403, (p. 382).

Re-

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Antonio Mediz Bolio. 80 When I write only " G e r m a n " I am referring specifically to German subjects or citizens. Please note that besides place of birth and self-identification, I use cultural markers to define the people who are included in this study —such as language, cultural practices, ideology and religion— and not phenotypical ascriptions, hearsays, or last names, as other writers have done. Another difficult choice was who could be part of this study. O n one extreme, some authors take all people with German-sounding last names that they find in documents or oral reports, without distinction as to whether they were transients or how long they stayed. O n the other extreme, certain scholars suggest that "immigrants" are only those who do not plan to go back to their country of origin —which departs from the idea that everything can be foreseen, which is in most cases not possible, and in historical empirical cases turns out to be even more difficult to assess. I have judged appropriate the reliance on the guidelines of the United Nations, which define immigrants as those who reside in a different country to that of origin for at least one continuous year. 81 I believe this definition allows for a minimum of interactions with the host society to take place. These relationships and actions could be read as indicators of actions or ideas that reveal ways and dimensions of integration. The concentration on Merida as a contact zone 82 and core geographical area of analysis responds to the fact that this is where most of the subjects studied resided; nevertheless, those who lived in other Yucatecan localities are included as far as reliable information makes it possible. Additionally, there were temporary forms of intra-state, multiple, and circular migration. These will be pointed out.

80. Redfield 1941: 3; A n t o n i o M é d i z Bolio, La tierra delfaisdny rida: Ediciones C o r d e m e x , 1984), p. 13.

delvenado,

(Mé-

81. D e p a r t m e n t of E c o n o m i c and Social A f f a i r s , "International Migration R e p o r t , " ed. U n i t e d N a t i o n s , ( N e w Y o r k : U n i t e d N a t i o n s , 2000), h t t p : / / w w w . u n . o r g / e s a / p o p u l a t i o n / p u b l i c a t i o n s / i t t m i g 2 0 0 2 / 2 0 0 2 I T T M I G T E X T 2 2 - l l . p d f , (accessed 27.03.2010). 82. I use the term " c o n t a c t z o n e " in its w i d e meaning, in which it " i n v o k e s the spatial and temporal copresence of subjects previously separated b y geographic and historical disjunctures, and w h o s e trajectories n o w intersect," which conceives these encounters as possibilities for interactions, shared understanding and practices as well as difficulties, conflict and expressions of inequalities. See M a r y L o u i s e Pratt, Imperial Eyes: Studies in Travel "Writing and Transmigration, ( L o n d o n : Routledge, 1992), p. 7.

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INTRODUCTION

39

The time span of this inquiry, from 1876 to 1914, has been set for several reasons. It corresponds to that of Yucatán's bonanza, when the business with the Green Gold, that is the henequen, made the state one of the most prosperous of the country. This historical period —which encompasses from the Porfiriato (1876-1911) until right before the arrival of the Revolution to the Mayab in 1915— has been extensively studied. Third, it correlates to the Golden Time of the yuca-alemanes in the peninsula. Furthermore, its length permits an analysis of the Lebenswelten of several generations, which is crucial for exploring issues of social incorporation. This book seeks to further a conceptual discussion about immigration as a phenomenon that for centuries has shaped human history. Its result could lead to refinements in theories about relocation and cultural change. Even if applied to a migratory experience from the past, the questions guiding this research are current. Close analysis of historical evidence will help to illuminate contemporary mobility, revealing continuities and difficulties, as well as the complexity and variability of immigration experiences. It also aspires to contribute to our understanding of how, and why, foreigners became part of diverse groups and social classes in México during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Besides filling a gap in European-Mexican history and giving visibility to the experiences of migrants from the lower and middle classes, it will help to better comprehend the varied processes of migrant integration into a host environment, widening our knowledge of transcultural processes —all of them significant theoretical and empirical discussions at present. The particular dynamic of Yucatán's inclusion into national and transnational capitalism during the period I am studying can be paralleled to that of other Latin American, especially Caribbean, societies that also received a considerable number of newcomers. Additionally, it will provide data on the subject of the relationship between the construction and negotiation of ethnicity and class in post-colonized societies, intra-ethnic stratification, cohesion and conflict, social mobility, as well as on the topic of non-privileged groups and their relationship to the elite. This work explores how people of German descent discursively constructed or interpreted their cultural identity only insofar as the existing information allows for it, and as extensively as it is necessary

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to understand the processes of place-making in the host society. It is not, however, an exhaustive study about social identity representations and their logic. A rigid scrutiny of the integrative processes of the Mayab-Germans cannot be carried out, given that the data available does not allow for such analysis. After more than 100 years and several wars, the documents and other sources that I was able to recover are most probably only part of what once existed. This makes it impossible to deliver an examination without certain gaps. There are also aspects that are completely beyond the grasp of researchers studying historical migrations because it is not possible to obtain data from direct observation and interactions. Therefore, I am not suggesting that the findings gained here are applicable to the experience of other immigrants in other states, but provide a finely textured empirical micro-level ethnographic examination of a highly diversified immigrant community.

1.3. RESEARCH

METHODS AND

STRATEGIES

This is the ethnography of a historical migration. Its main concern is to understand how the German-speaking immigrants and their offspring incorporated themselves into their host community at the turn of the past century. 83 From an anthropological viewpoint, migration is considered as a cultural and societal process, which is affected by changing socio-financial, political and legislative conditions in both the "sending" and the "receiving" societies. Special attention is paid to the diversity of the post-migration experiences, their connotations for the people involved, the modes of migrant incorporation, as well as the cultural changes that result from resettlements. 84 This does not

83. LeCompte and Schensul define ethnography as "both a product of research and a research process. The product is an interpretative story, reconstruction, or narrative about a group of people [...] includes historical material and paints a picture of people going about their daily lives as they happen over a representative period of time," see: Margaret LeCompte and Jean Schensul, Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research, (Walnut Creek: Altamira, 1999), p. 4. 84. Caroline Brettell and James Hollifield, "Introduction," in: Migration Theory. Talking Across Disciplines, ed. Caroline Brettel and James Hollifield, ( N e w York: Routledge, 2008a), pp. 1-2; on the historical development of the ethnography of migration see Kearney 1986; Andreas Ackermann, "Ethnologische Migrationsforschung:

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41

mean, however, that "cultures" are tidily contained; nor that migration is a unilinear and finite process exclusively between two points. Although I will discuss these two topics in the next chapter, I am bringing them up here because this conceptualization has methodological implications: research in several countries and states, the need to capture a wide range of migration experiences, and a focus on relationships more than on locations. At the same time that it embarks on a self-reflection process that accompanies its new orientation, Europeanist ethnology has increased its traditional openness for interdisciplinary work with other neighboring specializations of knowledge —such as sociology, philology, history, geography, and cultural studies, for example— that complement aspects of our approach to migration. 85 This work is not an exception. Given that I have been trained not only in European ethnology, but also in social sciences, the readings that have influenced my work and informed this study come from different disciplines.86 What makes ethnological work different, however, is its interest in the concrete experience, its use of a distinctive methodology that relies on fieldwork, the historical dimensions in which the processes are embedded during their analysis, its descriptive quality, and its flexibility. 87

Ein Überblick," Kea 10, Ethnologie der Migration (1997): pp. 1-28; Christa Markom, "Geschichte der Migrationsforschung: Interdisziplinäre Verflechtungen," in: Anthropologie der Migration. Theoretische Grundlagen und interdisziplinäre Aspekte, ed. Maria Six-Hohenbalken (Wien: Facultas, 2009), pp. 29-49. 85. Clifford Geertz broached the issue of a continuous, rapid "blurring of genres" happening between the social and the human sciences; see Clifford Geertz, "Blurred Lines: The Refiguration of Social Thought," in: Local Knowledge. Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology, (New York: Basic Books, 2000a), pp. 19-35. For a contemporary view of how this dialogue is articulated nowadays in Europeanist ethnology, consult Mairead Nie Craith et al., Everyday Culture in Europa. Approaches and Methodologies, (Hampshire: Ashgate, 2008). This discipline carries different names in German: Volkskunde is one of them. 86. I also hold a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications, have studied Sociology for a year, and while doing my Master's I took Romance Literature as a minor. 87. Mairead Nie Craith, "From National to Transnational: A Discipline en route to Europa," in: Everyday Culture in Europa. Approaches and Methodologies, ed. Mairead Nie Craith et al., (Hampshire: Ashgate, 2008), pp. 1-17, (pp. 2-9).

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Methodology

T o approach Lebenswelten, about which only a few direct statements from the first immigrant generation have survived, posed many methodological and theoretical challenges. I engaged in intense conversations and correspondence with colleagues and mentors, asking for suggestions about other possible sources, discussing the most appropriate tools to use, and how to avoid the possible pitfalls of such an endeavor. With the help of many people, I was able to compile rich reliable valid information, which without a doubt can be used for different purposes in varied ways. The present monograph is just one of them: one that departing from factual evidence aims, recreates " h o w it w a s " to be an immigrant at a specific time and place, and that aspires to grasp the cultural aspects of this experience. This text, as stated, seeks to reconstruct and offer a hermeneutically wide, comprehensive interpretation of the migration experience of germanophone people in Yucatán. Through it I wish to identify and explain the modes by which they incorporated themselves into the host society, paying distinct attention to how the Lebenswelten of the newcomers interacted —intertwined, depended, collaborated and sometimes even clashed— with those of the members of the other ethnic groups they encountered in the Mayab. I am especially interested in the incorporation 88 of the migrants at the micro-level, which permits the contemplation of the individual and familiar resettlement experience. I will, however, take into consideration the meso-level, i.e. the presence of the whole group, and the macro-level, that is the structural, budgetary, legal, historical and political context in which these migration happened. These last three built the context of reception, which is especially important because it organized "the life chances of the newcomers." 8 9 Several theories will be necessary to explain the migratory processes themselves and the processes of integration through several generations. T o analyze the incorporation modes, I have chosen to adopt a transcultural perspective, which focuses on the individual life-long specific experience, and allows for a holistic integration of methods 88. This term will be explained in detail in the upcoming section. 89. Alejandro Portes and Jósef Bórócz, "Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on its Determinants and Modes of Incorporation," International Migration Review X X I I I , no. 3 (1989): pp. 606-30.

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INTRODUCTION

43

and conceptual frameworks of diverse disciplines that seek to explain cultural interaction in the context of migration. 90 The complete theoretical framework supporting this analysis will be clarified in the following chapter. Methodologically, I made use of a mix91 of four techniques to obtain data: • • • •

Critical analysis92 of historical records, secondary texts and visual materials. Qualitative interviews. Field notes based on participant observation of activities undertaken by the immigrant's actual descendants. Comparison to other communities, when possible.

The details of the first will be discussed in the next segment, the other three in the immediately following subsection. I implemented several research strategies. First, I concentrated on the creation of a quantitative and qualitative portrait, which includes the principal characteristics of the group. Given that there was no previous study about the germanophone migrants in Yucatán I could build upon, such an analysis is necessary to grasp the size, composition, general

90. The concept of transculturation will be explained in Chapter 2. 91. It offers the opportunity for acquiring new data, confirming, correcting, or discarding information, which as a result "adds dimensions of depth and accuracy to the cultural portrait constructed." Cf. Stephen Schensul et al., Essential Ethnographic Methods. Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaries, (Walnut Creek: Altamira, 1999), p. 4. I have also relied on Pertti Pelto and Gretel Pelto, Anthropological Research: The Structure of Inquiry, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993). 92. Following Karl-S. Kramer, the anthropologist Silke Göttsch suggests to, first, critically ask how "real" documents are, meaning that we have to consider by whom, how, why, when and for which motive was the specific material created and preserved. Second, we ought to understand the order in which the events related took place, and, as third, we need to address to what degree the contents could be deliberately tendentious. Additionally, she recommends considering the ability of documents to "put in writing social events and cultural practices," which brings with itself the necessity to interpret them in relationship to their context. See Silke Göttsch, "Archivalische Quellen und die Möglichkeiten ihrer Auswertung," in: Methoden der Volkskunde. Positionen, Quellen, Arbeitsweisen der Europäischen Ethnologie, ed. Silke Göttsch and Albrecht Lehmann (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 2001), pp. 15-32, (pp. 23f). This approach is also followed by social historians such as Carlo Ginzburg, El hilo de las huellas. Lo verdadero, lo falso y lo ficticio, (Buenos Aires: FCE, 2010), pp. 351-94, 433-65.

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characteristics, basic institutions, and spaces of cultural practice. All of these aspects are relevant for answering my first research question —what were the characteristics of the germanophone-born immigrants in Yucatán between 1876 and 1914? This data is also essential in order to identify the sub-groups involved and their characteristics, and to examine their integration into the peninsular culture. As a second step, I proceeded to select multiple case studies for presentation based on the availability of reliable data, through which I explore in detail the characteristics of the migration experience within its specific environment. This will allow me to answer the second research question that is directing this study — h o w did the newcomers and their descendants incorporate into the Yucatecan society? I believe that this mix of techniques and strategies integrates, complements, and contrasts the information in accordance with my objective to better portray the life paths and relations of individuals in this particular transcultural context.

1.3.1.1. Genesis of this Project, the Interviews, and the Field Notes M y interest in this research theme has a long history, which must be briefly told to understand the three phases in which data was obtained. In 2002, during my third visit to the Mayalands, and thanks to a conversation with my friends Humberto and Manuel Bonilla Caamal —descendants of a former Villa Carlota colonist— I practically stumbled upon what would become my research theme for more than a decade: the unstudied migration of Germans into Yucatán in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I was immediately interested in the phenomenon and initiated a search for literature and primary sources, in preparation for what was to become my first research season. Back in the peninsula in 2 0 0 3 , 1 began by casting a wide net and compiled archival and hemerographic information. At the same time, I started to carry out exploratory, open-ended, in-depth interviews with a large number of individuals with whom I entered into contact by chance, through recommendation, or because they contacted me. 93 93. During my 2003, 2004,2009, and 2011 research seasons in Yucatán, I was interviewed by the local press; in 2010 I presented my book Villa Carlota. Colonias alemanas en Yucatán, and organized an exhibit on this same theme at the Archivo Histórico

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INTRODUCTION

45

I knew by that time that not only the colonists of Villa Carlota, but also a wide array of German-speaking migrants were there during the Porfiriato. Given that several direct descendants and people who were part of the second generation, or interacted with them, were already of an advanced age, I decided to continue documenting both groups. I gave, nonetheless, priority to material relating to the Villa Carlota colony from 1865 to 1867 that I needed for my Master's thesis. The rest was saved for the present publication. The second phase started in 2004 and finished in 2006, during which I carried forward my archival research and continued my fieldwork by conducting additional exploratory conversations with new interview partners, while moving on to do narrative and focused interviews with some individuals and families, emphasizing the offspring of the colonists of Villa Carlota. Using open-ended questions to start, six main subjects were addressed in these focus interviews: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The interviewed person's memories about the origins of their ancestors. Remembrances about processes of migration. Accounts of how the first generation experienced daily life in Yucatán. Reminiscences about the following generations. The interviewees' personal life stories. Recollections about the German-speaking presence in the peninsula through time.

When the interviewees were people who interacted with the herestudied migrants, but not their direct descendants, the conversations were adjusted to cover approximately the same topics from their particular perspective. These were locals, who as neighbors, godchildren, friends, fellows, or employees were in touch with members of the germanophone community. 94

de Mérida. Thanks to these events, many people with information about this subject contacted me. Additionally, I attended the Stammtisch, (the regular's table or gathering), organized by the German Consul in Mérida, as well as other social and cultural happenings where I had the opportunity to come in contact with possible interview partners, and to obtain other recommendations. 94. The term "German-speaking community" denotes here the non-primordialist constructivist group of germanophone people living in Yucatan from 1876-1914. The persons studied under this term are not necessarily secluded from the receiving society.

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Fortunately, I was able to hold long conversations with five members of the second generation, born between 1909 and 1938 in Merida, who had clear, first hand, memories of their ancestors and their contemporaries. These talks were conducted in the form of oral history. Others who were among the most questioned were part of the third and fourth generations. From those predominantly in their eighties now, several were especially helpful because —thanks to the longevity of some of their ancestors and the tradition of taking care of the elderly at home— they had had a chance to hold long in-depth conversations with their elders that elucidated the living conditions, motivation, experiences, opportunities found and disillusions of the first newcomers. The rest of the descendants I interviewed were part of the fifth and sixth generations, many of whom remember numerous oral stories, and even preserved their family's material heirlooms. Five of the descendants became key informants, to whom I returned several times throughout the years. I also conversed with priests and officials of the Catholic Church, attorneys, civil registry officials, city chroniclers, and other specialists who could help me to better understand this phenomenon. N e w contacts were not always easily attainable, and it took time to build trust and rapport, but once this was established I was given access not only to oral accounts, but also to family archives and personal objects that have been kept in private possession for decades. In 2007, I submitted my Master's thesis and concentrated on the present study. From 2008 until 2011, the third phase, I completed all the material needed for it. This period was composed of a total of four research seasons, which amounted to fourteen months of investigation in different cities on two continents, during which I intensified my inquiries about non-colonist German-speaking immigrants both in Europe and in the Americas. The interviews were pivotal, not only because of their content but also because they guided me into potentially available data to look for during my archival research. These were conducted in either Spanish or English, according to the preference of the interviewees; in several cases the same person was questioned more than once, especially if there were uncertainties, issues of accuracy, discrepancies,

T h i s differs f r o m a " c o l o n y , " which I understand as a f a r m i n g settlement, thus I will only speak about " e x - c o l o n i s t s " w h e n referring to the Villa C a r l o t a n s .

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if new evidence came up, or if some information needed to be more meticulously discussed. The great majority of these sessions were recorded and fully transcribed; for the rest, only a handful, protocols were made immediately afterwards. Aware of the possible drawbacks of oral evidence, I verified data against archival and hemerographic proof, or compared it to other testimonials. From the conducted interviews, the aspects related to this study were qualitatively analyzed to reconstruct factual processes, 95 looking carefully not only for concrete data and relevant themes, but also through agreements and exceptions, omissions and disagreements. I proceeded this way to make sure that some questions arose from this particular, localized context and not exclusively from the theory. Without a doubt, these interviews and field notes could also be evaluated in the context of a different research question and objectives, one of the projects for the future. In total, information provided by eight experts, 96 data obtained in 46 focused individual ethnographical interviews 97 —as well as by email, and telephone and Skype interviews— has been incorporated into this monograph. Additionally, I conducted 11 family interviews, during which persons of different generations and strata shared their memories about their ancestors' history. These were very productive, proving that each individual has different recollections. When appropriate, objects of memory 98 were introduced, a draft of a family tree 99 95. Uwe Flick, An Introduction to Qualitative Research, (London: SAGE, 2006), p. 332. 96. Included were representatives of various institutions in Merida and key cultural consultants. The following have served as guidelines for conducting the expert interviews: Alexander Bogner, Das Experteninterview. Theorien, Methoden, Anwendungsfelder, (Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag, 2005); Flick 2006: 165; Anne Honer, "Das explorative Interview, zur Rekonstruktion der Relevanz von Expertinnen und anderen Leuten," Schweizerische Zeitung für Soziologie 20, no. 3 (1994): pp. 620-40. 97. The technique, limitations, and challenges of this method are clearly presented by Flick 2006: 116ff; Judith Schlehe, "Formen qualitativer Feldforschung," in: Methoden und Techniken der Feldforschung, ed. Bettina Beer, (Berlin: Reimer, 2003), pp. 119-42; Fritz Schütze, "Biographieforschung und narratives Interview," Neue Praxis 13, no. 3 (1983), http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/files/2009/950/schuetze-biographieforschung_und_ narratives_interview.pdf, (accessed 06.11.2006). 98. Such as newspaper clips, family heirlooms, photos, etc. About objects of memory, see Pierre Nora, Zwischen Geschichte und Gedächtnis, (Berlin: Fischer, 1998). Some people refer to these items as memorabilia. 99. A form of genealogical mapping. I will offer the reconstructed family trees of those migrants presented as extended cases in Chapter 7. For using this method, I took

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was discussed, or the conversation took place while visiting places of memory, 100 such as cemeteries, houses, or churches. Once back in Germany, I continued to exchange data with several informants through e-mails, phone calls, and Skype sessions. It was not possible to conduct any interviews with relatives in Germany, given that the contact in almost all cases broke down at the latest by the 1940s. Regarding the field notes, these were produced during my research seasons. I acquired information through informal conversations and wrote down impressions, observations, interactions, and quotes. For their inclusion here, I also paid attention to how something was said, and its context. N o t being Yucatecan, but a Mexican-American who has been living for more than a decade in Germany, the information obtained by all these methods helped me enormously to understand this migration from the point of view of the Mayab-Germans, and that of some other members of the Yucatecan society. Thanks to the use of all these research tools it was possible to identify to a certain degree the motivation of the immigrants, their families' living conditions through several generations, business and social networks they belonged to, preferred ethnic and national identities, as well as some cultural practices and discourses.

1.3.1.2. Comparative Approach To keep the present work in perspective, I will compare as much as possible the findings here gained to the statements formulated by other researchers about the German immigrants in the city of Puebla, considering also, and differentiating from, the group of germanophoneborn people in the Mexican capital. The first is meaningful given that population and economy of Puebla and Merida were somewhat comparable during the time span studied, had a rather parallel presence

under consideration the instructions offered by Roland Hardenberg, "Die 'genealogische Methode.' Eine kritische Einführung," in: Methoden ethnologischer Forschung, ed. Bettina Beer, (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 2008), pp. 83-102. 100. That is, sites where memory crystalizes, cf. Nora 1998; see also Aleida Assmann, Erinnerungsräume. Formen und Wandlungen des kulturellen Gedächtnisses, (München: Beck, 2006), especially Chapter 5.

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—if only at a certain point— of elite and middle class newcomers, and enjoyed a monetary bonanza before the Mexican Revolution. They are, nevertheless, counterparts in two aspects: Puebla did not receive settlers, and its German immigrants of meager means have not been fully studied. Besides, being only 80 kilometers southeast from Mexico City, the German residents in Puebla were able to work closely with their fellow countrymen in the capital, while those in Yucatán were more isolated. 1.3.2. Research

Strategies

In order to keep my efforts directed, I set out first to compile all the information necessary to create a quantitative portrait with the principal characteristics of the group. After that, I proceed to identify the integrational themes that emerged from the empirical data, and to create sub-groups based on similarities and differences. At the end, five ethno-historical family case studies101 were selected for presentation, through which the incorporation processes are explored in detail. 1.3.2.1. Creation of the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914" In order to verify and organize the data, as a first step all the information obtained by the research methods mentioned at the beginning of this section was input into a large database. This was designed to contain 23 fields.102 The information includes: jobs, education, housing 101. In order to suit my scrutiny, I am here combining the ethnographic and historical types as explained by Jerry von Willis, Foundations of Qualitative Research. Interpretive and Critical Approaches, (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2007), p. 242. This means that I will use historiographical and ethnological methods, and go beyond the chronological history of events by embedding them in their context and emphasizing socio-cultural issues. 102. The domains contain the following information: Name or names and alternative spellings; places and dates of birth and death; locations where the people resided before and after their life in the Mayalands; generations to which they belong; nationality of origin and naturalization(s); religion, conversion and other religious events; civil status and its variations; languages spoken and their preferred forms of ethnic identification and affiliation; interactions with the locals; first and last date of registration in Yucatán; residential and business addresses; family, social and work life, legal and medical information, plus one field for other information.

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conditions, home and religious life, social contacts, travel patterns, friendships, motivation, occupational partnerships, legal cases as well as challenges, conflicts and ambivalences in diverse areas of the life of the first generation and their descendants. These thousands of fragmentary pieces of facts and data related to around 900 people came from many sources, which were carefully tracked in one special field. We must imagine this database as full of minuscule, irregular, parts of an extremely large puzzle that can be evaluated again and again for different academic purposes. Given the great volume of information, managing this in a databank was absolutely necessary to identify patterns and themes, differences and conflicts. As a second stage, the data was refined according to the requirements posed by this examination. Those people who turned out to be transients, tourists, of other cultural origins, or arrived to the Mayab outside the period here studied, were transferred into a separate database. The "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914" was double checked, and possible errors were filtered. In its final form it contains information pertaining to 608 people. This is the source of the group portrait that will be offered in Chapter 5 and the analysis at meso-and micro-levels presented in Chapters 6 and 7. A third step was taken in order to prepare the information necessary to analyze the paths of incorporation of the sub-groups and familial Lebenswelten. All relevant evidence was grouped into four classifications for the purpose of theoretical analysis. These correspond to the four different dimensions of social incorporation that I am using to systematize this study, which I will explain in the next subsection. The "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914" will be cited as such, and all the sources that formed the basis for it are listed at the end of this work, in Appendix 1.

1.3.2.2. The Lebenswelten of the Immigrants and their Descendants This work also offers a set of five detailed case studies that will present and analyze the Lebenswelten of immigrants, i.e., their customary everyday life in the Yucatecan setting. My aim is to breathe life into these migration experiences, to reconstruct and explain how the German newcomers and their offspring became incorporated into the

INTRODUCTION

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peninsular society. In all cases, the migration and settlement experience of a central member of the first generation is presented in detail; after that, his or her succeeding generations until 1914 are followed. In the early stages of this monograph, it became clear that there was no such a thing as a "typical" germanophone migrant during the studied period in Yucatán, nor "standard" group experiences or strategies. The evidence clearly shows that there was great diversity depending on class origin, gender, familiar configuration, income, age, and other identity markers. The criteria, then, for selecting the case studies were established with the intention of capturing the greatest range of variation possible,103 the amount of reliable data obtained about them, and the socio-economic characteristics of the first immigrants at the point of arrival to the peninsula. For their study, the cases are divided into three different groups, following the anthropologist Hugo Nutini: 104 (1) Super ordinate sector, that is investors, in the peninsular context of the time formed by large hacendados and wholesalers. (2) The middle classes, i.e. specialists, professionals, qualified workers, as well as medium and small entrepreneurs. Finally, (3) the lower strata, composed by farmers and craftsmen. Here it must be stated again that the data available is irregular and there are gaps in some aspects or periods, however, not to the degree to make them non-endorsable. Because the experiences of professionals and working class newcomers have been studied very little, I grant them more attention. With the objective of proceeding systematically in this examination, I sorted the information obtained according to the dimensions of incorporation I wish to analyze. Taking as a departure point those proposed 103. David Fitzgerald, "Towards a Theoretical Ethnography of Migration," Qualitative Sociology 29, no. 1 (2006): pp. 1-24, (pp. 15f), noting that the contribution of an ethnographic exploration of a migration event is usually restricted to societal significance, suggesting several complementary strategies to increase its empirical representativeness. The data compiled for the present investigation allows for the application of three of those suggestions: the selection of a wide range of experiences of migration, the incorporation of quantitative data, and the large gathering of survey material from the countries involved in this event. I thank Prof. Fitzgerald for his recommendations in terms of how to apply some of the suggestions he exposed in his already cited paper to ethno-historical migration research. David Fitzgerald, e-mail to author, 18.08.2011. 104. Hugo G. Nutini, Social Stratification and Mobility in Central Veracruz, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005), pp. 80-103. See also Hugo Nutini and Barry Isaac, Social Stratification in Central Mexico, 1500-2000, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009).

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b y Frederick H e c k m a n n and D o m i n i q u e Schnapper, 105 I present here their conceptualization and components, expanding them slightly for their application to this particular historical ethnography, as follows: 1. Structural: Refers to access and participation in primary institutions of the receiving society. Comprised are: education and training, w o r k opportunities, housing, and citizenship. I will add migratory regulations and participation in local politics. 2. Cultural: Defined by the authors as an interactive, mutual process that alters both groups, which is in line with the theoretical perspective I take in this analysis. Here, I will include information related to cultural practices, e.g. religion, language usage, rituals, food, housing, clothing, work habits, conceptions of health and disease, and accustomed forms of medical practices. 3. Social Membership: Encompasses private and public relationships, such as friendships, marriages, voluntary associations, and social intercourse. I would add family networks, god-parenting —which is of primordial importance in this particular study— and occupational partnerships. 4. Identificational: Includes expressions of belonging or affinities. These could take several forms that can co-exist and change. The authors mention ethnic, national, and multiple identifications. In this study I am also considering regional identities. T h e s e d i m e n s i o n s of incorporation are i n t e r w o v e n and will be l o o k e d at in their corresponding historical and locational context. I will also make use of t h e m as a guide to attempt, in Chapter 6, an

105. Friedrich Heckmann and Dominique Schnapper, "Introduction," in: The

Integration of Immigrants in European Societies. National Differences and Trends of Convergence, ed. Friedrich Heckmann and Dominique Schnapper, (Stuttgart: Lucius, 2003), pp. 9-14. Using these categories, the project guided by the authors sought to evaluate "the inclusion of new populations into existing social structures of the immigration country." The search for the right schema to use for this reflection was difficult; I appreciate Prof. Peter Waldmann for his advice in this matter. These dimensions proposed by Heckmann and Schnapper, with a slight change in nomenclature, are also used by the N O R F A C E Research Programme on Migration, which intends to generate a synergetic body of scholarly inquiries, see N O R F A C E Research Programme on Migration, "Migration in Europe: Social, Economic, Cultural, and Policy Dynamics. Programme Specifications," (2007), http://www.norface-migration.org/, (accessed 16.02.2012).

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analysis of the German-speaking people at a group level. Considering the objectives and scope of this work, I will focus only on a few, selected aspects. 1 . 4 . SOURCES

In the subsection above I explained how the interviews and field notes were obtained, as well as the way in which a comparison to other migrations will be established. Here, I discuss the material I will analyze critically, which is the fourth technique I included in my methodological mix. These are historical records, secondary texts —including hemerography— and other materials, such as physical artifacts and photographs. The sources were safeguarded in several archives in different countries and some of the collections are incomplete. Many papers were destroyed during the Mexican Revolution and the Second World War in Germany, while others failed to survive Yucatán's extreme weather conditions. Consequently, it was necessary to search for material in many depositories, in an attempt to find parallel correspondence that would contribute to filling in the gaps. On the other hand, many microfilmed collections —such as passenger lists, civil registry records, and other official documents— are now available online through different historical records websites. Moreover, 32 families in México, France, Spain, the United States and Germany generously granted me access to their private collections of documents, objects, personal and business correspondence, and photos. It was not possible to conduct research in all of the places of origin of the migrants included in this study; that would be a forthcoming project. Given the time period this work is concerned with, enough meaningful and reliable material has been recovered to answer the research questions, although not without certain aspects being left open. I will now detail the information obtained from specific archives.106 106. The acronyms of the open archives consulted were formed from the initial letters of their designations. Exceptions are those that expressly indicated that they would like to be cited differently, such as the Siemens Aktenarchiv München (SAA). Those of the family collections depend on the families' wishes and whether they have one or two surnames. In the first case, the first two letters were taken, in the latter, a combination

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In Germany, research was conducted in 11 archives. Information about the lives of some of the migrants before they left to the peninsula, as well as about concrete return migration cases, was obtained in the Stadtarchiv Dresden, and Stadtarchiv Nordhausen, in the Staatsarchiv Hamburg, the Landeshauptarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt in Magdeburg and in Merseburg, as well as in several Catholic and Protestant parish depositories —such as the Church archives of Bitterfeld, Niedergebra, Oranienbaum, and Stassfurth, to mention but a few. The Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes in Berlin safekeeps the consular correspondence pertaining to the Mérida-México-Berlin affairs. This offers statistics, newspaper clippings, diplomatic memorandums as well as letters written not only by officials, but also by commoners, which provide general knowledge about the residents and their political, economic, social and sometimes even personal matters. Additional information in this regard was also acquired in the collections housed at the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin. A good part of the material used for the analysis of inter-ethnic as well as intra-group experiences was consulted there. The Bundesarchiv in Berlin-Lichterfelde preserves important data generated by administrators and politicians during the German Empire and beyond, such as the correspondence of the Deutsches Ausland-Institut, personal folders about Germans living in foreign countries, political affiliations, and information about German schools abroad. These files supply, at an individual level, governmental data and biographical information about some people prior to their migration and during their stay abroad. Regarding communal life, they give insights into the wishes, expectations and challenges faced by some of the families while overseas. The notebooks and personal letters of Teobert Maler —an important German-Austrian immigrant who lived in Yucatán for more than thirty years— were consulted in the Special Collections section of the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, in Berlin; the Lippisches Landesmuseum in Detmold also preserves some of his correspondence. These

of the t w o initial letters of both last names. T o facilitate their identification, all carry the prefix " F C , " for Family Collection.

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sources gave access to important facts about Maler's social networks and professional life in the Mayab. The conglomerate Siemens & Halske had a power station in the capital of Yucatán during the time here investigated. Several of its German-speaking employees, sometimes with their families, were residents of Mérida. Information concerning them, as well as on the business of the electrical plant, was acquired from the Siemens Archive in Munich.

1.4.2. Archives in Mexico City Moving on to the archives consulted in México, it must be said that their inventories are highly heterogeneous and access to them is often very challenging. Nevertheless, it was possible to obtain useful information for this work. In Mexico's capital, documents were studied at the Archivo General de la Nación, the Archivo Histórico de Relaciones Exteriores, and the Archivo Histórico del Instituto Nacional de Migración. They contribute with government files from all different administrative levels, and with personal records of the immigrants. These provide an adequate basis for estimating the number and family configuration of the Mayab-Germans, when taken under consideration together with other sources generated on both sides of the Atlantic, such as diplomatic correspondence, civil and religious registry books, travel records, permits, legal cases files, censuses,107 and registrations of foreigners in México. They also offer information about the length of the migrants' residency, the legal parameters under which they emigrated, socio-economic conditions by origin, social mobility achieved in Yucatán and, in some cases, their reasons for acquiring Mexican nationality.

107. Mexico's first population reckoning was carried out in 1895. Relevant for this anaylisis are the censuses from 1 8 9 5 , 1 9 0 0 , and 1910. These, according to a specialist in Mexican demographics, disclose inaccurate data partly because of the inexperience of those who carried them out, the different grades of omission by their execution, and the political instability of the county at that time. See Camposortega Cruz 1997: 24f, and cuadro 1. Therefore, it is necessary to cross-reference several sources, which I will do in the present research.

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1.4.3. Archives in Yucatan The socio-political and financial context in which the yuca-alemanes lived in the Mayab, as well as some biographical and personal information, have been reconstructed based on data obtained from the Archivo General del Estado de Yucatán, the former Centro de Apoyo a la Investigación Histórica de Yucatán,108 the Archivo Histórico del Ayuntamiento de Mérida, the Registro Civil de Yucatán, and several local offices of the Civil Register.109 It was possible to retrieve information about part of the life paths of various germanophone-born migrants in Yucatán by consulting the files of the Cervecería Yucateca,110 and those of the hardware store Ritter & Bock, preserved by the Patronato Pro Historia Peninsular de Yucatán en el Centro Cultural PROHISPEN, based in the city of Mérida. Given that the consular lists located in different archives are incomplete it was vital to obtain access to the Archivo Histórico del Registro Civil de Yucatán, and to the Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de Yucatán. Those records were very useful first, for finding non-elite immigrants; second, for differentiating between temporary and permanent residents in the Yucatán; third, as indicators of social practices of some of the migrants, and fourth, for allowing me to identify and explicitly distinguish between the different immigrants' generations. Additionally, the second of the depositories here mentioned provides invaluable information about the religious formal practices and communal and familial relationships of the newcomers of different money-making status, besides data about their occupations, residence, and whom they chose

108. The hemerographic compendium, as well as the Fondo Reservado, a valuable collection of manuscripts from the Centro de A p o y o para la Investigación Histórica de Yucatán (hereinafter C A I H Y ) , have been unified as of August 2012 into the Biblioteca Yucatanese de la Secretaría de la Cultura y las Artes del Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán. 109. Statistical data is, however, rarely found. This could be partly due to the fact that the Dirección General de Estadística de Yucatán was not established until 1894, cf. Carlos Adémar Méndez Díaz and Orlando Rodríguez N ú ñ e z , Calendario cívico de Yucatán, (Mérida: Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, P R O H I S P E N , 1997), p. 28. 110. An important brewery that started large-scale production in 1899. Several of their brewers, brewer masters, and probably technicians, came directly from Germanspeaking countries.

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as compadres (godfather or godmother) for their children and witnesses by diverse religious rituals, that is, to identify part of their social and familial networks. Especially informative were the Matrimonios Ultramarinos and the Expedientes Ultramarinos folders, which document the procedures that people who did not belong to the Yucatecan Archdiocese, or were not Catholic, had to follow if they wished to be baptized by the Roman Catholic rite, to marry a Catholic, or to celebrate a mixed-marriage. They contain first hand testimonies, translations, and older back-up documents. Summarizing the nature of the findings in these archives, we could say that these are reports of wages, housing conditions, data related to religion, education, travel, residential patterns, tax and property records, mortgages, money lending practices, legal matters, mercantile and household appraisers' lists, hospital admission records, membership rosters of some social organizations, permits related to ethnic institutions, intra- and inter-webs, and involvement in local political matters, among others. All of this information is useful not only for the case studies, but also for addressing the issue of intra-ethnic differentiation.

Grey Literature, Ephemera, and

Hemerography

Grey literature and ephemera were also examined. These included address-, phone-, and business-directories, greeting cards, pamphlets, patents, product catalogs, house and business inventories, personal and technical notes, as well as private correspondence. Information was acquired also from registers and tombstones in several cemeteries and churches in Mérida, other Yucatecan locations, and Mexico City. Six depositories of large hemerographic collections were inspected in six cities: In Mérida, at the former Centro para la Investigación Histórica de Yucatán, and the Hemeroteca Carlos R. Menéndez; in Mexico City at the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico; in Stuttgart, Germany, at the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, in Augsburg in the Staats- und Stadtbibliothek, in Nürnberg at the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, and in Berlin at the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut. Additionally, other relevant North American, Mexican, and German newspapers were consulted either online or in microfilm form though interlibrary

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loans. Thanks to these resources it was possible to recreate to a certain degree the context of reception the immigrants found, as well as parts of their social, financial, and political life in the Mayab. Evidence about celebrations and events, lists of credits, foreign direct investments in several local projects, and partial minutes of diverse ethnic and mainstream institutions was also found among the material.

1.4.4. Private Collections Regarding private collections of documents, photos and objects, I was generously granted access to the 32 family and personal collections of descendants of the germanophone immigrants, now living in 13 locations, in five countries. I am in great debt to all of them. Particularly invaluable are the large collections of over 200 photos and more than 400 postcards kept safe by the Schirp Milke family, as well as the correspondence of the businessmen Johannes Crasemann and Francisco Glükher.

1.4.5. Structure This monograph consists of eight chapters. Chapter 2 details the theoretical perspectives that are guiding this inquiry. Chapters 3 through 7 reconstruct and examine the movement and post-migratory experience of the germanophone-migrants in Yucatán. Specifically, Chapter 3 presents background information about the relationships between México and Germany. Chapter 4 offers an ethnography of Mérida, which I hope will help to envision how life in the Yucatecan capital was as the nineteenth century was coming to its end, when it became home to these immigrants. Chapter 5 is devoted to a qualitative and quantitative group portrait of the newcomers at their point of arrival to the peninsula. Chapter 6 presents a panorama of how this minority group interacted, among itself and with others, while in the Mayab. This is followed by Chapter 7, where the dimensions of integration are analyzed by sub-groups, and five concrete migrants' Lebenswelten bring life into the varied trajectories and incorporation modes of the Mayab-Germans.

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The Conclusion, numbered as Chapter 8, is followed by six annexes: a list of sources, a chronology, a glossary, a list of the immigrant generation, the specific inventory of sources consulted to create the five family portraits, and the corresponding family trees. Before ending this introduction, I would like to address the challenge posed by the question of how to write German names. These are inscribed in many different forms, even in official documents. Additionally, there was a tendency among the immigrants to hispanicize their names. In light of this, for the immigrant generation I have relied as much as possible on what appears to be the correct spelling in original papers and permits originated in their country of departure. The full name of the immigrant is given as a footnote the first time he or she is mentioned, along with the corresponding birth and death information as follows: (place of birth, year - place of death, year); a question mark within indicates unknown information. If the immigrants chose names in Spanish, these will be used in the text.

2 . THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter introduces the analytical concepts that will be used for understanding the migration and multidimensional incorporation of the German-speaking immigrants and their descendants into the Yucatecan society at the turn into the twentieth century. Some of the limitations of migration research until the present, according to a team of experts, have lain in its compartmentalization by areas of knowledge, the lack of a comparative perspective, and in "the failure to take into account knowledge from multiple disciplines, to integrate multiple theoretical and methodological approaches within a systematic, overarching framework." 1 This is especially important when we consider that, in spite of the complexity of the resettlement experience, there is no comprehensive migration theory. 2 As this study aspires to be a holistic historical ethnography, 3 it draws on diverse theoretical paradigms from several neighboring disciplines that best contribute to elucidating the phenomenon at its different levels. If migration history interprets migration in the context of general long-term history, 4 anthropology's main interest is to identify and explain how migration affects cultural change and ethnic identity. 5 The 1. N O R F A C E Research Programme on Migration 2007. 2. Cf. Harzig et al. 2009: 72. 3. This, as one of the special dispositions of the anthropology of migration, is discussed and applied to a contemporary concrete case in Michael Kearney, "The Reframing of Immigration Research in California: The Mixtec Case," in: International Migration Research. Constructions, Omissions, and the Promises of Interdisciplinarity, ed. Michael Bommes and Ewa Morawska, (Anderhot: Ashgate, 2005), pp. 69-94. 4. Jan Lucassen and Leo Lucassen, "Migration, Migration History, History: Old Paradigms and N e w Perspectives," in: Migration, Migration History, History: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives, ed. Jan Lucassen and Leo Lucassen, (Bern: Peter Lang, 2005a), pp. 9-38, (pp. 9f, 33). 5. Brettell and Hollifield 2008a: 4.

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distinctions, according to a recent evaluation of the work of various disciplines on this subject, lie mostly in the degree to which answers to a question are guided by existent theoretical frames, and whether or not hypotheses are generated. 6 O n the other hand, sociology, and social and cross-cultural psychology have developed paradigms that systematically address the process of incorporation which, although from different standpoints, are applicable to historical cases,7 like the one herein described. I will approach the macro-level of this phenomenon from a political-economic perspective. 8 T o address the macro- and micro-levels I will turn to concepts such as acculturation, transculturation, social capital, and ethnic networks, which will be explained later in this text. This combination of analytical tools, which formulates the ideas and predictions from which this study begins, giving shape to descriptions and analysis, will be presented in detail in the two sections that compose this chapter. The first part concentrates on the key concepts related to migration as a movement. The paradigms that inform the analysis of the post-migratory experience are the theme of the second part.

2.1.

THE MIGRATION

PROCESS

Migration is defined here as the human residential relocation into a new social or cultural area. The action of moving into another place is called "emigration." When this phenomenon is seen from the point of view of the receiving society it is termed "immigration." 9 A migrant, then, is someone who relocates. As a process itself, migration is multilayered. 6. Brettell and Hollifield 2008b: 5. 7. Heckmann and Schnapper 2003; Berry 2003; Alejandro Portes, "Immigration Theory for a New Century," International Migration Review 31, no. 4 (1997): pp. 79982; Min Zhou, "Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the New Second Generation," ibidem: pp. 975-1008. 8. Some of the most adequate tools for analyzing historical migration from an anthropological perspective are delineated by Caroline Brettell, "Situating the Anthropological Perspective. Macro, Meso, and Micro Approaches to the Study of Migration," in: Essay on Transnationalism, Ethnicity and Identity, ed. Caroline Brettell, (Altamira: Walnut Creek, 2003), pp. 1-7. 9. Elisabeth Strasser, "Was ist Migration?," in: Anthropologie der Migration. Theoretische Grundlagen und interdisziplinäre Aspekte, ed. Maria Six-Hohenbalken, (Wien: Facultas, 2009), pp. 15-28, (p. 17).

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F R A M E W O R K

It involves the obstacles and motivations for departure, the movement itself, the experience of being a migrant interacting with a new society, possible resettlements, and, in some cases, the return to the place of origin. The last two aspects have rarely been observed in the case of Latin America. Studies assume a large amount of multiple migrations —instead of bipolar departure/destination. It has been proposed that an estimated 5 0 % of the Europeans returned to their locations of origin, 10 although this has not been empirically tested.

2.1.1. Anthropology's Particular Interest in Migration:

Articulation

Until about 1970, anthropological research of migration had theorized this phenomenon within the frame of modernization theory. Focusing on unidimensional push and pull models to explain its causes —and emphasizing a linearly progressing "assimilation" of ethnic groups into the core of a "main" society— this paradigm has been criticized as being urban-centric, dualist and including "Victorian notions of progress." 11 Towards the middle of the 1970s a shift towards historical-structuralist theories began to take place. Within the framework of dependency theory, some scholars framed migration in the context of colonization and capitalism, explaining how an international division of labor created dependency and underdevelopment.12 The objective was to emphasize historic macroeconomic relationships leading to migration and their consequences. The main criticism from anthropologists to this line of inquiry is that it shifted attention away from individual everyday practices to macro-level processes.13 The challenge, then, was how to articulate sending and receiving areas as well as micro and macro levels while making the migrant experience the center of study. Since the 1980s deconstructive approaches to anthropology's key concepts, initiated mostly by the results of empirical research, have 10. Mörner 1985: 67. 11. Kearney 1986: 333. See also Heidi Armbruster, "Anthropologische Ansätze zu

Migration," in: Anthropologie plinäre Aspekte,

der Migration.

Theoretische Grundlagen

und

interdiszi-

ed. Maria Six-Hohenbalken, (Wien: Facultas, 2009), pp. 52-69, (p. 53f).

12. Kearney 1986: 338-41; Caroline Brettell, "Theorizing Migration in Anthropol-

ogy," in: Migration

Theory. Talking Across Disciplines, ed. Caroline Brettel and James

Hollifield, (New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 113-59, (p. 118). 13. Kearney 1986: 341; Brettell 2008: 119f.

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led to revisiting the concept of "culture," among others. Through a new theorization of this as open, flexible, and not bounded, this discipline finds itself in a better position to reflect on migration, asking how economics, culture, demography, and politics are related through migration. 14 This is, hence, what is meant by the theorization of migration as articulation. With the development of transnational theory, 15 new perspectives were opened, among them two aspects with relevance to my area of interest: the discharge of the classical "assimilation" model and its offspring, and the centering of the fieldworker's attention on daily practices. Processes of adaptation and cultural change, forms of social organization, as well as the issues of identity and ethnicity have also been revisited by many scholars in the last two decades from this perspective, and new paradigms have been advanced. I situate the "cultures in contact" 16 in this analysis within a larger historical and structural context, looking at how places of origin and destinations are connected through the actions of migrants, how cultural resources could have been joined together based on evidence, and the ideological values that they produced. Migrants are considered as agents who act within specific contextual conditions. In Chapter 7, where I look at the incorporation of particular migrants, I start with the individual as a unit of analysis, widening to the family until 1914. In my view, this approach bridges the micro- and meso-levels, specifically allowing me to include women and children migrants as much as the recovered information permits. 17

14. Brettell 2008: 114. 15. The seminal work on this paradigm is Nina Glick Schiller et al., "Transnationalism: A N e w Analytic Framework for Understanding Migration," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1992): pp. 1-24. For a detailed analysis, contributions, and critical view of this approach, see Sabine Strasser, "Transnationale Studien: Beiträge jenseits von Assimilation und 'Super-Diversität'," in: Anthropologie der Migration. Theoretische Grundlagen und interdisziplinäre Aspekte, ed. Maria Six-Hohenbalken (Wien: Facultas, 2009), pp. 70-92. A sharp criticism of the explanatory limits of transnational theory, which I will take into consideration in this work, has been carried out by Ewa Morawska, „The Sociology and History of Migration," in: International Migration Research. Constructions, Omissions, and the Promises of Interdisciplinarity, ed. Michael Bommes and Ewa Morawska, (Anderhot: Ashgate, 2005), pp. 203-39. 16. Paraphrasing Pratt 1992: 6f. 17. The data is not as complete as that of men. This becomes even more challenging in the case of commoners.

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65

Instead of thinking of newcomers as people that society "ought to assimilate," in this work I choose to conceptualize their incorporation into a new society, following Goode, as the process an outsider goes through in order to become an insider.18 This demands a deep analysis of the context of reception and representations of the "migrant other," to pay attention to the aspects of incorporation that are being contested and to the expectations established residents have regarding the newcomers. When addressing processes of relocation, anthropology pays attention, first, to the nature and conditions under which movements were undertaken, that is, it attempts to identify what the reasons, objectives, and type of migration were. After that, it seeks to recover and understand the settlement experience of the people involved. This means, then, that several sets of investigative tools are needed.

2.1.2. Typologies of Migration Identifying types of migration is important because these guide us towards the motivations, mobility paths, adaptation strategies, diverse migration policies, possible context of reception in the receiving society, and how these all affect the migration experience of individuals differently. A classification, in addition, is an important tool for theorization about differences and similarities across different groups.19 Although typologies of migration from an anthropological perspective have been formulated, these are tailored to the study of contemporary societies, concentrating on only one type of migration, such as wage-labor, or are too general20 to be applied to such a diverse group 18. Judith Goode, " A Wary Welcome to the Neighborhood: Community Responses to Immigrants," Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 19, no. 1/2 (1990): pp. 125-53, (p. 126). 19. Brettell 2008: 115. 20. Such as those proposed by Nancy González, "Family Organization in Five Types of Migratory Wage Labor," American Anthropologist 63, no. 1 (1961): pp. 12648; Brian Du Troit, " A Decision Making Model for the Study of Migration," in: Migration and Urbanization: Models and Adaptative Strategies, ed. Brian Du Troit and Helen Safa, (The Hague: Mouton, 1975), pp. 49-74; Patrick Manning, Migration in World History, (New York: Routledge, 2005), p. 8. On their part, Harzig et al. 2009: 66-9, have advanced some ideas about what elements a typology should include, but not clearly and systematically.

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T3 O SJJ SC 3

X

3 a¿ •S S E A

Ö

o

J3 CH

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part of Santa Ana called the "barrio de Maine" which was the red light district, located west of the neighborhood's Church, and extended for about six to eight blocks. Among the upper classes it was also known that the financially well-off meridanos had their casa cbica, that is, informal families, in the barrios.91 The use of public space was not equalitarian. Exclusively "whites" headed religious processions, mestizos followed and, at the end, came the Indigenous and those of various admixtures; only the first could attend mass in the Cathedral, and the Catholic priests who served whites could not aid other groups.92 Only the "whites" danced to certain rhythms such as waltz. The Maya and Creole stayed with their local dances.93 On specific evenings of the week, all people went to the Main Square to listen to concerts: apparently as late as 1882, the poor and the middle classes walked around the square, while the rich, or "whites," rode around in their carriages. At the dawn of the twentieth century benches were provided for the listeners, but the separation of groups continued.94 Another example: only "whites" were allowed to sit on benches while attending mass in Catholic churches, and could use paper fans in public.95 Thinking about the particularities of the Yucatecan social structure, some questions emerge: which roles were assigned to the Germanspeaking immigrants in this society? How did these foreigners cope with this environment? Were the lower class immigrants perceived also as Europeans on a mission civilisatrice? If not: what consequences did that convey? These are some of the questions that will be explored in other sections of this book.

91. Raquel Barceló, " L a búsqueda del confort y la higiene en Mérida, 1860-1911," in: Historia de la vida cotidiana en México. Bienes y vivencias. El siglo XIX, ed. Pilar Gonzalbo Aizpuru, (México: F C E , El Colegio de México, 2005), pp. 213-51, (p. 231). 92. Narcisa Trujillo, "Los 'mestizos' de Yucatán," in: Enciclopedia Yucatanense, ed. Carlos Echánove Trujillo, (Mérida: Gobierno de Yucatán, 1946), pp. 321-41, (p. 323). 93. Ermilo Abreu Gómez, Cosas de mi pueblo. Estampas de Yucatán, (Mérida: Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, ICY, 2008), p. 11. This book makes several references to marked distinctions, still valid during the first decades of the twentieth century, between "whites," Creole, and Maya; see for example pp. 10, 14 and 17. 94. These evening open-air concerts were known as la retreta. Ibidem: 15; Trujillo 1946: 326; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: lOf. 95. Trujillo 1946: 326.

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4.1.8. Political Structures Contrary to what traditional research has proposed, new studies have proved that although during the Colonial period a traditional elite formed by encomenderos controlled the economic and political destiny of the peninsula, this elite was neither static nor impenetrable. Around the transition into the nineteenth century, new migrants who were considered to bring prestige to the family, and certain members of an incipient middle class, renewed this group. 96 The first fifty years after Independence were difficult for Yucatán. It's previously described geographical situation, together with the constant power struggles between the regional camarillas, oligarchical factions, and the ongoing rivalries with what was to become in 1861 the state of Campeche, created unstable political conditions in the area.97 After a short-lived Second Mexican Empire, the high rotation of governors continued: 25 between 1867 and the beginning of the Diaz Era, that is, 1876. Some authors have emphasized the role that France played in Mexican imagery as the paradigm of culture under Diaz' rule.98 In my opinion, the seeds of this fascination could already be found during the Second Mexican Empire, which came to full bloom during the Porfirian Era. French architecture, fashion, art, and literature were the models that a good part of the Mexican elite followed, including the meridanos." Auguste Comte's Positivism, combined with Herbert Spencer's social Darwinism, influenced intellectual policy and practice of Diaz' dictatorship. 100

96. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 33; Laura Machuca Gallegos, "Introducción," in: Grupos privilegiados en la Península de Yucatán. Siglos xvn y xix, ed. Laura Machuca Gallegos, (Mérida: CIESAS, Secretaría de Cultura de Yucatán, 2012a), pp. 3-16, (pp. 6, 10). 97. These involved anticlerical liberals, anticlerical conservatives, moderate Catholic liberals, centralists, and federalists. 98. Katz 1992: 32. 99. For a detailed analysis of the French influence on Yucatecan culture see Canto Mayen 2011a. 100. Katz 1992: 32; Joseph Love, "Structural Change and Conceptual Response in Latin America and Romania, 1860-1950," in: Guiding the Invisible Hand. Economic Liberalism and the State in Latin American History, ed. Joseph Love and Nils Jacobsen (New York: Praeger, 1988), pp. 1-34, (pp. l l f ) .

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Certain Yucatecan elite and privileged groups101 considered the period from 1876 until 1915 as a time of stability, growth, and wealth, brought about by the henequen export economy. For others, however, instead of "Green Gold" this plant was more a "Terrible Green Monster," paraphrasing Allen Wells: a crop whose cultivation turned laborers into quasi-slaves, left thousands of peasants without land to the advantage of hacienda owners, and made richer those who were already rich.102 It is true that during the Diaz Era the seeds of modernization were planted at the local level, but also the seeds of disgruntlement. The regional political-economic factions had been belligerent for the most part since Colonial times, and during the Porfiriato it was only possible to conciliate their interests to a certain degree. The strategy of arbitraje presidencial, presidential arbitration, has been proposed to describe how during his regime Diaz decided who was to become governor of Yucatán, running afterwards what was only a drill to simulate democratic elections. Negotiations, however, were very difficult. On one hand, the local elites sought equal treatment on the part of the federation. On the other, Diaz was interested in consolidating what he considered a political class, meaning someone who would carry out his governmental and economic agenda in a way that would benefit the center.103 This created great aggravation, stress, and even unfair tactics and underhanded actions on the part of those who, temporarily, did not have access to positions of power in the peninsula.104

101.1 am using here the term "gruposprivilegiados," coined by the historian Laura Machuca, to refer to groups of people who benefit from certain privileges, although they are not necessarily part of the elites, see Machuca Gallegos 2012a: 7f. This term allows an analysis and understanding of the affiliations, roles and attainments of persons of diverse economic and social positions —such as priests, moneylenders, physicians, and even smugglers— in specific networks. 102. On Yucatan's situation between 1876 and 1915 in relationship to national economy, see Allen Wells, "The Terrible Green Monster: Recent Literature on Sugar, Coffee and Coerced Labor in the Caribbean," Latin American Research Review 23, no. 2 (1988): pp. 189-205, passim. 103. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001; Quezada 2001: 103f, 168-70; Marisa Pérez de Sarmiento, Las razones de la 'alternada': el relevo de los gobernadores en Yucatán, 1876-1901, (México: Instituto de Investigaciones José María Luis Mora, 2008). 104. The supporters of General Francisco Cantón used three main arguments to complain about Olegario Molina Soli's and his administration: the amputation of the

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From 1876 to 1901 military men or their sympathizers, Liberals, and Conservatives rotated the exercise of power. Why is this important to understand the migration experience of the German-speaking people in Yucatán? Because being a commercially active migration, they had to integrate themselves into an extremely politicized regional system. Their economic success in good part depended on it. The issue was that this panorama was rather volatile, therefore, people tried to be on good terms with all parties, which was straining. More concretely: 19 people occupied the governor's office from the beginning of the Porfiriato until Carlos Peón Machado105 became governor in 1894.106 A wealthy hacendado, Peón stimulated tax collection in order to finance public works, promoted secular education, public health, and a clear separation between Church and State. Although certain political solidity and economic advances were reached under his leadership, he went against Mexico City's conciliatory policy towards the Conservatives and some of their institutions. As he attempted to be reelected, Peón was more or less forced to resign, given that he had lost the support of Díaz. José María Iturralde was the temporary replacement who had as one of his responsibilities the discharge from public service of those who were in any way associated with Peón Machado,107 amongst whom were certain families into which German-speaking people had married. General Francisco Cantón, former Imperialist and local hacendado with good connections in Mexico City, succeeded Iturralde. He continued to clear out Peon's legacy by proscribing liberal parties, reestablishing a cordial relationship with the Church, and collecting taxes that thanks to the high prices of henequen provided a good income.

former cruzo'ob area to form the state of Quintana Roo, its distribution among people with political and economic interests at national and regional levels, and Molina's "reelection" in 1906. Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012. 105. Carlos Peón Machado (Mérida, 1859 - Mérida, ?) was a descendant of an old Spanish conquistador family. He served as governor of Yucatán from 1894 until August 1897. 106. However, some scholars point out, there was almost no political violence in the state from 1878 until 1894, which allowed for a certain economic recovery and for the growth of the henequen industry. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 63-5. 107. About Peón Machado's period in office see Hernán Menéndez Rodríguez, Iglesia y poder. Proyectos sociales, alianzas políticas y económicas en Yucatán ( 18571917), (Mérida: ENA, Conacuita, 1995), especially 115-33; Quezada 2001: 171.

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"Pacifying" the cruzo'ob in the east of the peninsula became one of his priorities, partly because f o r him personally, exporter of w o o d , rubber, and palo de tinte (dyewood), that area w o u l d be profitable. This was achieved in 1901 w i t h the help of central Mexican troops. 1 0 8 This could in a sense be considered to reflect h o w national and regional benefits started to be part of one and the same agenda. Behind these kinds of interventions there were often personal and political interests.

Figure 9. Olegario Molina Soli's Reminiscencia histórica de las fiestas presidenciales. Mérida, 1908, n. p. Whilst the end of the so-called Caste W a r created a sense of peace in the Mayab, some Yucatecan felt aggravated b y a decree issued by Diaz in 1902 b y which he separated the eastern part of the peninsula (the f o r m e r rebel area), with its rich ecosystem, to f o r m the territory of Q u i n t a n a Roo. 109 As previously mentioned, Diaz held control until 1911. Believing that he also needed the governors of the states to stay in p o w e r f o r longer periods than allowed b y law, he argued f o r this as the basis of his so-called "Peace and Progress." Following this logic, he modified

108. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 66-70; Lapointe 2008: 48f ; Pérez de Sarmiento 2008: 194-7. 109. Quezada 2001:171f; Lapointe 2008: 43-8; Pérez de Sarmiento 2008:186-94,240.

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legislation and "reelected" many of the men he trusted. However, this did not happen in the Mayab, until the inauguration of Olegario Molina Solis110 as governor in 1902, who appeared to have been the more "scientific" of the Yucatecans (Fig. 9). At the federal level a dispute between the científicos, technocrat advisors —such as Secretary of Finance José Yves Limantour, and Joaquin Diego Casasús, expert in legal, diplomatic and monetary matters— and the militarists, headed by General Bernardo Reyes, 111 had been going on for years. This had to do with power, influence, and ideas about which group would lead the country when the dictator was gone. Each party recommended to Diaz people for governor of Yucatán and, in the case of Molina Solis, the científicos won. 112 A strong, compact nucleus of relationships created ties among the Yucatecan elite and the center. These friendships, sponsorships, and alliances were founded not only on economic and political matters, but also reinforced and extended through marriages and symbolic parentage. 113 The Mayab flourished in some ways during this period

110. Olegario Molina Solis (Bolonchén, 1842 - Havanna, 1925) was an attorney, engineer, politician, and businessman. 111. José Yves Limantour (Mexico City, 1854 - Paris, 1935), attorney and economist, was considered one of the most important figures among the científicos. He was Secretary of Finance from 1893 until 1911. Joaquin Diego Casasús (Frontera, Tabasco, 1858 - New York, 1916) was an attorney, diplomat, finance expert, educator, and writer. Bernardo Reyes (Guadalajara, 1850 - Mexico City, 1913) was a general in the Mexican army, served as governor of the State of Nuevo León during various terms, and as Minister of National Defense from 1900 until 1902. About the political life of these public servers see Francisco Bulnes, El verdadero Díaz y la Revolución, (México: Eusebio Gómez de la Fuente, 1920), especially Chapters 6 and 7; Miguel E. Soto, "Precisiones sobre el Reyismo (la oportunidad de Porfirio Díaz para dejar el poder)," Revista Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México 7 (1979), http://www. historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/revistas/moderna/vols/ehmc07/083.pdf, (accessed 31.01.2013); Javier Pérez-Siller, L'hégemonie des financiers au Mexique sous Porfiriat. L'autre dictature, (París: L'Harmattan, 2003); Luis Anaya Merchant, "El secreto infame y las quiebras perennes. Yucatán, de la modernidad fracasada a los albores de la revolución controlada," (2010), http://www.terra.com.mx/articulo.aspx?articuloid=900972, (accessed 21.05.2011). 112. Katz 1992: 40-4; Quezada2001:172-4; Lapointe 2008: 52f; Pérez de Sarmiento 2008: 73,93,221. 113. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 87; Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012. The Yucatecan and central networks that supported the "election" of Olegario Molina in 1901 have been studied by Marisa Pérez de Sarmiento, Historia de una elección. La candidatura de Olegario Molina en 1901, (Mérida: UADY, 2010).

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that some historians call the Molinato, that is, the time when Olegario Molina Solis was governor of Yucatán (1902-1907) and Secretary of Public Works (1907-1911). During the latter he continued to exercise his power through his straw man Enrique Muñoz Aréstegui, local politicians, and business associates. O n one hand, there were public works, high profits for selected impresario groups, political positions for those close to the Molina clan that brought national and international recognition marked the period. On the other hand, the social effects left much to be desired. In spite of flamboyant rhetoric, there were almost no advances in education, and extensive land encroachment took place in order to favor already rich hacendados. Rural migration into the cities led to urban concentration, for which Merida was ill prepared: this was followed with subsequent maladies. Many workers found slavery-like conditions, and an urban proletarian group rose. The government was accused of corruption, nepotism and violation of human rights. Critics and opponents of the Molina clan were harassed, persecuted and placed in jail: claims of violations of the right of free press followed. 114 If until 1906, as Porfirio Díaz visited Yucatán and consequently invited Molina to join his cabinet in Mexico City, the situation was barely kept under control, this started to escalate in 1907, when droughts, a locust plague, the economic crisis, inflation, and massive lay-offs started to produce what some authors call social hatred towards the rich, who profited from the hardships of the time.115 Several Germanspeaking migrants and their descendants were clearly on either side of the battle: some as winners, others as losers. Most of those who were among the wealthier, according to the documents consulted, tried to navigate strategically between the powerful camarillas. The situation explained above led to the creation of several associations of producers of henequen, civil organizations, labor alliances, and a critical media.116 Many of them faced quick and brutal

114. About the medial discources of the groups marginalized during this time, see Felipe Escalante Tió, La misa negra de El Padre Clarencio, (Mérida: Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, C O N A C U L T A , SEDECULTA, 2014). 115. Joseph 1988: 37-41, 85-9; Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 84, 87, 89-91; Quezada2001: 165-7,170-2, 174, 177f; Katz 1992: 51, 56, 61-75. 116. Among those publications were Verdad y Justicia, and the Unión Popular. For a detailed analysis of El Padre Clarencio, see Felipe Escalante Tió, "Los evange-

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repression by the regime. By 1908 the Molinato displayed unambiguous symptoms of stagnation and deterioration. It would not be long before it fell apart. Rural upheavals started in 1909 and by 1911 not only those against reelection took arms, but also semi-autonomous groups, campesinos, headmen, and administrators. Strikes and acts of sabotage affected the economy of the Mayab, and discontent and insecurity spread out. 117 In such confusion, it was not possible to tell clearly who was supporting which camarilla anymore. Though many of those who participated did not have a clear agenda, they had something in common: they demanded political change and social justice. After the fall of Porfirio Díaz in 1911 at the national level, and with José María Pino Suárez, a maderista,118 as governor of Yucatán, the middle classes and the underprivileged groups still did not see their needs taken care of. By 1915, the dissatisfaction at seeing that a good part of the taxes and benefits produced by the henequen industry were being sent to the federation created resentment, especially among mid-scale and small henequen growers. As one author put it, Yucatán had become the "milk c o w " of several presidents —Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, and Venustiano Carranza— and was in good part supporting the huge costs of México's ongoing civil war. 119 Huertismo120 was especially sustained in Yucatán by the entrepreneurial classes. In it, they hoped to see a "return to order," that would support the growth of their businesses. The reappearance of a "strong man" to power was also underscored by the rise of the price of henequen on the international market, a response to conjuncture created by the First World War. Parts of the elite experienced a shortlived bonanza, the effect of which made it difficult for them to see that, once again, the tables turned in 1915 as the Preconstitutional Government was established in México. lios apócrifos de 'El Padre Clarencio.' Caricaturas, activismo político y represión en Yucatán, 1903-1909," in II Encuentro Internacional de Historiadores de la Prensa en Iberoamérica, Xalapa, Veracruz (2004), historiadoresdelaprensa.com.mx/hdp/files/90. doc, (accessed 04.06.2009). 117. Joseph 1988: 82, 85; Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 96-8, 101,104-6. 118. Followers of Francisco I. Madero. 119. Joseph 1988: 63. 120. Coup d'etat led by Victoriano Huerta against President Madero.

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After two failed attempts to institute a governor in Yucatán, and another military putsch,121 Venustiano Carranza appointed General Salvador Alvarado122 to that position in February 1915. This is how the "bourgeois revolution"123 came to the Mayab. The Porfiriato began to decompose by 1909. In Mérida, progressive and deep-in-debt hacendados, together with a dissatisfied middle class began to demand reforms; a large urban proletariat started to form proto-unions; demonstrations, strikes, and revolts sprouted not only in the city, but also in diverse Yucatecan towns, villages, and haciendas. In most of these cases, however, government armed forces quickly stifled these insurrections.124 The Mayab was not stabilized until March of 1915, when General Salvador Alvarado brought the Revolution to the peninsula, and began a complete restructuring process according to the Constitutionalists' ideals that drastically changed Yucatán's socio-economic configurations, influenced education, contested traditional gender roles, and supported the labor movement, among others.125 4.1.9. Economy and the Labor

Market

In terms of the economy, since the time of the Spanish occupation, Yucatán had produced moderate amounts of cotton textiles, wax, 121. The first were Eleuterio Ávila and Toribio de los Santos, each one holding the position only briefly. In February 1915, Colonel Abel Ortiz Argumedo, with the support of part of the Yucatecan elites, overthrew de los Santos, consult Quezada 2001: 177f, 182-5. For an overview about the specific attempts to transform the government during this time see Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 111-26. 122. Salvador Alvarado Rubio (Culiacán, Sinaloa, 1880 - Palenque, Chiapas, 1924) was governor of Yucatan from 1915 to 1917. 123. Joseph 1988: 93. Alvarado served in that capacity until 1918. Two years later, with Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the Mayab experienced the Socialist Revolution. 124. Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolution, vol. II: Counter-Revolution and Reconstruction, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 53, 78f, 87f, 130f, 247-9. 125. About Alvarado's work in Yucatán and how that influenced the Mexican modern state, see among others Quezada 2001:177-8; Lapointe 2008: 54-6; Allen Wells and Gilbert M. Joseph, Summer of Discontent, Season of Upheaveal: Elite Politics and Rural Insurgency in Yucatán, 1876-1915, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996), Part II; Renán Irigoyen, Salvador Alvarado. Extraordinario estadista de la Revolución, (Mérida: Cámara de Diputados, 1981); Francisco José Paoli, Yucatán y los orígenes del nuevo Estado mexicano, (Mérida: U A D Y , 2001).

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sugar, corn, beans, squash, meat, indigo,126 tobacco, logwood, timber, salt, and hides. Given the geological conditions, it was not possible to grow wheat, rye, barley, and many other natural products, which had to be imported from Europe.127 Not having minerals or large amounts of valuable natural resources, the Spanish settlers argued successfully for keeping the encomienda longer than in other areas.128 Whereas the Maya dedicated themselves mostly to subsistence activities as campesinos libres or milperos, free agriculturalists, and had no spending power, local consumption remained relatively low before the Porfiriato. Processed and semi-processed goods were scarce. Mainly Spanish and Creole owned agricultural acreage and cattle farms were consolidated during the 1800s. As succinctly mentioned, by the nineteenth century sugar production was added as an important part of the state's economy. Located mostly in the eastern part of the peninsula, almost all of these sugar haciendas were destroyed during the Caste War.129 Only one major attempt at industrialization was made before the Porfiriato: the textile factory La Aurora was founded in 1821 close to the city of Valladolid, in the east of the peninsula. Its fate was the same as that of the sugar plantations.130 While by the late 1830s endeavors were being made to commercialize henequen, a plant native to Yucatán, its large-scale commercial production took off after 1876. This was achieved thanks to the convergence of new technology, sizeable production of the fiber, good shipping possibilities, the reduction of Manila fiber, and high demand on the international market for hemp.131 This conjuncture turned Yucatán into one

126. This refers to the palo de tinte, a natural source of dye. 127. González Navarro 1979: 178; Luis Várguez Pasos, "Mérida: Algunos aspectos de su transformación y perspectiva actual," Yucatán: Identidad y Cultura, 20.06.2011 (1990), http://www.mayas.uady.mx/historia/cont_02.html, (accessed 20.07.2011); Quezada 2001: 66f, 69; Lapointe 2008: 23f. 128. Patch 1993: 154; Machuca Gallegos 2012b: passim. 129. O n the sugar industry, see Howard Cline, "The Sugar Episode in Yucatán," Inter-American Economic Affairs 1, no. 4 (1948b): pp. 79-100. 130. For an overview of this factory's operations, see Howard Cline, "The 'Aurora Yucateca' and the Spirit of Enterprise in Yucatán, 1821-1847," HAHR 27, no. 1 (1947): pp. 30-60; Walther L Bernecker, Industrie und Aussenhandel: Zur politischen Ökonomie Mexikos im 19. Jahrhundert, (Saarbrücken: Breitenbach, 1987), p. 148f. 131. Joseph 1988: 23f. Fiber from Manila was used in combination with sisal until a major fire in 1870 destroyed an important part of the district producing it; additionally, since the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, supply from the Phillipines was

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of the wealthiest provinces of the country. 1 3 2 By 1884, 233,311 bales of henequen, 133 valued at 3,045,304 U S D were being exported; only about one-seventh of them went to Europe, as the rest was bought by the United States.134 The profile of this economy remained, nevertheless, undiversified during the henequen boom, which in the medium term increased the peninsula's reliance on the green monocrop and on foreign markets. B y the 1890s seven out of eight peoples' livelihood was, in some way or the other, engaged with the "Terrible Green Monster." 1 3 5 Although there was an attempt at industrialization of fibers, the henequen factory La Industrial failed after barely five years of operation. 136 Within these lines, it is important to notice that in 1876 the government of Yucatán granted extraordinary bonuses for those involved in exporting henequen directly into European countries, business into which some German-speaking immigrants pursued their luck; this subsidy was however quickly withdrawn, after protest from the U. S. State Department acting on behalf of the International Harvester Company who was the main buyer of fiber.137 This was one of the failed measurements taken with the intention of diversifying markets, reducing the dependency from the U S A buyers. 138 The rise of Yucatán's henequen industry influenced the social relations of those living in the state and changed some of the labor opportunities. First, it created a regional oligarchy that became one

disrupted, leaving a larger part of the market open for Yucatecan hemp, see Carstensen and Roazen 1992: 5 6 5 , 5 7 8 . 132. González Navarro 1979: 74, 87. 133. Each bale of henequen averaged 400 pounds, estimated by Arthur W. Fergusson, Mexico, Bulletin no. 9, (Washington: Bureau of the American Republics, 1891), p. 40f. 134. Other authors estimate that no more than 5 % of the fiber was sent to Europe, see Joseph 1988: 64. 135. Ibidem: 23. 136. Enrique Aznar Mendoza, "Historia de la industria henequenera desde 1919 hasta nuestros días," in: Enciclopedia Yucatanense, ed. Carlos Echánove Trujillo, (Mérida: Edición Oficial del Gobierno de Yucatán, 1944), pp. 772f; Joseph 1988: 50f. On the operations and downfall of La Industrial see also Allen Wells, Yucatán's Gilded Age: Haciendas, Henequen, and the International Harvester, 1860-1915, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1985), pp. 41-3; Carstensen and Roazen 1992: 583-5. 137. Joseph 1988: 64. 138. González Navarro 1979: 82.

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of the most p o w e r f u l groups at the national level during the Porfiriato. 139 A b o u t 12 to 15 families, tied b y multiple clan and business relationships, f o r m e d this so-called Casta Divina. H° This compact group created a m o n o p o l y that controlled for m a n y decades a g o o d part of the financial capital and of the most important export houses in the peninsula. O w n e r s of large estates 141 and well linked to the media, with influential relatives and friends in the highest ranks of government and clergy, and having contacts to the N o r t h American houses that bought the vast majority of fiber, these " k i n g s of h e n e q u e n " controlled all phases of production, f r o m cultivation through processing in their o w n holdings, and even shipping and marketing. 1 4 2 After this powerful group, came a reduced cluster of hacendados of slightly minor importance who, being part of the network of the former, benefited f r o m the henequen boom. 1 4 3 The discontent of those w h o were not part of these elite groups grew —that is, medium- and small-scale growers, and those without connections to the plantocracy— given that their chances of economic and political participation were severely restricted. This aggrieved s u b - g r o u p was f o r m e d mostly of the incipient Yucatecan middle sectors, which in pre-revolutionary Y u catán was estimated to be only 3 to 5 % of the population, and therefore was one of the smallest even by Latin American standards. 1 4 4 O n the other hand, some of those with businesses that were not in competition with henequen production, as well as professionals, enjoyed a bonanza. A t the extreme end of this spectrum, salaried hands, and

139. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 11; Joseph 1988: 37. 140. Constitutionalist governor Salvador Alvarado referred after 1915 to this group built around former governor Olegario Molina as such, cf. Joseph 1988: 38. 141. Cultivable land was concentrated in the hands of a few. It has been estimated that by 1902, eight people owned 112 estates. The governor, Olegario Molina, had 17 of them, which covered between 5,000 to 10,000 square kilometers, and where between 2,500 to 5,000 agricultural laborers worked. See Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 74. 142. Joseph 1988: 38, identified as members of the closest circle the Molina, Regil, Peón, Ancona, Cervera, Evia, Hübbe, Suárez, Rendón and Soli's families; other authors added the Bolio, Duarte, Canto, Palma, Campos, and Peniche families, see Wells 1982: passim; Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 65. 143. Some of them were the Cásares, Cámara, and Escalante families, as noted by Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 65. 144. Joseph 1988: 86. This sub-group was composed of some intellectuals, professionals, journalists, and small merchants in the cities, plus a few small rural producers.

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especially agricultural workers, not only lived poorly, but also saw their conditions worsen.145 These huge differences in income, status, and power created social tensions. Second, the need to expand the plantations required larger holdings, administrators, technicians, and more workers. If in 1875 about 40,000 bales of henequen were exported, by 1915 these amounted to 950,000.146 Powerful hacendados made use of all possible resources and tricks to encroach land from the Maya communities, forcing many campesinos to become salaried hands. Cattle raising and corn or sugar production posed either low or seasonal labor requirements; in contrast, henequen demanded year-round care. This meant that there was a need for many more agrarian workers: people from nearby villages, landless Maya, as well as foreign laborers were scarce. Machinery required maintenance, accounting had to be expertly done, and both technical and professional advisors were needed. Additionally, the hacendados needed financing. Before 1882 when the Banco Nacional de México opened a branch in Mérida,147 it was only possible to obtain lines of credit from private businesspeople. This was another opportunity those with large capitals and connections took to enrich themselves further, especially for the North American Trust, the International Harvester, which through its local agents secured its informal empire.148 The high volume of production also posed extraordinary challenges for transportation and communications, works that although according to regional commentators were carried out exclusively by the Yucatecans, in reality were the result of the joint efforts of resources and contributions of entrepreneurs, capital, technology, and know-how of diverse origins. The commercial and service industries boomed.

145. Pérez de Sarmiento and Savarino Roggero 2001: 90. 146. Joseph 1988: 31, Figure 3. This author estimated each bale at 347.23 pounds. 147. Suárez Molina 1977b: 243; two more financial institutions were opened for business in 1890, the Banco Yucateco (01.02.1890) and the Banco Mercantil de Yucatán (04.03.1890), see ibidem: 247, 249f. 148. Wells and Joseph 1992: passim.

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4.1.10. Language, Religion, and Education Castilian Spanish-speaking people had been the minority since Spain occupied Yucatan. Given that only a few of them —including officials, encomenderos, and priests— settled among a large majority of Natives, Yucatec Maya was the primary language of people of every caste during the Colonial era.149 This included the Creole, who having spoken this language since infancy felt more comfortable using it than Castilian —which, by the way was not necessarily the first language of all settlers, since among them there were Andalucians, Galicians, Jews, Italians, Canary Islanders, Catalonians, etc. After careful analysis, specialists have concluded that Yucatec Maya kept its preeminent role as first language at least until the end of the nineteenth century. 150 By 1931, when Robert Redfield carried out his research in the Mayab, he found that Maya was still "the most used language in the peninsula" and that everyone had at least some knowledge of it, even the upper classes that tried to distance themselves from other groups.151 As plenty of testimonies from travelers confirm, as well as information compiled for this analysis, the dominance of Maya Yucatec led foreigners to become somewhat familiar, even completely fluent, in this language, sometimes to the detriment of Spanish. Common also are expressions in which one element is Maya, the next Spanish, which give testimony as to how dynamic this language is. Dozens of compiled regional legends show this incorporation of languages, which according to specialists dates back to the Conquest, 152 as well as the particular use of Maya words and imagery in the daily

149. Wolfgang Gabbert, "Ethnicity and the State of Yucatán, Mexico "Journal of Latin American Studies 33, no. 3 (2001): pp. 459-84, (pp. 468f). 150. Besides the various works from Gabbert cited in this book, see Farriss 1984: passim. 151. Redfield 1941:2. 152. Overlooked by the Spanish that arrived to the peninsula, Yucatecan legends were first compiled in a systematic effort by Luis Rosado Vega (Chemax, 1876 - Mérida, 1958), a schoolteacher, journalist, poet, government official, and museum director. His most relevant publications on this theme are Amerindmaya, (México: Botas, 1938), and El alma misteriosa del Mayab. Tradiciones, leyendas y consejas, (México: Botas, 1957). For a study of the motifs found in the narratives compiled by Rosado Vega, see Jim C. Tatum, A Motif-Index of Luis Rosado Vega's Mayan Leyends, (Helsinki: Academia Scientarum Fennica, 2000).

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Yucatecan speech without disregard for socio-cultural extraction. 153 This phenomenon extends into the present, when terms in other languages, such as English, have been included.154 An example of those folktales would be the still popular Wday-cbivo, sometimes written as Huay-chivo, either with or without a hyphen. Wday, a Maya term, refers to a supernatural creature or protector animal; chivo, a Spanish word, is a goat. The Wday-chivo is the main character of a popular tale that people swear to have seen even in the present, as the local newspapers report a minimum of once a year. 155 This is believed to be a sorcerer who, transforming himself into a half-man/half-goat creature, abducts disobedient children, lures left-alone wives, and preys on domestic animals and livestock. 156 All social classes in our days in Yucatán use Maya words as part of their regular speech. For instance, a blond person is che I; chichi is a grandfather or grandmother, —but the plurals are composed as in Spanish, with an " s " instead of with the Maya "o'ob." The Maya language is alive and well in the Mayab. 157

4.1.10.1. Religion From the Colonial period onwards, we find a co-existence and amalgamation of the Roman Catholic and Mayan religions in Yucatán, to which some elements of the belief systems brought by African slaves 153. See for example Víctor M. Suárez Molina, El español que se habla en Yucatán. Apuntamientos filológicos, (Mérida: U A D Y , 1996); Jesús Amaro Gamboa and Miguel Güemez Pineda, Vocabulario de el uayeísmo en la cultura de Yucatán, (Mérida: U A D Y , 1990). 154. In the 1990s, during his research in a small community in Yucatán, a colleague observed that the call of the players was constructed in Yucatec Maya, Spanish, and English: "ts'aaten boola brother." Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012. 155. Some examples are Nicolás Kú Dávila, " E l Huay chivo causa temor en Pocoboch," Diario de Yucatán (hereinfater DdY), 25.02.2006; "Alarmados por el Waáy Chivo," Por Esto!, 24.02.2009; " E l Huay Chivo en Mérida," Reforma, 05.12.2010; "Creen que las visita el Waáy Chivo de noche," DdY, 19.05.2011. 156. Terry Rugeley, Of Wonders and Wise Men. Religion and Popular Cultures in Southeast Mexico, 1800-1876, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001), p. 10. 157. Another phenomenon brought to my attention by a colleague, is the so-called aporreado, which describes Maya intonation while speaking Spanish. This can be observed until the present even among the very prosperous Yucatecans. Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012.

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were incorporated. 158 This transculturation is to a certain degree evident until the present, not only among peasants, but also, to a lesser degree, amidst city dwellers of diverse socioeconomic status.159 This also applies to some legends, folk stories, and conceptions of health and disease, that were part of a particular Yucatecan hybrid spiritual cosmovision. Brought by Franciscans to the peninsula and carried by the Spanish settlers themselves, the Catholic faith offered a symbolic framework for the daily lives of the upper classes during Colonial times, given that it became a "source of both prestige and economic security, a provider of numerous services, including education, training, and legal expertise."160 During the nineteenth century, the religious customs of the popular classes, both rural and urban, included transculturated practices and spirits influenced by the old Maya beliefs, such as supernatural forces, for instance the "evil winds," 161 as well as paranormal entities —like dead relatives, aluxo 'ob, the X-tabay and the aforementioned Wáay Chivo, among others.162 Nonetheless, people would still speak of themselves as devout Catholics, as stated by the cultural historian Terry Rugeley.163 Catholic and non-Catholic Masonic orders began to be founded as early as 1815 in Yucatán; these societies continued to be influential 158. Inga Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquest: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 47f; Farriss 1984: 293, 300, 305; Patch 1993: 75f, 95f; Restall 2009: 204, 236. 159. Even the upper classes find the need to perform certain ceremonies to gain the favors of Maya deities, such as Chaak, and celebrate Hanal Pixan rituals (Day of the Death); fieldnotes 08.03.2006, 24.02.2009, 07.03.2009,18.01.2010, and 16.03.2011. 160. Rugeley 2001: see especially the Introducción. 161. Threatening supernatural winds. 162. The aluxo'ob are mischievous small goblins that protect ruins and cornfields, but could also live in caves; if treated with respect they are helpful, otherwise they can cause trouble to humans. The X'tabay is a forest Lorelei that seduces men to their doom. See: T. A. Willard, The City of the Sacred Well, (New York & London: Grosset and Dunlap, 1926), pp. 199-208, where he retells a story about the X'tabay as narrated by the North American Consul and archaeologist Edward Herbert Thompson. These folk tales are alive today: a monument to the X'tabay was recently inaugurated in Mérida, and even European scientists working in the Mayab occasionally report having been the target of jokes made by aluxo'ob. Fieldnotes, Yucatán, research seasons 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010. 163. Rugeley 2001: xix.

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during the twentieth century, attracting mainly wealthy and middleclass men. 164 During the República Restaurada (Mexican Restoration, 1867-1876), the first organization of Spiritists in the state was formed; 165 although these groups remained miniscule and their lives were short, they influenced liberal thinking. Perhaps the best way to understand its function has been worded by Terry Rugeley, who wrote that Spiritualism was "a form of Protestantism in a society not ready or willing to be Protestant" during the nineteenth century, a movement that rejected hierarchies and substituted direct revelation but still found a way to connect with the Catholic tradition. 166 B y 1879 the first Protestant mission arrived in Mérida, and the first Evangelic Church, Iglesia Evangélica del Divino Salvador opened its doors in 1885, finding an aggressive reception by the Catholic authorities. Nevertheless, in 1889 close to 400 people in the city declared themselves Presbyterians. 167 Whilst the 1841 Yucatecan Constitution 168 had introduced the principle of freedom of religion, and a secularization of society was promoted in 1860 through the national Ley sobre Libertad de Cultos, Freedom of Worship Legislation, 169 it was not before the Second Mexican Empire that a substantial presence of people of other creeds, such as the Protestant settlers of Villa Carlota, was evident in the Mayab. Although these German colonists apparently did not encounter dis164. Redfield 1941: 34. 165. José Juan Cervera Fernández, "Preceptos divinos y contradicciones racionales: El primer movimiento espiritista en Yucatán, 1869-1879," in: Los aguafiestas, ed. Piedad Peniche Rivero, (Mérida: Archivo General del Estado de Yucatán, 2002), pp. 193-238, (pp. 210-2); Rugeley 2001: 195-8. 166. Rugeley 2001: 198. 167. Redfield 1941: 54f; Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 254f; Menéndez Rodríguez 1995: 109f. 168. This was issued during the period known as the República de Yucatán (18411848), when this state declared itself independent from México. 169. Abraham Téllez Aguilar, "Protestantismo y política en México en el siglo xix," in: El protestantismo en México (1850-1940). La iglesia metodista episcopal, ed. Laura Espejel López and Rubén Ruiz Guerra, (México: I N AH, 1995), pp. 17-37, (pp. 21-6); Juan Francisco Molina Solís, Historia de Yucatán. Desde la Independencia de España hasta la época attuai, vol. I, (Mérida: Talleres Gráficos de La Revista de Yucatán, 1921), p. 27. Contrary to what happened in Mexico City, where during the Second Empire a Protestant congregation presented a request to hold services, and in 1872 the influence of Protestant proselytism from the USA was felt, in Yucatán no major movement was made before 1885.

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crimination because of their convictions, some of them might have found it socially appropriate to reaffiliate themselves as Catholics,170 given that the presence and weight of the Catholic Church, as an institution, was still dominant. It must also be clarified that as early as 1865, people in Yucatán could use the services of the Registro Civil (Civil Registry) to record life passages such as birth, marriage, and death. Additionally, already in 1867 Protestants could be buried in a special part of Mérida's then recently inaugurated General Cemetery; 171 indeed, it seems that multicultural funeral places were normal, starting in the Colonial period in some parts of the peninsula.172 Segmentation by religion, however, was not reinforced in Mérida after 1869, as I was able to establish by studying the numerous books of Yucatán's Civil Registry informing this work, which are listed in Appendix 1. The attempts to transform and broaden the religious panorama of the area are to be considered within the framework of the secularization of society —that is, the weakening of formal spiritual practices and beliefs in social life— and the propagation of the ideas of modernity and progress that widely circulated in those times among the Yucatecan progressive factions.173 These, however, were small, and could not speedily undermine the long ingrained preeminence of the Roman Catholic Church. If a close political-economic bond with the Catholic Church was temporarily weakened among parts of the urban elite, by the 1890s

170. Durán-Merk 2007: 87-9. 171. About the early social history of Mérida's Cementerio General, consult Luis Rosado Vega, Lo que pasó y aún vive, (México: Cultura, 1947), pp. 168ff. In Fig. 17, this is located in the southwest corner of sector 8. 172. See for example AGEY, Registro Civil (hereinafter RC), Defunciones, 1867/1868, fol. 128, where the German immigrant Federico Guillermo Hostermoor, who had just passed away, is identified as Protestant. The register wrote that he was to be buried in the area of Mérida's General Cemetery assigned to people of that religion. Recent historical-archaeological research has proved that people of African descent had received equal burial treatment to Spaniards in the peninsula since the sixteenth century. See: Vera Tiesler et al., Natives, Europeans, and Africans in Colonial Campeche, (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2010), Chapters 1, 4, and 8. 173. Hernán Menéndez Rodriguez and Ben Wallace Fallaw, "The Resurgence of the Church in Yucatán: The Olegario Molina-Crescencio Carrillo Alliance, 18671901," in: Peripheral Visions. Politics, Society, and Challenges of Modernity in Yucatán, ed. Edward Terry et al., (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2010), pp. 213-26, (pp. 215f).

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clerical power experienced a resurgence with the arrival of Olegario Molina to the state's government. From 1902 until at least 1911 the Roman Catholic Church as an institution gained economic, social and political power, to the degree that this period has been named the Clericato, a regime of the Church.174 Open religious expression was encouraged; the Church once again imposed the diezmos tithe, recovering its privileged position in the financial world, educational system, gaining media and social presence. As noted by Hansen and Bastarrachea, during the Porfiriato Catholic religious practices differed. The upper and middle classes concentrated on attendance and participation in official services and events, compliance with the main sacraments (Baptism, First Communion, Weddings, and Funerals), as well as financial sponsorship of the Church's actions and of its organizational groups, such as the gremios —these were religious brotherhoods to which even Olegario Molina and his closest circle belonged.175 In contrast, the lower classes' devout practices were mostly circumscribed to the domestic sphere: cult of saints, blessing ceremonies, and social events of a religious nature celebrated at home.176 The fact that what was expected of people in terms of religious practices varied according to the social status he or she aspired to, could have motivated some foreigners to carry out religious behaviors that were socially demanded, or perhaps to undergo apostasy and reaffiliation. Additionally, migrant groups arriving during the Porfiriato, such as the Syrian-Lebanese and the Koreans, also opened their own religious institutions. This brief panorama shows that while the Catholic rite had the longest tradition in the area and was an important part of life since the times of Spanish occupation, other beliefs became present by the 1860s, and were perhaps more or less abided. Likewise, it indicates that religious transculturation was considered as normal, and that 174. Menendez Rodriguez 1995: 24, and Chapter 5. This author contrasts it to the "opportunistic liberalism," for him exemplified by Olegario Molina and his associates; see Chapter 8. 175. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 238-45. 176. Ibidem: 245-52. For example, the novenas, a prayer series taking place on nine consecutive nights either in honor of a deceased or on special occasions such as New Year's, were held mostly in houses located in popular barrios, and ended with dances, see Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 151. Contrarily, well-off families would offer those services in a church and follow all ritual ceremonies.

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notwithstanding that a process of secularization had started by the second part of the nineteenth century, the Catholic religion remained one of the main pillars on which Yucatecan society built its identity and cohesion. 4.1.10.2. Education Religion and education were intimately related in Yucatán for centuries. Before 1864, education was a virtual monopoly of the Catholic Church. It was considered a privilege of the middle and upper classes, in which men clearly had a priority. In rural areas as late as 1873, women usually could not read or write, even those belonging to the elite; however, in some towns, girls of those families started to attend school at that time.177 There is evidence that from the 1840s on some wealthy families sent their offspring to study abroad. Certain North American religious institutions were favored, such as the St. Louis University.178 During the henequen boom, the migration of parts of the Yucatecan elites' youth to study in foreign schools and colleges increased: several went to the United States and England, France, Switzerland, or Germany. Impressed by his contact with the rich peninsulares, a visitor wrote that considering the size and remote location of Mérida, it was remarkable how many people spoke English.179 Since the 1860s members of the Spiritist movement had expressed themselves in favor of secular education.180 It wasn't until 1867 that the first public secondary school was opened in Mérida, the Instituto Literario (Literary Institute).181 Governor Carlos Peón Machado, who at the end of the 1890s sponsored new, secular schools for boys and girls, accomplished an advance in this area. As part of his liberal policies, the institute was open to the urban working classes, and certain mestizos benefited from it. These measures, however, were reversed by subsequent governors. It would be necessary to wait until

177. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full text reproduced by Desmond 2009: 49f. 178. Rugeley 2 0 0 1 : 5 4 . 179. Case 1911: 22; Canto Mayen 2011a: 135, 141f. 180. Rugeley 2001: 198. 181. Menéndez Rodríguez and Fallaw 2010: 214; Barceló 2005: 218.

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the arrival of the Constitutional government to Yucatán to implement secular, free, and mixed-sex education for all people. 182 O n the other hand, by 1890 Mérida had a school of Medicine and Pharmacy, one for Law, and two of Music, besides a public library, dozens of artistic, scientific and literary associations, and twelve newspapers. 183

4.1.11. Clothing, Housing, and Food Indisputably, the most consistent report is the cleanliness of the Yucatecan people not only in the cities but also in rural areas, without distinction of socio-economic level. This created a positive impression on visitors and new residents.184 A marker of identity and socioeconomic stand, as mentioned before, clothing had specific regional characteristics that differed completely from those in other Mexican areas during the period here studied.185 In Yucatán since the Colonial times there were two clear categories that were seen as intrinsically separate, according to Gabbert: the gente de vestido, wearers of up to date, expensive, European-style outfits,

182. Redfield 1941: 34f. Secondary schools for other than pre-professional studies, however, were not founded in the state but until 1930. 183. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico, 1861-1887, vol. XIV, (San Francisco: The History Company Publishers, 1888), pp. 74-7, 87f, 93f. 184. During his visit in 1847, a traveler noticed the white, cleanly brilliant clothing of the meridanos, especially those outfits worn by Maya men and women, see: Carl Bartholomäus Heller, Reisen in Mexiko in den Jahren 1845-1848, (Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1853), p. 276. Heller (Soldin, 1824 - Vienna, 1880) toured the Yucatán peninsula. The Yucatecans also caused a good impression on Woeikof 1879: 204, and on Seler 1960: 160. Some travelers added that the Yucatecans and the Maya bathed daily, for example Willard 1926:13,18. It is also interesting to note that several barrios by the end of the nineteenth century had public bath houses —baños públicos— some with showers or a cenote, see for example Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 35, 140. 185. Sapper 1897: 145, observed that in 1894 the traditional Mexican outfits worn in the highlands were frowned upon in Yucatán. Karl Theodor Sapper (Wittislingen, 1866 - Garmisch, 1945) was an ethnologist, geographer, naturalist, geologist, and antiquarian who lived for many years in Guatemala. He traveled through the Mayab in 1894. About Sapper's life and work, see Franz Termer, "Karl Sapper als Amerikanist," Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology 13, no. 1-2 (1948): pp. 54-6; Franz Termer, Karl Theodor Sapper, 1866-1945, Leben und Wirken eines deutschen Geographen und Geologen, (Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1966); Alexander McBirney and Volker Lorenz, "Karl Sapper: Geologist, Ethnologist, and Naturalist," Earth Siemes History 22, no. 1 (2003): pp. 79-89.

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and the mestizos, people who wore folk costume. 186 Although one excluded the other, especially in the case of women, during the period here studied a third category developed, the catrines or gente pobre de vestido, meaning commoners that emulated the upper classes, but given their limited economic resources wore out of date, inexpensive versions of European inspired clothing. This is how boundaries based on dress codes began to be challenged as the nineteenth century came to its end. More and more, people of modest means, poor Creole, and Maya, started to wear European-inspired clothing. 187

Figure 10. Gente de vestido Peter Schirp Malmedi, members of his family, and a Maya person. Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, F C - S M , P C W S L

The gente de vestido, were usually associated with members of the upper classes (Fig. 10, 57 and 68). They also called themselves gente de categoria, culta or inteligente, meaning elegant, well-educated or intelligent people, terminology in which we can see how characteristics were tied to specific groups. Recent research and contemporary advertisements testify to the importance the gente de categoria gave to

186. Gabbert 2004: 117. 187. About this slow process until the 1950s, see Redfield 1946: especially 297f, 314f.

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attaining the latest European styles, a reason for which some visitors perceived them as more elegant than the New Yorkers. 188 Dress code required that men wore a full suit, but for daily life fine cotton trousers and shirts in light colors were favored, always wearing shoes and never sandals.189 The female attire was much more differentiated than that of the males, and the rules applied not only to wardrobe but also to shoes, hairdressing, and accessories. 190 Those from the upper classes perceived gente pobre de vestido as those wearing old-fashioned, dark or inexpensive outfits.191 This was both an urban and a rural phenomenon. It comprised people of meager means who had one or two sets of "street clothing" which they wore on holidays or special occasions. Once at home, and in daily life, they wore simple native outfits. A special case is that of those of the lower classes named catrines, meaning employees, servants, craftsmen, and people who worked in contact with the gente elegante.m Considering the hot weather in the peninsula, the local clothing was more appropriate and comfortable, but those wishing to be identified as non-Maya and as belonging to the upper classes avoided wearing indigenous garments, especially in Merida.

188. A group of French seamstresses relocated to Mérida, where they had many clients; once a year a selected number of specialists came directly from France to Yucatán to take orders from the richest among the rich, see Canto Mayén 2011a: 83, 98, 104. Importing European fashion was also an area in which some German entrepreneurs tried their luck: Germán Ravensburg brought directly from France clothing, shoes, and accessories, see "¡A la torre Eiffel!," LRdM, 02.01.1890. Ernst Hesse-Wartegg, Mexico Land und Leute, (Wien: Ed. Hölzer, 1890), p. 407; Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 138. Ernst Hesse-Wartegg (Vienna, 1854 - Switzerland, 1918), became well known as a travel writer whose work influenced, among others, that of Karl May and Mark Twain. On the eight of his twelve international trips, in 1887-88, Hesse-Wartegg came to the Americas. Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon ab 1815, (2003), s.v. HesseWartegg, Emst. 189. Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 225. 190. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 49f, clarify that a person could be considered as gente de vestido because of his or her outfit or occupation, but as mestizo based on education; see also Peter Hervik, Mayan People Within and Beyond Boundaries: Social Categories and Lived Identity in Yucatán, (New York: Routledge, 2003), pp. 138f. All this points to the complexities of the Yucatecan categorization system. 191. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 140. 192. Trujillo 1946: 323f; Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 119f; Gabbert 2004: 76, 111.

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Figure 11. People wearing traditional outfits Lithograph by Desire Charnay. Private collection. People of the lower sectors mostly sported mestizo attire, that is, Maya style clothing. Men usually wore white seven-eighth length cotton pants, a simple white short-sleeved shirt, and a straw hat (Fig. 7, and 15). For work, some maintained coarse cotton pants at kneelength and a cotin, an apron fastened around the waist (Fig. 7), while others bore only a breech-cloth and a head cover. On special occasions, starched linen, or fine cotton full-length pants, a shirt of the same material, and a panama hat were considered as the perfect ensemble (Fig. 77). Many times males went barefoot; others wore hard

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sandals made out of rubber. 193 The hats featured by men of various statuses differed also; Panama hats were the preferred headgear of the wealthy and the upwardly mobile middle classes; straw hats were all that the poor could afford (compare Figures 10,11,12, and 15). Women bore a white jipil or huipil —a light square cotton dress beautifully embroidered at the neck and on the sleeves, reaching halfway between the knee and the ground— with a white embellished underskirt called pic adding, as needed, a rebozo, cotton shawl, over the head and shoulders (Fig. 11, 14, and 77). Their hair was invariably done up in a knot at the nape and either braided or fastened with a ribbon. Black satin low shoes or decorated sandals, and gold jewelry were also part of the mestizo-outfit.194 The latter were in many cases the only compensation that domestic servants would receive for their work in the houses of the rich. The maids, however, did not have free access to them but until they either got married or left the house; the jewels were kept by the señora de la casa, (the lady of the house) who would decide when the employees could have them.195 As seen, coupled with these clothing styles were not only status positions, but also certain behaviors; for example, all people dressed as mestizo should respect the gente de vestido, and the latter were believed to be "superior" to the former. 196 Yucatecan house forms also reflect colonization and transculturation processes. In the Mayab, different types of dwellings coexisted during the Porfiriato: traditional Maya, colonial, stone and/or wooden houses, and hybrid forms. 197 Housing served as a marker of status in cities, towns, and villages. The most appropriate dwellings for the Yucatecan weather, and in terms of being made with local materials, are the Maya houses, as shown in Figures 12 and 13. A traveler reported that in 1882 the poor 193. Willard 1926: l l f ; Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 124f, 138; Gabbert 2004: 118f; Barceló 2005:216. 194. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full text in Desmond 2009: 62; Willard 1926: 12f; Barceló 2005: 216; Gabbert 2004: 118. 195. Trujillo 1946: 326f. 196. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 139. 197. For a recent study about the living style of the middle and upper clases duting the Porfiriato, see Gladys N . Arana López, La vivienda de la burguesía en Mérida al cambio de siglo, 1886-1916, (Mérida: Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, C O N A C U L T A , S E D E C U L T A , 2013). Some descriptions can also be found in Barceló 2005.

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Figure 12. Houses in a barrio in Merida Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, FC-SM, PCWSL.

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Figure 13. Traditional Maya House Photo: Paul I. Merk, 2012

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Creole and urban Maya had "a quarter at the outskirts of the town allotted to them, where they inhabit oblong thatched cottages."198 This style of housing still dominated during the Porfiriato, even in Mérida, as the photo taken by Wilhelm Schirp around 1910 in one of the city's neighborhoods depicts. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon was right when, in the 1870s, she observed that "one room is enough" in Yucatán.199 Fresh, flexible to the point of resisting hurricanes, able to accommodate a large number of people inside, these Maya houses are complex works of engineering. Many of them are still built today as one oval unit, with limestone floors and peaked thatched roofs (Fig. 13). The fact that they usually have two doors —one at the front, another at the rear— and their walls have spaces between the poles makes them fresh and comfortable even on the hottest and most humid days. Additionally, they have no windows, and the walls are made out of poles that allow for ventilation. Standing on a low platform, the structure of the house is formed by four main support poles. These create horizontal beams inside, from which hamacas, hammocks, and other items can be hung. Inside these traditional houses, the hammocks are extended at night to sleep, and during the day they serve as a place to sit. Clothing and other property can also be kept in boxes or bags.200 The house has an annex at its back (Figures 14 and 15). In this semi-open area the women prepare meals on a traditional three-stone cooking hearth. O n top of this, the cookery is set, as can be seen in Figure 15, in the lower left corner, behind the man. The number of utensils needed is minimal. Even now, many people in small villages use this type of kitchen, as can be appreciated in Figure 14. Maya diet is based on locally produced crops, such as corn —for making tortillas, various dishes and drinks— and multiple herbs, vegetables, and fruits, like squash, chilies, tomatoes, beans, watermelons,

198. Désire Charnay, The Ancient Cities of the New World, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1888), p. 283; Traveler, writer, photographer and amateur archaeologist (Fleurieux-sur-L'Arbresle, 1828 - Paris, 1915), Charnay visited Mexico three times between 1857 and 1886. For a biography of Charnay, see Keith F. Davis, Désiré Charnay. Expeditionary Photographer, (Albuquerque: University of N e w Mexico Press, 1981). 199. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full text in Desmond 2009: 59. 200. For more details about these constructions, see Bruce Love, Maya Culture of Yucatán Today, (Mérida: Dante, 2004), pp. 8-13.

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Figure 14. Contemporary Maya Kitchen Rosa Tec de Bonilla in Santa Elena. Photo: Stephan Merk, 2006.

Figure 15. Maya People in Their Kitchen Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, taken around 1910. FC-SM, PCWLS.

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mangos, etc. Additionally, people hunt a few animals, such as small deer or armadillo, and raise pigs and chickens to eat. Milk products are uncommon. The food is relatively simple to prepare. Those whose taste had been influenced by other cuisines, depending on their budget and preferences, imported numerous foods and alcoholic beverages from all over the world. Consulted local newspapers and archival documents —such as household inventories, testaments, and payments records— show imported groceries, wines, cold cuts, jams, etc. as part of the usual products favored by the upper-middle classes and the elite.201 In the extensive backyards of Maya houses called solares, animal pens, gardens with fruits, vegetables, and herbs are kept. Here, the children play under supervision of their relatives. An area serves for washing and bathing, and the remotest part of the lot is used as a toilet facility. However, the Spanish conquistadors did not want to live in these kinds of lodgings when they arrived to Yucatán in the sixteenth century. After destroying pyramids, temples and houses of the Classic and Post Classic Maya culture, the colonial overlords planned their own streets and built their own dwellings with the materials taken from the ruins.202 Colonial houses are found usually in the center, that is, close to the main squares, of the cities, towns, and villages. Some are large and sumptuous, with wide verandas, and even frescos on the walls, such as shown in Figure 16. Others were smaller and much more modest. These houses of the elite were square, with flat roofs. Most of them had only one floor, between five to eight chambers, and possessed at least one internal patio.203 A visitor wrote his experience in one of such dwellings as follows:

201. A G E Y , Justicia Civil (hereinafter JC), 1899, caja 229, exp. 1, Juicio testamentario de Juan Sibbeth; ibidem, idem, 1914, caja 52, exp. 12, Juicio testamentario de Germán Ravensburg; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, interview by author, Mérida, 13.02.2010; advertisements in LRdM for the period here studied. 202. Federico de Waldeck, Viaje pintoresco y arqueológico a la Provincia de Yucatán, 1834 y 1836, trans., Manuel Mestre Ghigliazza, (Mérida: C O N A C U L T A , 1930), p. 89; even today it remains unclear if the artist and writer who called himself Jean Fréderic Waldeck (?, 1766 - France, 1875) was Austrian or French, cf. Robert L. Brunhouse, Das Gebeimnis der Maya, (München: Goldmann), 65, 102. 203. Seler 1960: 281.

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Figure 16. The Faller Manzanilla Family in the Veranda of Their Colonial House FC-Rodríguez de la Gala Faller (hereinafter RdlGF), FC-Faller Espinosa (hereinafter FE).

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My room opened up into a square courtyard formed by wide arcades, which was full of the most beautiful potted flowers and climbing plants. From their cages, parrots and songbirds made excessive noise. Exuberant flowers, slim coconut trees, long-leaved banana plants, and oranges created a shadowed patio. If there were any windows, they did not have glass panes; following the Yucatecan custom, these had only an iron lattice curving about one foot out into the street. Modern European-style houses are unknown in Yucatán; these would be, in any case, useless here. The walls of the houses are made out of two thick layers of stone, filled with a rubble mix in between [...] Rooms are large, high and dark like churches; their white-painted walls lacking all decoration. The floors are covered with cement and wood is only used in the window-frames and doors. The first impression newcomers get from these cold, dark, severe chambers is that of strangeness. However, one will learn to appreciate them quickly, given that they do not offer a hideout to spiders, centipedes, scorpions, and other tropical 'pets." The furniture is very plain: I had a table, a chair, henequen-mats on the floor, and the unavoidable hammock instead of a bed. In this land of eternal summer, where one spends most of the day outdoors; such quarters are more than enough. 204

204. "Mein Zimmer öffnete sich auf eine weite Bogenhalle, welche rings um den viereckigen inneren Hofraum herumlief und mit den herrlichsten Topfblumen und Schlingpflanzen geschmückt war. Papageien und Singvögel machten in ihren Käfigen einen Heidenspectakel. Der Hof selbst bildete einen üppigen Blumengarten, von schlanken Cocospalmen, großblätterigen Bananen und Orangen überschattet. Die Fenster, soweit deren überhaupt welche vorhanden waren, zeigten ebensowenig wie die übrigen in ganz Merida oder ganz Yucatan Glasscheiben, sondern nur eiserne Gitterverstäbung, die bei den auf die Straße mündenden Fenstern um einen guten Fuß nach außen geschweift waren. Häuser von europäisch-moderner Bauart kennt man nicht in Yucatan, wo sie auch ganz zwecklos wären. Die Mauern der Häuser bestehen aus zwei dicken Steinwänden, mit einer Schuttfüllung zwischen beiden [...] Die Zimmer sind groß, hoch und dunkel wie Kirchen, dabei ohne jede Verzierung oder Malerei auf den weißgetünchten Wänden. Die Fußböden sind mit Cement überzogen, und das einzige zur Verwendung gelangende Holz steckt in den Fensterrahmen und Thüren. Dem Fremden scheinen diese kalten, dunklen, harten Räume in der ersten Zeit unheimlich, er lernt sie aber bald schätzen, denn in ihnen bietet sich kein Schlupfwinkel für Spinnen, Tausendfüßler, Skorpione und andere "Hausthiere" der Tropen. Auch die Einrichtung der Zimmer ist die denkbar einfachste. In meiner Stube bestand sie aus einem Tisch, einem Stuhle, Henequinmatten auf dem Fußboden, und der unvermeidlichen Hamaca (Hängematte) an Stelle des Bettes. Eine solche Wohnung ist in diesen Ländern des ewigen Sommers mehr als hinreichend. Man bringt ja doch die größte Zeit des Tages im Freien zu" See Hesse-Wartegg 1890: 402.

Figure 17. City of Mérida and Its Suburbs, 1920 CAIHY, Fondo Reservado, XV-1919-1922-1/3/005.

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In Figure 17 the downtown area of Mérida, the different sectors as well as the new colonias, suburbs, are shown. Sectors 1 through 4 have already been identified. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, some houses started to exhibit brick roofs, which were inexpensive to obtain in Yucatán, given that the ships bringing goods to the peninsula from Europe used them as ballast.205 Most common for the upper-middle classes during the Porfiriato were wooden houses, as the ones shown in Figure 18, and those made out of tin sheets. These were less expensive than masonry houses, and could be built relatively fast. They were mostly found in new suburbs, such as Itzimná, Chuminópolis, and San Cosme, as well as in Progreso. 206 From these basic templates, several combinations were possible, such as a wooden or masonry house with palm-leaf roofing, or a Maya house that instead of oval could be square. It depended primarily on the budget and the needs of the people making the dwellings. Given that some of the lots were quite large, it was also possible to find several houses sharing a plot. Additionally, in what was then the outskirts of Mérida it was possible to find the so-called quintas, large lots —sometimes covering a whole block— with elegant and generously sized houses, and extralarge gardens with fruit trees (Fig. 19). Extensive and wealthy families favored these exclusive lodgings, some of which were located in suburbs such as Itzimná and in San Cosme. 207 During the Porfiriato, when Mérida became a migration node, the shortage of masonry housing in the city reached critical levels. In 1873 the Le Plongeons reported exorbitant prices and abusive practices on the part of meridano landlords, who sometimes required from foreigners a full year's rent in advanced. They ended up renting a small

205. Several German-speaking merchants sold them in the peninsula. More on this in Chapter 6. 206. Barcelo 2005: 235, 238. The area of San Cosme was turned into the Colonia Garcia Gineres in 1904. In Fig. 17 the suburbs of Itzimna (area 10), Chuminopolis (area 11), and Garcia Gineres (area 12) can be seen. 207. Cetina Sierra 1984: 51; Barcelo 2005: 220; Juan Edwin Schirp Milke, interview by author, Me'rida, 21.02.2009.

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Figure 18. Wooden House in Merida Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, FC-SM, PCWSL.

Figure 19. Quinta San Fernando Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, FC-SM, PCWLS.

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house, which needed repairs, for 16 pesos a month. 208 Eight years later, an American wrote that it was "impossible to find a house in Merida" for rent or for sale.209 The explorer and traveler Desire Charnay encountered the same problem in 1882, 210 as well as many other newcomers, as we will see in the following chapters. Just to get an idea of the large differences in prices, I will recount here an appraisal of two houses for sale of the same dimensions, 14 by 16 meters, erected in 1896: one made of masonry and located in downtown —Calle 56 at the corner of 6 5 — was evaluated at 2,015 pesos; a Maya-style dwelling in the barrio of Santiago went for 16 pesos.211 In such a market, the construction of accesorias, small houses within large lots for letting, became popular, given that the demand was greater than the supply. The social expectations were that gente decente —upper- and upper-middle class people— would live in colonial houses, or in quintas. These were, however scarce. Those who could afford it remodeled and upgraded their homes during the Porfiriato into real mansions, importing the newest and best quality materials, and bringing from abroad European and North American furniture, appliances, and accessories.212 Based on the primary sources consulted, such as censuses, among the popular classes it was more common to find members of several generations residing in the same dwellings, as well as not necessarily related diverse families, sharing a house. The use of space, furniture, and appliances will be in part conditioned by the type of house. It was expected to find European objects and decorations in the houses of well-off families, as we can appreciate in Figure 20. 213 In this specific case, a piano, a secretaire, a marble and wood center table, a rug, porcelain objects, lighting fixtures, for 208. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full text in Desmond 2009: 39f, 45; Barcelo 2005: 235-43. 209. Frederick Albion Ober, Travels in Mexico and Life among the Mexicans, (Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1887), p. 44. Ober (Beverly, Mass., 1849 - Hackensack, NJ, 1913) was a naturalist, explorer, and writer. 210. Charnay 1888: 269. 211. Barcelo 2005: 229. 212. Ibidem: 223-6. 213. Harry Graf Kessler, Notizen iiber Mexiko, (Leipzig: Insel, 1929), p. 78, describes the Austrian furniture he could not avoid noticing when he was invited to dine at the house of a wealthy meridano in 1896. Graf Kessler (Paris, 1868 - Lyon, 1937) was a cosmopolitan writer, art collector and patron of the arts, diplomat, and pacifist. For more details about the furniture and use of space see Arana Lopez 2013.

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Figure 20. Interior of Emilio Móller's Colonial House in Mérida FC-Gutiérrez Móller.

Yucatán heavy curtains, and picture frames are combined with tropical elements. For instance: instead of upholstered sofas, chairs and benches, this room displays seating areas that allow ventilation to circulate. Coastal beach plants and some tablecloths of local embroidery can also be seenA s presented, the living spaces and their use, as well as the possessions and preferences of individuals, varied highly depending on whether the families lived in an urban or rural environment, and on their socioeconomic background. However, one feature is common to all, and almost all visitors to Yucatán wrote about it: everyone in the peninsula slept in hammocks, although made out of different materials. 214 A Yucatecan scholar estimates that until the introduction of air conditioning in Yucatán in the 1980s, the large majority of the Yucatecans, perhaps up to 90%, were conceived in these "air-beds." 2 1 5

214. Alice Dixon L e Plongeon, full text in Desmond 2009: 59. Abreu G ó m e z 2008: 27, clarifies that the hammocks of the wealthy were made of silk or cotton, while those of the poor were wowen with henequen. 215. Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012.

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Communities

Daily life took different forms in diverse environments. In the following, I will present in broad terms some of the contextual aspects of living in different locations: the seaport of Progreso, Merida, and other smaller communities —such as a village and an hacienda,— all contexts in which German-speaking immigrants and their descendants resided. 4.1.12.1. Progreso Yucatan's gate to the world was the Port of Progreso. Given the shallowness of the Peninsula's coastline, ships had to lay anchor about three, some say five, miles away from the shore. From the vessel, people arriving could only distinguish "a semi-circle of pale sand, fringed by mahogany-red boarded barns of warehouses, with here and there a gaunt brick chimney [...] three wooden jetties, and beyond, houses stuccoed white and salmon-pink."216 Once they had reached, and climbed upon one of the narrow piers, the newcomers "stepped quickly along the tarry planks to get to a large building with plastered walls,"217 the Customs office (Fig. 21), which made a good impression on some visitors. Most strangers only saw that view of Progreso. However, those who took a little time, came onto main street noticing the sandy roads where "a hot air blew along the houses, shaking awnings at the doors of shops, where groups of dark men stood in the shade, and women in white garments sat along the curbstone with bowls of cooked meats." Others saw the "market-place full of fruits and fish," before they headed to the only hotel in town, or directed themselves to the "wooden railway station walled with lattice" in order to take a train into Merida.218

216. Arnold and Frost 1909: 57. 217. Henry Mercer, The Hill Caves of Yucatan, 1896, cited by Richard Perry, Exploring Yucatan. A Traveler's Anthology, (Santa Barbara: Espadaña, 2001), p. 63. Henry C. Mercer (1856 - 1930) was curator of American and Prehistoric Archaeology at the University Museum of Pennsylvania, who visited Yucatán as part of the Corwith Expedition in 1895. 218. Ibidem: 63.

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Figure 21. Customs Office in Progreso Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, 1879. Private collection. However, the port had more to offer. It was indeed a place that stood "second to Vera C r u z in the republic for quantity of imports received." 219 It has been estimated that around 1910 it had about 5,000 inhabitants. Analyzing the County Register's records in light of the port's story, it becomes clear that this was a site created by migrants. Those who lived in Progreso before 1915 were usually warehouse employees, mechanics, bureaucrats, port personnel and merchants; in many cases, a floating population. It is interesting that, given the importance of the activities carried out there, some Consulates had their offices in Progreso, instead of in Merida; such was the case of the N o r t h American Consulate and that of England. 2 2 0 During the period here studied, this area also became a popular place to have a weekend residence, augmenting the transient and temporary population but also increasing the demand for services and products. People in transit only saw a dry land, and no tropical gardens; a dusty area without rivers, mountains, or large trees, which offered 219. Blichfeldt 1912: 41. 220. Case 1911:23.

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lone green prickly henequen plants to the eye. O n the way to Merida by train, some of them asked themselves what they were actually doing there: W h a t was in store for us in the flat country that had the look of a dry swamp, where here and there groups of thirsty cows looked listlessly from the bushes? The boughs were leafless. U p o n roads following the track, we saw ox-carts with solid wooden wheels, and at dusty thatched stations, Indians with trousers rolled up to their thighs, often straining under the weight of heavy baskets supported by straps across their foreheads, stood looking at the train. 221

4.1.12.2. Living in Merida From 1876, people traveling to Merida from Progreso by wide gauge train arrived at the Mejorada railway station, 222 located east-northeast of the Main Square, in a popular neighborhood. In 1888 Ernst HesseWartegg visited Merida. 223 The city he reached was an unpretentious and not especially charming provincial capital without hotels, translators, or any other services catering to visitors; according to then-existing legislation, the houses were painted in "all colors of the rainbow," in order to reduce the sun glare.224 Consequently, this means that Merida as the progressive, wealthy, "White City" concretized after 1888 —contrary to what some local commentators presume. Among other things, Hesse-Wartegg noticed that on some street corners, instead of a written name sign, there were large paintings of animals such as an elephant or a flamingo.225 Other local and foreign writers had also brought up this peculiarity. 226 An expression of cultural arrogance, Waldeck assumed that this was because the Yucatecans 221. Mercer, 1896, cited by Perry 2001: 63. 222. Construction work started in April 1875, and operations one year later, see Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 95f. 223. Hesse-Wartegg 1890. 224. Hesse-Wartegg 1890: 402. 225. Ibidem: 402. 226. De Waldeck 1930: 108. Waldeck wrote that the meridanos named the streets based mostly on the merchandise that was exhibited in the corner stores, people who lived close by, or other events that had happened there. See also John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. I, (New York: Dover, 1963) p. 48.

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did not have notable men to name their streets after. In reality, only the church squares had an official nomenclature at the time of Waldeck's visit in the 1830s. It was not until 1865 that the Second Empire ordered a systematic method of street naming. Various changes, and finally a legal enforcement of the latter, occurred in 1895. 227 Besides the habit of using the familiar names, an important reason behind this Yucatecan phenomenon was the high degree of illiteracy, which made more practical the use of images as guides. A look at some statistics supports this: according to the 1895 Census, only 14% of Yucatán's inhabitants could read and write in Spanish; this percentage increased to 16.59% by 1900. Although most probably overoptimistic, 228 these estimates reflect the large inequalities and challenges that existed in Yucatán. Described as a Creole and colonial city by one of its major poets,229 Mérida's downtown was constructed by the Spanish settlers on top of the old Maya city of Ichcanzihó, also called Tihó. Various artists, such as Arthur Schott230 (Fig. 22), have depicted its central area. In 1882 Desire Charnay styled it beautifully by writing that its "center is occupied by a large plaza," adding that the cathedral was of "monumental proportions," with space for 3,000 people.231 However, Charnay also noted the

227. Carlos Escoffié, Ménda

viejo (1831-1931),

(Mérida: n.a., 1932), pp. 4, 9f.

228. I have already addressed some of the shortcomings of these censuses. C o n cretely with regards to the issue of literacy: it is unclear how this specific question was asked and what was understood as "able to read and write" (to sign a name? to write and read at a 4th grade level?, or perhaps to have attained a knowledge of the language at professional or technical standards?). Additionally, the command of the Maya language was not taken into consideration. 229. D e Zayas Enriquez 1908: 290. 230. Arthur Schott (Stuttgart, 1814 - Georgetown, 1875) was an author, engineer, naturalist, artist, and anthropologist who lived in Yucatán from 1864 to 1866. F o r Schott's biography see Gretchen Gause Fox, Arthur Schott, German Immigrant Illustrator of The American "West, George Washinton University, Washington D . C . , 1977; Durán-Merk 2 0 0 7 : 4 2 ; Alma Durán-Merk and Stephan Merk, " A True Renaissance Man. Arthur Schott's Years in Mexico," Indiana, 31 (2014): 161-191. Unfortunately, inaccurate information about Schott and the explorer and photographer Teobert Maler has been presented in several Mexican sources, identifying them as "colonists," or giving wrong birthdates. See for example Menéndez González 1937: 387, and in the very popular Diccionario Porrúa, 1995. This mistaken data has been carried forward into further research, such as in Karl von Schlózer, Mexikanische Briefe von Kurd von Schlózer 1869-1871, (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1913) as well as in Rojas Marin 2007: 55f. 231. Ermilo Padrón López, cited in Novelo Medina 2004: 13.

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Figure 22. Merida in 1866 Lithography by Arthur Schott. Private collection.

dryness of the land and the lack of funds for basic city services when he said that the plaza had "a waterless fountain and gardens, the flowers of which are perishing for want of water."232 By the late Porfiriato, as we can see in Figure 23, trees imported from Cuba had grown to provide pleasant shade and the impression that Merida gave was that of a prosperous capital, with the "reputation of being the cleanest city of all Mexico,"233 the one that had "more per capita wealth than any other city."234 From the 1880s on, Merida changed rapidly, its population growing dramatically partly thanks to intra-state, national, and international migration. 235 If in 1868 there were barely 23,000 inhabitants, 236 by 1877 there were about 30,000, and by 1900 the number had risen to 57,162. By the beginning of the twentieth century this city had already 232. Charnay 1888: 271f. 233. Ibidem: 271. 234. Blichfeldt 1912: 46. 235. Ibidem: 34. 236. "Zur Statistik Mexicos," Globus. Völkerkunde no. 16 (1869).

Illustrierte

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für Länder-

und

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F i g u r e 23. Mérida's C a t h e d r a l a n d M a i n S q u a r e Lithograph b y Désiré C h a r n a y , 1882. Private collection.

t u r n e d i n t o t h e fifth l a r g e s t i n t h e M e x i c a n R e p u b l i c . I t c o n t i n u e d t o grow, reaching m o r e than 60,000 inhabitants by 1910 and 80,000 ten years later.237 D r a w n o u t in a traditional Spanish grid-like l a y o u t (cf. Fig. 8 and 17), M é r i d a ' s M a i n S q u a r e , its C a t h e d r a l — w i t h its s p e c i a l l y m a d e

German

organ, — 2 3 8 commercial arcades, the Palacio de G o b i e r n o ( C i t y Hall),

237. González Navarro 1979: 182; Wells and Joseph 1992: 183; Antonio Peñafiel, Censo y división territorial del Estado de Yucatán, verificado en 1900, (México: Oficina Tipográfica de la Secretaría de Fomento, 1905), p. 46; E. H . Delmar, Delmar's New, Revised, and Complete Classified Trades Directory and Mercantile Manual of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, (Chicago: Belford, Clark & Co., 1889), p. 79. Case 1911: 20; Raúl Vela Sosa, Yucatán exportador. Memoria del siglo xx, (Mérida: U A D Y , Senado de la República L X I Legislatura 2011), p. 84; M o n t e j o Baqueiro 1981: 61. As already discussed statistics vary widely. Another estimate for Merida is 36,624 inhabitants in 1895, going up to 46,630 in 1900. 238. This German manufactured musical organ was destroyed by protesters on 25.09.1915, see M o n t e j o Baqueiro 1981: 22; Gonzalo Cámara Zavala, Catálogo histórico de Mérida, (Mérida: Área Maya, 1977), p. 35; Peniche Barrera 2008: 112f.

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and the old Conquistadors' palace,239 marked the downtown area. A few blocks away from the Main Square were the commercial zone, and the city market. The streets were very sunny, and their straight alignment allowed for wind drafts to lift high dust clouds, which bothered some people;240 this could not be avoided before 1903, when the main streets of the city were paved. Major public works began with the arrival of the twentieth century. Thanks to paving and drainage, the streets around the Main Square were no longer muddy,241 parks were remodeled, a hospital and various other public buildings were inaugurated, and the exclusive Paseo de Montejo residential avenue was laid out.242 Mérida appeared to the eyes of visitors and those of the elite as a modern and progressive city. Likewise, sanitary and medical practices started to make inroads during the Porfiriato.243 Another change in the living conditions of city dwellers is that those who could afford it used electricity in residencies at the dawn of the twentieth century.244 Such wealth, however, was not equally extended to the adjacent barrios, which were separated by arches (Fig. 24). In these, people of various admixtures and Creole of lesser means resided.245 As late as 1882, Charnay noted that many people of partial or complete Maya descent had their "quarter at the outskirts of the town allotted to them, where they inhabited oblong thatched cottages,"246 but in most of them there were also a few masonry houses around the neighborhoods' squares. To see beyond first visitors' impressions took a sharp

239. The Palacio Montejo still stands. 240. Sapper 1897: 145. 241. Montejo Baqueiro 1981:67. The electrification of Mérida, and the role of German-speaking immigrants played in it, will be addressed in more detail in Chapter 6. 242. Escoffié 1932:12f; Santiago Burgos Brito, Gentes y cosas de mi tierra, (Mérida: Santiago Pacheco Cruz, 1968), pp. 5f; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 12. 243. The drainage system was inaugurated in 1900; an electric plant began operations in 1901; the first of several parks to be remodeled was Santa Ana, in 1902; in 1903 the pavement of the main streets was completed, and the Paseo de Montejo was inaugurated; the Hospital O'Horán commenced its services in 1906; in 1909 the Lucas de Gálvez municipal market opened its doors; other important works were the Ayala poorhouse and the Juárez State Prison. See: Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 52, 67, 68, 93, 97, 136,163; Escoffié 1932: 10-4. 244. This substituted gas lighting, see Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 68. 245. Barceló 2005: 213f. 246. Charnay 1888:283.

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Figure 24. Local People Walking in Calle 61, Flooded Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, FC-SM, PCWSL.

eye and a clear mind, such as that of Mexican intellectual Luis Gonzaba Urbina, who perceived Merida as both beautiful and ugly, modern and old; as a place where modernity and tradition ran parallel, where wealth and poverty intermingled. 247 Beyond the barrios, new suburbs and residential areas for the middle and upper classes were inaugurated, such as San Cosme, and Itzimna.

Weather and Lifestyles July and August are among the hottest months of the year and, according to the Yucatecans, one must leave the capital because there it is "not even possible to breath, so don't even think about working or having a normal life."248 Since the 1890s many people left Merida

247. Luis Gonzaga Urbina (Mexico City 1864 - Madrid 1934), visited Merida in 1906. His wonderful essay "Merida entre dos luces" is provided in full by Gabriel Ramirez, Personajes de Yucatan. De la tierra salen voces que hablan, (Merida: SEP, ICY, CEPSA, 2009), pp. 192-5. 248. Fieldnote, Merida, 03.03.2004.

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during that time to do what they called pasar la temporada —spend the hot season, which coincides with school vacations— where the weather is slightly fresher, preferably close to the port of Progreso.249 Here, again, were differences: while the rich spent the season in their second house in exclusive areas at the beach, or went to their own haciendas, the middle classes rented more modest houses, and the poor stayed in Mérida and dealt with heat the best that they could. The high temperatures of Yucatán affect daily life: dawn is around 6:00 AM, from 12:00 until about 4:00 PM it is very hot, and after 6:00 PM, when the sun sets, it cools off slightly. This is why today people still begin to work early, take a long break for lunch and to have a nap, and work until relatively late at night;250 in contrast to other groups, noted an observer, the meridanos were particularly dynamic and industrious.251 The nights of the Mayab are warm, and the yucatecos of past and present best enjoy them outside, where they watch passersby, converse, meet friends, and have fun. They are gente alegre, happy people, friendly, and with a good sense of humor.252 All of this partly explains the popular activity of salir a tomar el fresco, literally, to go out of the house and enjoy the freshness of the evening. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon noticed in 1873 that people had the custom of sitting at the street door in the evening.253 Even now, one can see this costumbre, or habit.254 Those who lived in colonial houses during the Porfiriato held these activities by the large windows facing the streets, while others usually sat on the sidewalks or walkways. Participating in, or belonging to, a tertulia, is a very Yucatecan related activity which I interpret as having two meanings. One refers to a special form of gathering, perhaps comparable in some aspects

249. Peniche Barrera 2008: 14. A detailed description of how some members of the upper-middle class personally experienced this ritual, is narrated by Rosado Vega 1947: 199-212. 250. Several Yucatecan chroniclers have described these routines, among them Peniche Barrera, Peón Ancona, Ramírez, Barrera Vázquez, and Abreu Gómez. See the sources in the corresponding appendix. 251. Luis Gonzaga Urbina, full text by Ramirez 2009: 193f. 252. Sylvanus Grisworld Morley, La civilización Maya, (México: F C E , 1972), p. 46; Trujillo 1946: passim. 253. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full text in Desmond 2009: 60; Peniche Barrera 2008: 15. 254. Fieldnotes, Yucatán, research seasons 2003, 2006, 2 0 0 8 , 2 0 0 9 and 2010.

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to the German tradition of a Stammtisch, in its sense of a group of regulars who meet to exchange opinions. In Yucatán, however, these were held mostly, but not exclusively, in open spaces. The tertulias during the afternoon were for youngsters, who met to talk about their studies and read poems; those in the evenings for adult males.255 The participants were more or less a selected and sort of fixed, group of people. There were groups with specific interests —for example some for students, others for professionals; there were literary, political, religious, artistic, and scientific circles amongst others— or tertulias just to have casual conversations.256 Some of these gatherings were apparently open to certain foreigners who wanted to participate: the American explorer John Lloyd Stephens and his companion, the British artist and architect Frederick Catherwood, frequently visited a tertulia while in Mérida.257 There were also tertulias in particular neighborhoods, of which some descendants of German-speaking people were regulars. The term tertulia was also applied to meetings held at home, which were considered one of the most important ways to cultivate social relationships. These were, according to some authors, held in family compounds and women were present —which was not the case for other reunions. Music was commonly played and literature was a theme of discussion.258 During the Porfiriato the tertulia also reflected to a certain degree the prevailing social stratification. For example: it was difficult to become part of the Bishop's tertulia; men of the upper classes affiliated

255. Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, interview by author, Mérida, 13.02.2010. 256. De Zayas Enríquez 1908: 322; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 119, 184, 200, 241. 257. The then already well-known travel writer John Lloyd Stephens (New Jersey, 1805 - New York, 1852) and the graphic artist Frederick Catherwood (London, 1799 Atlantic Ocean, 1854) explored Yucatán in two trips in 1839-1840 and 1841-1842, and spent considerable time in Mérida, John Lloyd Stephens, Viaje a Yucatán, trans., Justo Sierra O'Reilly, (México: FCE, 2003), pp. 59, 333,609. Only in the Spanish translation, done by a yucateco, is the word tertulia used. About the work of these two explorers, see amongst others Victor W. von Hagen, Frederick Catherwood, Architect, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1950); Robert L. Brunhouse, In Search of the Maya. The First Archaeologists, (New York: Ballantine Books, 1973); Victor W. von Hagen, Auf der Suche nach den Maya. Die Geschichte von Stephens und Catherwood, (Stuttgart: Deutscher Biicherbund, 1978). 258. De Zayas Enriquez 1908: 344; Peniche Barrera 2008: 15.

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w i t h diverse political factions w o u l d hold their get-togethers in the M a i n Square w h e r e the exact location — f o r example closer t o the C a thedral, o r t o the C i t y H a l l — had a meaning and required defense. 2 5 9

Transportation M o s t l y , the daily life o f the meridanos

t o o k place in their o w n neigh-

b o r h o o d s and the d o w n t o w n area.

W h e n distances w e r e greater,

260

the c i t y ' s inhabitants had several w a y s t o get t o places: t h e y t o o k cocbes calesas,m

volanes,262

o r r o d e o n horses. In 1 8 8 0 , the m u l e - o p -

erated city streetcar service w a s inaugurated, w h i c h m a r k e d the beginning o f a quickly expanding line that c o n n e c t e d M e r i d a w i t h the barrios,

the suburbs, and adjacent t o w n s ; b y 1 9 0 5 , these t r a m w a y s

w e r e electrified. T h o s e w i t h a larger p a y c h e c k c o u l d hire, o r even

259. Emiliano Canto Mayen, Una historia a pié. Mérida y sus rumbos, (Mérida: SEP, Ayuntamiento de Mérida, 2011b), p. 46; José Humberto Fuentes Gómez, "Plaza de Armas, Grande o Principal de Mérida, Yucatán: historia, características, usos y usuarios," Diario de Campo 34, no. 1, Julio (2005): pp. 32-41, (p. 41). 260. The books written by town chroniclers are full of references to the daily lives of people around the turn of the twentieth century and how this was built around their neighborhoods: see amongst others Montejo Baqueiro 1981; Peniche Barrera 2008; Robert Endean Gamboa, "Vivir en Mérida entre 1861 y 1924," Encuentro de Bibliotecarios de la Península de Yucatán (UADY) (2000), http://centroinvestigaciones.blogspot.com/, (accessed 27.10.2012). 261. These vehicles are one of the many cases of cultural transfers found in Yucatán. A calesa, sometimes written caleza or kalesa, is a horse-drawn carriage. In spite of the notion still held by some meridanos that these are a local invention, both the word and the original idea of the vehicle itself can be tracked back to sixteenth-century Spain, from where it passed to Cuba, and then to Yucatán, see Elena Valera Merino, Los galicismos en el español de los siglos xvi y XVII, vol. I, (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2009), p. 776; Cámara Zavala 1977: 60f. 262. Alice Dixon le Plongeon traveled in a volán, also known as bolán-coché, while in Yucatán in 1873. She described it as "a two-wheeled vehicle resembling a van. A mattress is spread in the bottom, for the passengers to sit or lie upon, as may best please them. It will accommodate six persons seated, or two lying at full length, which is the most common way of traveling in the bolán. Suspended upon leather straps, it is the only conveyance suitable for the roads of Yucatán. Some are four-wheeled, but these are seldom used on account of the bad roads. They are drawn by three mules, which go at a dashing rate, at least for the first few miles." See: Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, "Notes on Yucatan," in: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, ed. Stephen Salisbury, (Worcester: Press of Charles Hamilton, 1878), pp. 69-98, (p. 77).

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own their own calesas, or other types of personal carriages locally named tilburis or victorias, all of them of animal traction.263 By 1905, reports a North American resident, many Yucatecans were already driving automobiles.264

Leisure Contemporary newspapers give testimony to the rich social life of people in Yucatán during the Porfiriato. Among the preferred activities seemed to have been attending theatre performances, of which there were many for diverse tastes and budgets: from dramas, opera and classical music at the noble Teatro Peón Contreras,265 through to those events offered at the Circo Teatro Yucateco, and several other smaller venues.266 As one author wrote, there was definitely no-one in early twentieth-century Mérida who had not been, at least once, to the Circo Teatro Yucateco.267 Inaugurated in June 1900 in the popular neighborhood of Santiago this multifunctional space, with capacity for 3,500 people, brought together two nouns in its name that in other societies could be considered opposites —theater and circus. This reflects, in my opinion, the flexibility and complexity of the society it served. Mostly the popular classes composed its audience. One could attend a theatre or opera performance but also a traditional Spanish operetta; one could laugh with a group of Cuban buffoons, listen to South American singers, enjoy a Circus Orrin show with the memorable clown Ricardo Bell with the whole family, watch a bullfight, or a boxing match. Even political assemblies —such as Olegario Molina's

263. Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 62. 264. Case 1911: 36. 265. It was re-inaugurated in its current location in 1908. 266. Cetina Sierra 1984: 73, quoting Alejandro Cervera Andrade, mentions that from 1914 until 1949 Mérida was considered the mecca of theatre in the Mexican province, with six houses. O n theatrical activities, especially regional theatre in Yucatán, see Alejandro Cervera Andrade, "El teatro regional de Yucatán," in: El teatro en Yucatán, ed. Biblioteca Básica de Yucatán, (Mérida: Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2009), pp. 29-89, passim; Gilma Rosaura Tuyub Castillo, El teatro regional yucateco, (Mérida: I C Y , C O N A C U L T A , P A C M Y C , 2006). 267. Cervantes 1 9 4 5 : 2 7 .

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candidature meeting in 1901—, gymnastic shows, school graduations, and social events took place there.268 Upper class Porfirian Yucatecans, and even some rich mestizos had a predilection not only for attending classical music concerts, but also for playing music themselves.269 Publications of the time report generously about these performances to which selected guests were invited. In many families playing music was an evening activity, as shown in Figure 25. This made it necessary to import musical instruments, music scores, phonographs, gramophones, and music boxes, many of them preferred German products, as can be seen from the large amount of advertising paid by diverse suppliers who catered to the rich meridanos.270 It also increased the demand for music teachers. Those with fewer resources enjoyed the so-called retretas, free open-air concerts offered in the city, played guitar or enjoyed the many events where popular and folk music was performed. 271 The meridanos also had several areas available to them to take a stroll, such as the various squares in the city, the well-documented Sunday paseos de la Calle 59 (strolls along 59th Street),272 to the artificial lake of San Cosme, to the wooden roller coaster in the suburb of Itzimna, and after 1903 also to the Paseo de Montejo, to which three years later the Parque el Centenario273 —also including a man-made lake— was added.274

268. "Viene Bell," La Sombra de Cepeda, 11.11.1888; "Artistas del Circo-Teatro," Revista Peninsular, 01.06.1913; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 163f; 1998b: 181, 258; Centro de Investigaciones Escénicas de Yucatán, " L o s espectáculos deportivos en el Circo Teatro," Por Esto!, 24.06.2011; Antonio Novelo Medina, "Fragmento meridano (II)," Por Esto!, n.d., http://www.poresto.net/ver_nota.php ?zona=yucatan&idSeccion= 1 &idTitulo= 104731, (accessed 23.09.2011). 269. Enrique Martín Briceño, "Nuevos ricos, nuevos gustos. La afición musical en Mérida durante el Porfiriato," Heterofonía: revista de investigación musical 127, no. 1 (2002): pp. 57-75, (p. 65). 270. Please see Appendix 1 for the list of publications evaluated. 271. Ibidem: 59, 72f. 272. This particular paseo is described in Rosado Vega 1947: 228f. 273. The Parque el Centenario is a large park created to celebrate one hundred years of Mexico's independence. 274. Leopoldo Tomassi López, " E l Paseo de Montejo," DdY, n.d. 1951; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: lOf, 84-9; Cetina Sierra 1984: 51, 74, 232f; Juan Edwin Arthur Schirp Milke, " L o s cien años de San Cosme. El lago y los paseos en tranvía," DdY, 27.01.2004; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, "Aclaraciones sobre San Cosme," DdY, 08.05.2011.

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Figure 25. Playing Music at Home Members of the American-Yucatecan Gaumer family in Izamal, Yucatán. Courtesy of Nelly López Carrillo.

Men spent considerable time in cafes, where they talked and socialized.275 Indeed, it appears this time was estimated as valuable for the maintenance of contacts and doing business. Attending religious events, such as Sunday mass, was also partly seen as an opportunity to keep and strengthen social and familial contacts. Of special interest were the fairs organized to honor patron saints, called ferias or verbenas', one of the most popular was held in the barrio de Santiago.276 As part of these, diverse games of chance were offered.

275. Peniche Barrera 2008: 78-99. 276. Heller 1853: 276; Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 184; Cetina Sierra 1984: 73; "La verbena de Santiago," Revista de la Revolución en Yucatán 1(6), 2009, http://www.bibliotecavirtualdeyucatan.com.mx/ archivos/revistas/revistas Web/Revista_De_La_Revolucion_En_Yucatan/anol_numero6_noviembre_2009/, (accessed 18.06.2012); Canto Mayén 2011b: 148f.

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Bullfights were very popular both among city dwellers and the rural population. Corridas de toros were held not only in purpose-built spaces, but also in wooden arenas temporarily built in the city, neighborhood, or village squares,277 such as the one shown in Figure 26. This form of entertainment also accompanied town fairs, and even Christmas celebrations.278 The Yucatecans displayed interest in watching films from the very first projection in 1897; by 1902, French movies were presented at the Circo Teatro Yucateco, and by 1914 eight cinemas were available in Mérida.279 To watch and participate in sports also became important during the Porfiriato in Yucatán: associations were formed, and certain parks, for example, were used to play baseball from the 1890s on, when that sport was introduced by Cubans.280 To close this section about the favored leisure activities in what was to become the hosting society for the German-speaking immigrants, I should highlight that, without a doubt, the major celebration in Yucatán was, and is until our days, the carnival;281 German-speaking people and their descendants took part as spectators, participants, and also as photographers, as Figure 27 proves. A writer reported in 1908 that Mérida's carnival was well known beyond the Mexican Republic —comparable in quality to that of New Orleans— given the sumptuousness, great creativity and luxury it displayed, and because

277. Cetina Sierra 1984: 73. 278. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full transcription in Desmond 2009: 57. This was observed in the village of Espita, Yucatán. The festivities started on December 23 with bullfights, local dances known as vaquerías, and gambling. On Christmas eve people attended a midnight mass. 279. Menéndez González 1937: 60; Cervantes 1945: 28; Cetina Sierra 1984: 47, 49; Endean Gamboa 2000: passim. 280. Gilbert Joseph, "Forging the Regional Pastime: Baseball and Class in Yucatán," in: Sport and Society in Latin America. Diffusion, Dependency, and the Rise of Mass Culture, ed. Joseph Arbena, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1983), pp. 29-61; Carlos R. Castillo Barrios, Historia del béisbol en Yucatán y Campeche entre los años 1892-1905, (Mérida: U A D Y , 2006), passim; Cetina Sierra 1984: 7. 281. However, a scholar sustains that in the late Porfiriato, secular festivities, including the carnival, were not enthusiastically celebrated, giving preference to religious events: see Franco Savarino, "Religión y sociedad en Yucatán durante el Porfiriato (1891-1911)," Hist Mex 46, no. 3 (1997): pp. 617-51, (p. 642). This is the only reference I have found expressing such an opinion.

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Figure 26. Bullfight in Pustunich Photo: Stephan Merk, 2006.

Figure 27. Carnival of Mérida, 1913 Photo: Wilhelm Schirp, FC-SM, PCWLS.

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of how people seemed to enjoy it.282 The rich and poor participated in these festivities, though not necessarily together. Whereas some of the events such as the parades were open and people of all classes attended, private clubs held the dances that were one of the highlights of these celebrations. It was difficult, but not impossible, to be invited to a ball in one of the two most exclusive clubs. A traveler observed that attendance was exclusively by invitation and, given that this was one of the few opportunities men could find to speak to single women without chapetonas,283 those invited were carefully selected. The catering, music and decorations of such clubs were exquisite, and people wore the best of the world's fashion available. 4.1.12.3. Other Communities After Mérida, the second largest number of German-speaking immigrants here studied lived in the port of Progreso, about which some generalities have been given above. Beyond them, only a few people resided in other communities, such as towns, villages, or haciendas. I would like to go on to briefly describe some of the major differences in lifestyles, challenges, and opportunities found there, given that more information will be provided in some of the case studies which form Chapter 7. An example of a smaller city would be Ticul, for a town and villages Muna and Santa Elena respectively, localities in which some Germanspeaking immigrants lived. All these settlements are located 80 to 100 kilometers south of Mérida. The area from these communities to the 282. De Zayas Enriquez 1908: 322; on its cost, Knight 1986: 190f, reports that in 1914, it amounted to half a million pesos. For other accounts of Mérida's carnival, see Hesse-Wartegg 1890: 405-7, which contains a very detailed description; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, Chucherías meridanas, (Mérida: Ayuntamiento de Mérida, 2002), pp. 103-9, as well as Revista de la Revolución en Yucatán 1(6), 2009, http://www.bibliotecavirtualdeyucatan.com.mx/archivos/revistas/revistasWeb/Revista_De_La_Revolucion_En_Yucatan/anol_numero6_noviembre_2009/, (accessed 18.06.2012). 283. Older or married women were usually designated to act as chaperons to younger, single women; this meant accompanying them not only on social occasions, but most of the times unwedded ladies left the house. Among wealthy Yucatecan families as late as the turn of the twentieth century, it was also normal to assign family members to supervise unwedded ladies while receiving visitors as at home. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1984: 193-6.

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capital was mostly covered by henequen plantations during the period here studied. 284 Although in this specific case the roads have been described as acceptable, 285 few foreigners came, and the inhabitants of the area pretty much lived their daily lives locally. Rural populace included independent farmers and those who worked, either full or part-time, for the close-by haciendas. The vast majority were of Indigenous origins; the Maya language was most often used. 286 Although with a traditional Spanish-grid street layout, Maya-style housing dominated in these settlements by far, in which each dwelling is planted with ciruelos, with orange-trees, a profusion of flowers, and encompassed by a fencing wall. Near the huts are aerial gardens, made by means of poles fixed in the ground supporting twined branches covered over with a few inches of earth, where the cottagers grow flowers and vegetables; while the yard is occupied by multitudes of cackling hens, quacking ducks, and grunting pigs. 287

However, local inhabitants' resources were limited and their food production was only enough for basic subsistence. In the smaller communities, electricity and other basic services, such as sewage, drainage and drinkable water, did not arrive until after the Porfiriato; water had to be carried from the central public wells. The sunlight marked the rhythm of daily life. Salir a tomar el fresco was a very important everyday practice, and people awaited the Fiesta del Santo, the Saint's Day, with expectation. 288 The villages were, in summary, much more Maya. The celebration of the patron saint of the close-by hacienda was a particularly special occasion. The festivities could last up to three days in which several rosaries, processions and three masses were held,

284. Sapper 1897: 145. 285. Charnay 1888:391. 286. Similar characteristics have been noted for other Yucatecan locations by Redfield 1941 when he carried out his analysis of various communities in Yucatán. 287. Charnay 1888: 392. Ciruelos are plums. 288. Alfredo Arana Magaña, interview by author, Santa Elena, 07.03.2003; Antonio Bonilla Baak, interview by author, Santa Elena, 08.03.2003; Luis Arana Bustillos and Irene de Arana, interview by author, Muna, 18.02.2003; Carmelita Domínguez, interview by author, Santa Elena, Yucatán, 13.03.2006; Luis Arana Bustillos, interview by author, Muna, 10.03.2006.

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there were dances, bullfights, plenty of food and wines; expensive celebrations for which the laborers themselves had to pay a good part.289 4 . 2 . I M M I G R A N T S IN " T H E AND THE

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Besides arriving to a Mexican state with identifiably diverse lifestyles and cultures, the German-speaking migrants under examination here also found other compatriots and people of various social groups. This subsection presents, first, the German-speaking migration that arrived before 1876 to Yucatán. After that, I will sketch the legal migratory framework that applied during the Porfiriato, and following, as a third point, I will briefly present the other immigrant groups that also joined this society. 4.2.1. German-Speaking

Migration Into Yucatan Prior to 1876

The relationships between the German states and independent Mexico developed under the flag of commercial interests. The pattern was alike in the case of the Mayab. With regards to political and economy-driven interactions, the sending and receiving societies had limited contacts before the henequen boom. Although Merida was the capital of the Department, both business activities and diplomatic representation were centered in Campeche until the 1870s. The Yucatecan society was highly stratified, as discussed above. A good part of the middle and upper class locals looked up to Europeans, which they had long envisioned as the "desired newcomers." There were, however, only isolated cases of individual German-speaking migration into the peninsula before 1876, as well as the earlier mentioned government-subsidized colonization program, Villa Carlota, for which 443 germanophone people of both sexes and all ages signed up.

289. Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, full transcript in Desmond 2009: 188. Dixon Le Plongeon describes this fete in the Hacienda Uxmal clarifying that, with the exception of 50 pesos for the music which were paid by the state, the laborers paid for all the expenses, including the fees for the religious ceremonies.

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4.2.1.1. Individual Migration The historian Howard Cline reports the experiences of Fernando Salisch, a German-Swiss inventor who in the 1840s obtained a premium from the local government to develop a henequen-rasping machine, apparently without success.290 In spite of his short stay, the case is interesting because it represents, in my mind, one of the imaginings of nineteenth-century German-speaking outsiders that one still encounters today in the peninsula: professionals who offered their specialties in developing countries, and whose careers took them in a multiple migration pattern. Salisch, or perhaps von Salisch, patented a wheatrasping machine in Cuba in 1838. After his stint in Yucatán, he showed up in Costa Rica as a Polish military instructor. 291 He represents one of several unclear characters, frequent travelers, who in the peninsular mind are idealized as nobles. Probably about a handful of German-speaking individual migrants lived in the peninsula before the Second Mexican Empire. Besides scholars who conducted extended research,292 two men who were a mix of artists, adventurers and cultural envoys wanting to unveil their discoveries with their daguerreotypes293 stayed temporarily in Yucatán before 1876: Baron Emmanuel von Friedrichsthal,294 and Emil Herbruger

290. Howard Cline, "The Henequen Episode in Yucatán," Inter-American Economic Affairs 2, no. 2 (1948a): pp. 30-51, (pp. 37f). 291. Junta de Fomento de Cuba, Memorias de la Real Sociedad Patriótica de la Habana, vol. V, (Habana: Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, 1838; Armando Vargas Arroyo, " E l mercenario Sylvanus M. Spencer: un caso de malinchismo historiografico," Comunicación 19(2010), http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/ redalyc/pdf/166/16617134005. pdf, (accessed 26.08.2012), p. 70; Carmen María Fallas Santana, " L a política y la élite cafetalera en la década de Mora Porras 1849-1859," Historia de Costa Rica 9(2009), http://www.hcostarica.fcs.ucr.ac.cr/index.php ?option=com_content&view=article&i d=8:politicamoraporras&catid=6:formestado&Itemid=2, (accessed 28.08.2012). 292. Such as the afore mentioned Austrian naturalist Carl Bartholomaus Heller. 293. O n the history of daguerrotypy, see: Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000). 294. Baron Emmanuel von Friedrichsthal (Brtinn, 1809 - Vienna, 1842) photographed ruins and people of the Mayab in 1840-1841. About his work, consult: Hubert H o w e Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States, (Riverside: Houghton, 1875), pp. 144f; Ulla Fischer-Westhauser, "Emmanuel von Friedrichsthal. The First Daguerrotypist in Yucatan," Photoresearch, no. 8 (2007), http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/imperia/md/content/studium/kultur/zbw/eshph/photoresearcher/photoresearcher_nolO.

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Wheling; the last one lived and worked in Mérida in 1845, returning for the 1877-79 period,295 opening up a path that would be followed by other germanophone-born photographers who made the peninsula their home for decades. Besides these notorious German-speaking temporary residents, two early permanent immigrants are still remembered. The first one is Juan Enrique Hiibbe, a physician who, according to the transmitted narrative, arrived by accident to Campeche towards the end of the 1820s, and married in the Mayab; his picture and that of his wife can be seen here as Fig. 28.296 The second one is Eduardo Pinkus297 who reached the peninsula at the end of 1848 being one of the North-American filibusters who were called in to help "save the white race" from the cruzo'ob™ pdf, (accessed 25.03.2011; Waidemaro Concha Vargas et al., Fotógrafos, imágenes y sociedad en Yucatán: 1841-1900, (Me'rida: UADY, 2010), pp. 47-51. 295. Emil Herbruger Wheling (Rheda-Wiedenbrück, 1808 - New Jersey, 1894). Regarding his work while in Yucatán, see Concha Vargas et al. 2010: 15, 86-8,219f. He also lived many years in Guatemala. 296. Johannes Heinrich Hübbe Hayer (Hamburg, 1800 - Campeche, 1841) was the son of a well-situated notary, Johann Heinrich Hübbe (Hamburg, 1771 - Hamburg, 1847). Hübbe Jun. obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Tübingen in 1824 with his Dissertatio de serrarum in chirurgia. See: SH, Familienarchive, 622-01/42, H26/G1, Hübbe; Rainer Postel, "Johann Heinrich Hübbe 1771-1847", in Die Notare. Johann Heinrich Hübbe, Eduard Schramm, Gabriel Riesser, Hans Harder BiermannRatjen, edited by Rainer Postel, Hamburg, Temmen, 2001, 17-44. The naturalist Bartholomäus Heller reports that the late Juan Enrique Hübbe left a hand-drawn map of Yucatán, which he used as a basis for his own work, see Heller 1853: xiii. By mistake Hübbe's second surname has been written as "Heyer" by some authors, cf. José María Valdés Acosta, A través de las centurias, vol. II, (Mérida: Talleres Pluma y Lápiz, 1926), pp. 138f; Peón Ancona 2006: 174, also mentions this immigrant. 297. Eduard Pinkus Gileski (Warsaw, 1820 - Mérida, 1904) about whom more will be written ahead. AGN, SG, Sxix, GD129, CS, vol. 161, p. 338, Pedro de Ampudia to Manuel Diez de Bonilla, Mérida, Padrón de extranjeros residentes en el Departamento de Yucatán; Archivo General de la Arquidiócesis de Yucatán (hereinafter AGA Y), Sagrario, Entierros, libro 39, p. 95. 298. These mostly young and poor men enlisted in such adventures seeking money and prestige, believing that they were carrying out the USA's Manifest Destiny. The most complete treatment of this particular episode of freebooting is that of Lorena Careaga Vilisied, "Filibusteros, mercenarios y voluntarios: Los soldados norteamericanos en la Guerra de Castas de Yucatán, 1848-1850," in: Política y negocios: ensayos sobre la relación entre México y los Estados Unidos en el siglo xix, ed. Ana Rosa Suárez Argüello and Marcela Terrazas Basante, (México: U N AM, 1997), pp. 123-200. This article, based on extensive consultation of primary sources and hemerography, corrects false information published in other books, such as Reed 1964, and demystifies this intervention.

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Figure 28. Juan Enrique Hübbe and His Wife, María Gertrudis García Rejón FC- Sanford Markley. Although with different socio-economic positions and occupations, these two immigrants had something in common: they both married, shortly after their arrival, women with higher social status in the region. 299 German-speaking doctors coming to the Mexican province have since the beginning of the National period enjoyed a high social prestige. 300 Their income, however, did not situate them among the upper classes, but being European facilitated marrying up, as documented through the letters that Adolf Schmidtlein sent from 1865 until 1874 to his parents, from Puebla to Erlangen. 301 Many male foreigners were apparently not well received in the peninsula, if one considers the comments circulated by the local press around the middle of the

299. Informally referred to as marrying up, we speak about hypergamy when someone takes as spouse a person of higher socio-economic class or status than oneself. T h e opposite is hypogamy. Hansen and Bastarrachea 1 9 8 4 : 1 2 8 , report about other occurences of hypergamy in Merida. 300. Seiffart reports that by 1850 seven of them were in the country. H e also mentions that the process of getting a licence to practice from the Mexican authorities was difficult. See Kühn 1965: 365. 301. Schmidtlein 1978: especially 60, 66, 82, 152f, 158, 227, 257.

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nineteenth century.302 On the other side, cases such as that of Eduardo Pinkus support the thesis proposed by von Mentz for Mexico City, that hypergamy —and with it automatic upper mobility— was very easy for German-speaking immigrants of lower social status, given that the local elites uncritically considered Europeans from the start as "good catches" and trustworthy. The first immigrant that would perhaps fit the description of a Handelskonquistador was Juan Crasemann. He came to Mérida in 1868 to open J. Crasemann & Company, the first hardware and notions store of the peninsula, which also handled all types of imports/exports.303 A descendant of an affluent merchant family from Hamburg that soon after the Independence had been conducting business in México,304 he started his training in the Mexican capital in 1858, becoming shortly afterwards co-founder of Moritz & Crasemann.305 At the end of the 1860s, nevertheless, he decided to close down that company due to "the current break-up of the business there."306 Looking for a better option, he moved to Mérida, where by April 1869 he had opened his own business, as sole proprietor, under the name of J. Crasemann & Co. He brought

302. D. Bulle Bulle, a satirical magazine, published probably in 1847 a poem entitled " ¡ Q u e dicha ser extranjero!" (Being a foreigner is such good fortune!) in which newcomers are portrayed in an unflattering way. Felipe Escalante Tió, e-mail to author, 29.11.2012. 303. Johannes Carl Heinz Crasemann (Hamburg, 1839 - Hamburg, 1900) was one of the sons of Claes Christian Crasemann and Emma Pollitz, see: A G E Y , AN, Protocolos, Manuel Ávila Maldonado, 1869, libro 239, vol. 53, p. 76f, Testamento de Johannes Carl Heinz Crasemann, Merida; PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 8, Crasemann to the Kanzler des Deutschen Reiches, Fürst von Bismarck, Mérida, 28.04.1879. 304. Sabine Crasemann, telephone interview by author, 17.05.2014. For a short biographical note of some of the Crasemann, see Repräsentanten der Hamburger Wirtschaft, 1850-1950, (Hamburg: Handelskammer Hamburg, 1984), p. 101. Several cartas de seguridad were issued to his brother, Gustav, see A G N , SG, Sxix, G D 129, CS, vol. 86, fol. 129; ibid, vol. 90, fol. 130; vol. 110, fol. 301, vol. 133, fol. 333; vol. 47, fol. 29. 305. PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 63, Passregister 1826-1859Juan Crasemann, 15.03.1858; A G N , SG, Sxix, G D 129, CS, vol. 207, fol. 129, Juan Crasemann, 1859; ibidem, vol. 214, fol. 134, Juan Crasemann, 1860; Family Collection Crasemann, Hamburg (hereinafter FC-Cr), Johannes Crasemann to Father, México, 13.10.1858, 31.10.1859, and 17.01.1869 306. PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 8, Crasemann to the Norddeutsches BundeskanzlerAmt, Merida, 26.07.1869.

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with him another co-national, Germán Ravensburg, 307 as industrial partner—i.e., a person who contributes with his work and services, instead of property and money. 308 J. Crasemann & Compañía, located in the Calle del Comercio number 4 V4, only half a block away from the market, 309 would become one of the centers around which many German immigrants would congregate, not only as employees, but also as clients and visitors. This last fact is explained by a nineteenthcentury meridano tradition, by which middle and upper class men spent a good part of the morning visiting businesses of people they knew to socialize, in cafes or chatting in the Main Square. 310 Juan Crasemann had arrived in Mérida at the time when the economy was about to start flourishing, and attempted to become an honorary consul as early as 1869, a request that was declined by the North German Confederation, perhaps because of unsatisfactory reports about the candidate.311 Several years would still pass before a consulate was opened in Mérida. Could we consider that Juan Crasemann fulfills the characteristics other scholars have proposed for the Handelskonquistadoren? Partly, yes: He was young and single when he arrived to the country, was Protestant, and his family had powerful economic resources and connections. Although it is true that the existing economic conditions around the 1850s allowed him to accumulate enough capital to 307. Johann Hermann Ravensburg (Hamburg, 1846 - Hamburg, 1914), A G E Y , J C , caja 81, exp. 7, Testamentaria de Germán Ravensburg, Hamburgerisches Standesamt, Standesamt no. 3, Sterbeurkunde Nr. 337, 25.07.1914, Johann Hermann Ravensburg. 308. A G E Y , AN, Protocolos, Manuel Ávila Maldonado, libro 239, vol. 53,1869, p. 76f, Testamento de Johannes Carl Heinz Crasemann, Mérida. 309. Circular mercantil de la fundación de la casa J. Crasemann y Cia., in: Juan Miró, Otra miscelánea (novena): Opúsculo XV, (Mérida: Imprenta Gamboa Guzmán, 1911), p. 173.1 thank Emiliano Canto Mayén for sharing this information with me. 310. The everyday life of this middle to upper class "tipo meridano", traditional nineteenth-century inhabitant of Mérida, has been immortalized by Víctor Suárez Molina. See Peniche Barrera 2008: 64, 78ff, 161-3. Social meetings took place in the most varied businesses, for example in pharmacies, as described by Abreu Gómez 2008: 11. 311. PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 8, Kurd von Schlózer to Berlin, Mexiko, 20.09.1869. Kurd von Schlózer (Lübeck, 1822 - Berlin, 1894), was a historian and diplomat. Representing the North German Confederation he negotiated the Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty of 1868 with Mexico. Later he served as ambassador to the United States. See von Schlózer 1913: vii-ix, xvi. In this report, the sender argues that Crasemann did not enjoy the sympathy of the "German colony" in Mexico City because of his dependence on alcohol. I will come back later to this issue.

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establish a business with a partner, this commercial venture deteriorated rapidly. If we consider, however, that Crasemann instead of returning to his country decided to stay in México and invested in a new enterprise, he does not appear to fit the description of a pioneer of German Imperialismus. Additionally, his relationships to the host society were apparently much more amicable, and he enjoyed being in Mexico. Given that he resided in Mérida for at least 13 years, we will return to his story later. Was Ravensburg a Handelskonquistador? He had arrived 1865 from Hamburg to México, looking to make a career as a Kaufmann within the new business opportunities that the Second Mexican Empire attempted to open.312 This young man, who hispanicized his name into "Germán", was an employee who, like many others, aspired to become a successful business owner. Thanks to the research carried out by von Mentz and her collaborators, we know something about the conditions under which this group lived in Mexico City until circa 1871.313 They usually obtained such positions as employees thanks to recommendations from friends or family members, and secured a contract while in Germany. Once in México, the business became their second home: they had a salary that was considered high with room and board included, although usually in the same premises as the commerce. There, they worked very long hours seven days a week, and socialized exclusively with their co-workers who were also German. Although their conditions of employment were better than those of many of the local workers at that time, these young men were by no means affluent from the beginning. Therefore, they saved as much money as possible to promptly start their own business and, after about another 10 years, be on their way to return to Germany as rich retirees. However, would this prototype apply to Mérida? There are two major differences. The model the scholars proposed was based on large businesses in Mexico City, where there were many more Germans. In Ravensburg's case, he was for some time the sole

312. HP, Hermann Ravensburg, 1865, http://search.ancestry.de/Browse/View.aspx? dbid=l 068&path=l 860-1869.Indirekt+Band+012+(3+Jan+l 865+-++30+Dez+l 865). 134, (accessed 12.05.2011). 313. Von Mentz et al. 1982: 356f; this proposition has also been confirmed by Mórner 1985: 69. This also appears to be true for the specific case of Puebla, as stated by Rojas Marín 2007.

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German employee of a small business in a province where an ethnic community was nonexistent at that time. We will see below how this immigrant's trajectory develops. Other individual immigrants that came to the Mayab did so as civil servants and business people during the Second Mexican Empire (1864-1867). Some of them stayed in direct relationship to the colonization project Villa Carlota and made Merida their home for about three years. The first was the aforementioned Arthur Schott who made numerous lithographs of Merida, collected zoological and botanical specimens, and took part in the expedition that mapped the Yucatecan coast. The other two were the engineer Moritz von Hippel, who participated in the formation of the first topographic map of Merida (Fig. 8),314 and his daughter Margot. 315 There are also references to Ernesto Henisch, a Prussian carpenter who lived in Merida 316 and Federico Hostermoor. 3 1 7 These two migrants passed away during the 1867 epidemic of typhoid fever.

4.2.1.2. Group Migration: The Settlers of Villa Carlota Yucatán was the only state in the Mexican Republic to receive hundreds of German-speaking settlers. Between 1865 and 1866 this, the first subsidized colonization program in Mexico, brought 443 immigrants of both sexes and all ages as part of the Villa Carlota project. 318 Emperor 314. Moritz von Hippel (Kessel, 1818 - Saint Thomas, 1895) was a Prussian engineer who worked several years in the United States before coming to México, see Durán-Merk 2007: 42, and passim. 315. Margot von Hippel (Preiskreschau, 1846 - Finschhafen, N e w Guinea, 1887), married Georg von Schleinitz (1834 - 1910) in 1871 and later moved to German N e w Guinea, where her husband was the first Governor of the protectorate. The couple had eight children. Already in his sixties, Moritz von Hippel visited his daughter in N e w Guinea and worked there for some time. Ulrike Claas, e-mail message to author, 24.07.2011. 316. A G E Y , R C , Mérida, Defunciones, 1867/1868, fol. 283. H e died in the public Hospital General de Mérida, which probably indicates that he was of modest means. Apparently, he had no family. 317. A G E Y , R C , Mérida, Defunciones, 1867/1868, fol. 128. H e lived in a rental room in the downtown area of Mérida. His landlord gave notice of his passing away to the authorities, because he had no next of kin. 318. Given that in this segment I am presenting a summary of data from my Master's thesis, I will only detail the new sources hereby used. When not indicated otherwise, the information comes from Durán-Merk 2007, and 2009. A list of the families

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Maximilian had designed this as a pilot319 together with José Salazar IIarregui320 —who served in 1864 as his Secretary of Development, and a year later was appointed Imperial Commissioner to Yucatán. A total of 127 households, including families and singles, settled in the Maya villages of Santa Elena and Pustunich, which are located relatively close to each other and, at that time, were about a two-day trip south of Mérida (Fig. 3). Most of the colonists were dispossessed farmers, impoverished artisans or poor laborers coming mainly from Protestant areas of Prussia. These were attracted by the beneficial conditions offered by the Second Mexican Empire. The paths of the individual immigrants already living in the peninsula at that time, and those of the colonists of Villa Carlota, crossed at different points. One of the sons of Juan Enrique Hübbe, namely Joaquín Hübbe García, 321 together with Arthur Schott, was responsible for selecting the locations where the colonies were founded. Others served as translators such as Eduardo Pinkus, or in other capacities, like Moritz von Hippel who was appointed Director of the settlements. Life in Villa Carlota's two outposts was challenging because of the geographical conditions of the area, but the German newcomers were largely well accepted by the locals. A process of integration started rather rapidly in the Santa Elena colony, as can be shown by the fact that several marriages and many baptisms and reaffiliations into the Roman Catholic faith took place. The colonization project, however, collapsed by 1867 for several reasons: the breakdown of the Second Mexican Empire, lack of interest on the part of the Yucatecan elites that came to Yucatán as part of the Villa Carlota project can be found in Durán-Merk 2009: 286-9. 319. Maximilian of Mexico (Vienna, 1832 - Querétaro, 1867), son of Archduke Franz Karl, and younger brother of Austrian emperor Franz Joseph, was a member of the Habsburg-Lorraine House. Napoleon III from France proclaimed Maximilian emperor, with the support of members of the Mexican Conservative Party. 320. José Salazar Ilarregui (Hermosillo, 1832 - Mexico City, 1892). 321. Joaquín de Jesús H ü b b e García Rejón (Mérida, 1832 - Mérida, 1901) was Director of Public Works, politician, inspector of Ferrocarilles de Mérida and director of the daily El Eco del Comercio, among others. A H R C E Y , Mérida, Defunciones, libro 83, no. 2194; Family Search (hereinafter FS), "México, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Joaguin De Jesus H u b b e Garcia, 25.12.1832, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/ MM9.1.1/ NY51-V55, (accessed 12.04.2013); A G E Y , A N , Alayun, vol. 39, 1870-1872; ibidem, Poder Ejecutivo (hereinafter PE), Gobernación, caja 141, 1865; ibidem, idem, idem, caja 236,1866. See also Valdés Acosta 1926: 140.

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to support the program, the inadequate locations where the colonies were founded, and internal organizational problems. The former director of Villa Carlota, von Hippel, left with his daughter before June 1867 to Cuba, and from there traveled to the United States.322 What happened to the colonists after Villa Carlota's downfall?323 A good number died from disease or as a consequence of the dual war that was devastating the peninsula: the Caste War, and the one led by President Benito Juárez 324 to put an end to the French intervention in Mexico and, with it, to Maximilian's Second Empire. A small group left to Cuba in June; some stayed there, others went back to Germany, and several passed away on that island.325 As early as September 1867 another group of German settlers who were stranded in Yucatán, were able to depart to New Orleans. 326 Furthermore, from those who stayed in the peninsula, certain families moved to different states within the Mexican Republic. 327 From there, sometimes after

322. SH, Quellensammlung zur Geschichte des Deutschtums auf der Insel Cuba (hereinafter Q G D I C ) , 743-2, no. 7b, Auszüge aus den Libros de Pasaportes in Nationalarchiv Cuba über die an Deutschen zum Verlassen der Insel ausgegebene Pässe, mit Angaben des Bestimmtortes, 1822-1898, p. 172. 323. To track down what happened to the ex-colonists took several steps: to clarify the data obtained from the passenger lists from Hamburg, confirm birthdates and places of origin, occupations, and identify members of the family. New information was compared against this base line, so that it was possible to discard many homonyms, that is, people with similar name. 324. Benito Juárez (Oaxaca, 1806 - Mexico City, 1872). 325. SH, Q G D I C , 743-2, no. 7b, Auszüge aus dem Register der Kirchengemeinden in Havana über dort getaufte, kopulierte und gestorbene Deutsche 1799-1916, 743-2, no. la, p. 241, Maria Lampart; ibidem, ibidem, Auszüge aus den Libros de Pasaportes in Nationalarchiv Cuba über die an Deutschen zum Verlassen der Insel ausgegebene Pässe, mit Angaben des Bestimmtortes, 1822-1898, p. 172. 326. National Archives and Records Administration (hereinafter NARA), National Archives Microfilm Publications, 1991, Washington, D.C., Passenger arrivals prior to 1900, Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1957, Roll 52, "Independencia," 02.09.1867. See also Durán-Merk 2007: 98. 327. Just two examples: Luis Fröhlich (Reichenbach, 1835 - Mérida, 1889) lived in several states of the Republic before returning to Yucatán, SH, HP-2, Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de Yucatán (hereinafter AHAY), Matrimonios Ultramarinos, (hereinafter MU), vol. 12, Luis Blum (Fröhlich/Flores) and Dolores Mendoza. One member of the Dietrich family who emigrated in his youth, Carl (Bitterfeld, 1848? ?), probably moved to Ciudad Serdán, Puebla, where by the 1869 he had a child with Maria Carmen Muños, see SH, HP-1; FS, "Mexico, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Jose Tomas De Jesus Dietrich Munos, 20.09.1869, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/ N1VP-9Q8, (accessed 10.04.2013).

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several months or even a couple of years, some people migrated to the United States of America. To date, a total of 17 families of ex-Villa Carlotans have been located there. 328 Evidence shows that members of the Kelle, Schotte, Stechert, and Nain families —and possibly others— were able to go back to Germany, 329 where some of them still have descendants today. Additionally, 24 families and several singles stayed in Yucatán after the collapse of Villa Carlota; 16 of them would remain in the peninsula later than 1876. I have already discussed in detail330 the legal migratory condition of the Villa Carlota immigrants who stayed in the Mayab: by signing the contract, these had renounced their rights in their communities of origin, and became Mexican citizens. After 1876, however, the documental evidence shows that many of them continued to identify themselves as foreigners to Mexican authorities. This practice could be interpreted in several ways. It is possible that not even the first generation understood the legal implications of the contract it signed, given that, first, several were illiterate and, second, it appears that the project itself was misrepresented at the point of recruitment in 328. Such as the case of some members of the Blum-Zeidler patchwork family, who worked in Tabasco sometime before they were able to migrate into the United States, according to information located in the Latteri Family Collection, Letter from Carl Blum to Sr. Maldonado, Minatitlán, Veracruz, 14.05.1869. The other families were: Bieder (Bider), Beiswenger, Bruckhoff, Francke, Holl, Küchmann, Lampart, Marr, Naucke, Reiche, Richter, Scheinmann, Schmiedecke, Scholz, Weber and Werkmeister. See United States Federal Censuses from 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910, available online through Ancestry, http://search.ancestry.com, (accessed 05.06.2010). Christian Speer, "Die Briefe des schlesischen Auswanderers Julius August Richter ( ; "1834) aus Mexiko und den USA," in: Eduard Ludwig Nollau und die Auswanderung nach Nordamerika, ed. HansWilhelm Pietz and Dietrich Meyer, (Herrnhut: Verein für Schlesische Kirchengeschichte, 2010), pp. 181-201; A G E Y . J C , 1875, caja 201, exp. 11, Lampart vs. Lizárraga. 329. About the Schotte family: A G E Y , J C , 1878, caja 22, exp. 16, Primer Juzgado de lo Civil en función de lo Criminal, Diligencias por la muerte de Julius Schoste (Schotte), subdito alemán, foja 1, Guillermo Willens to Sres. Hoffmann y Domínguez, Laguna de Términos, 23.07.1878. Regarding the Kelle family: Einwohnermeldeamt Dessau, 1824-1978, provided by Veronika Kelle (Dessau), telephone interview by author, 30.09.2004. Information pertaining the Stechert family was obtained from: Evangelisches Pfarramt Oranienbaum, Sterberegister, B22, So. 246, Nr. 12, Wilhelmine Stechert; LHASA, Dessau, Staatsministerium Dessau 3, Nr. 1306. Relating to the Nain family, see LHASA, Dessau, Verzeichnis Staatsangehörigkeitsausweise, 28.06.1904, Kreisdirektion Dessau-Köthen, Nr. 88, S. I l l , Eintrag 32; Evangelisches Pfarramt Oranienbaum, Sterberegister, B21, So. 143, Nr. 57, Leopold Nain, 24.07.1883. 330. Durán-Merk 2007: 96-101.

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Germany, besides some conceivable misinterpretations of the agreement itself.331 It could have been a strategy employed by the former settlers to evade stigmatization: being a "colonist" was still associated during the Porfiriato in Yucatán with poor, unqualified laborers. It was perhaps an attempt to avoid status dissonance, given that Europeans, especially Germans, were supposed to be part of the upper classes, which was not the living reality of the ex-Villa Carlotans and their descendants. On the other hand, there are concrete examples of former colonists who understood that they had renounced their previous alliances by accepting to be part of Villa Carlota, as Federico Worbis declared in an interview with The New York TimesP2 It is possible that during the Second Mexican Empire, more German-speaking people resided in Yucatán than here noted. Local archives contain documents related to businesspersons carrying German-sounding last names, but given that no clear indication of a nationality was found, plus the fact that some of these persons appear to have left by 1867, they are not part of this study. Such are the cases of Schott and von Hippel, who worked under the orders of Salazar Ilarregui as part of the Comisión Científica de Yucatán, a group consisting of twelve individuals from Mexico City and Yucatán, plus these two foreigners.333 Summing up: Quantitatively speaking, the individual migration into Yucatán before 1876 remained insignificant. It was in its majority a work-motivated, urban-urban migration of single people dedicated to commerce or services. Only one of them, Juan Crasemann, partly fulfills the features assigned to the Hanseactic capitalists in Mexico. The few German-speaking immigrants that stayed enjoyed elevated

331. AGEY, PE, 1866, caja 156, Solicitud de los Colonos de Sta. Elena, acusando á Mr. von Hippel de falsedad y no cumplimiento á las promesas que les hizo al traerlos, Mérida, 23.08.1866. 332. S. J. B., "Yucatan and her Slaves," The New York Times, 02.10.1887, http:// query.nytimes.com/mem/ archive-free/pdf?_r=l &res=9F04El DB1530E633A25751C 0A9669D94669FD7CF, (accessed 28.08.2008). 333. CAIHY, Fondo Reservado (hereinafter FR), XLVIII-1865-1/4, 030, Recibos de la Comisión Científica; ibidem, n./id., 1866-1868, Cuenta de gastos erogados por la sección topográfica de la Comisión Científica de Yucatán desde el 01.11.1866 hasta el 15.01.1867; ibidem, LV-1866-4/4, 023; ibidem, n./id., 1866, Comisión Científica de Yucatán, Jose' L. Meer, Mérida, 01.03.1867; ibidem, n./id., 1867, Mérida, 01.04.1866, letter from Ignacio Fernández de Galindo to Salazar Ilarregui.

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social status, sometimes thanks to their marriage strategies and the favorable reception that the local elites gave them. Though the Villa Carlota colonization program failed as such, a significant number of former colonists stayed in Yucatán and found themselves in a position where they, as individual immigrants, had to come to terms with the host society. Both the individual newcomers as well as the settlers could be classified as mostly economic migrants, although some had more resources than others. All the Villa Carlotans, however, belonged to the underprivileged classes and came in many cases from a rural environment. They were relocated here as families with the intention to make Mexico their new home. Another difference is that since many women and children migrated, we cannot speak about an almost exclusive migration of single males, as the Mexico City and Puebla cases report. The thesis of a closed group who refused to interact with the locals does not appear to correspond to the reality found in the peninsula before 1876 either, given that miscegenation, continuous work, and social relationships with Yucatecans and Mexicans have been confirmed. This brief introduction shows that the German immigrants were not a homogenous group by 1876 by any means, and that the initial conditions of the community here studied are different to those reported in the existing literature. This makes it particularly interesting to determine to what extent intra-ethnic relationships took place after 1876, and what was the nature of those contacts. Were the ex-Villa Carlotans perceived by their more affluent fellow countrymen as "Germans," or were they marginalized? Did the mechanics change as the community received new members? Did the locals distinguish between " p o o r " and "rich" Germans? H o w did the different groups become part of the host society? These issues will be addressed in the upcoming chapters. It is also important to be aware that the German-speaking people who arrived to Yucatán during the Porfiriato found an already existing small number of compatriots. This could have facilitated the construction of social networks and the formation of an ethnic enclave.

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4.2.2. Being an Immigrant in Yucatán: Migration and Status Distinctions The historian David Eltis wrote, that "modern migration to the Americas has lasted five hundred years." 334 If Yucatán received newcomers from diverse countries only in small numbers, these increased during the Porfiriato; they, however, never represented more than 5% of the population.335 Besides the already described openness of Mexico to migrants of all countries without restrictions, the immigration law of 1886, the Ley de Extranjería y Naturalización, boosted the rights and protection of foreigners.336 On one hand, it established the expatriation of those considered undesirable, which was rarely applied except to Asians. On the other hand, it assured aliens the same civil rights and guarantees given to Mexicans by the 1857 Constitution, allowing them to buy large tracts of empty lands and possess national goods, simplified the requirements for naturalization, lowered the bar with regards to reasons for requesting citizenship, and facilitated the import of laborers, among others. The henequen boom brought with it not only demands but also business opportunities: who came for what purpose created status distinctions among the newcomers. On the one hand, thousands of full-time laborers were needed. Given that the Maya villagers were considered insufficient to satisfy the needs of the export economy, hacendados aided by politicians actively organized what they thought of as the "import of workhands": these were mostly Canary Islanders, Cubans, Koreans, and Chinese, besides small groups of Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, and other Mexican nationals. These migrants had at entry a low socio-economic status. On the other hand, this bonanza encouraged independent migration of, among others, Syrian-Lebanese, North Americans, and Europeans. These sought employment, offered professional services, tried to find their fortunes, or started businesses of various sizes in the Mayab.337 The 334. Eltis 1983:251. 335. Wells and Joseph 1992: 189. 336. Instituto Nacional de Migración and Secretaría de Gobernación 2000: 93-101. 337. During the first decade of the twentieth century, job offers in the construction industry doubled in Yucatán; the demand for professional services experienced the same growth, see Wells and Joseph 1992: 66f.

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last two, in the Yucatecan imagery associated with the idea of "civilization," were especially sought after. Year 1895 1900 1910

Total Population 298,600 309,652 339,613

Foreign Males 874 1,634 3,461

Foreign Women 447 825 1,217

Total Foreigners 1,321 2,459 4,678

Table 3. Population of Yucatan, According to the National Censuses Sources: Salazar Anaya 1996: 107, 109; I N E G I 2000; I N E G I 2009: Cuadro 1.49.

The migrant groups were highly diverse, not only in terms of their origin and pre-migratory conditions, but also with regards to the roles assigned to them and their possibilities of social incorporation. Most of the immigrants were men (Table 3), which is important because, as I have seen during my archival research, many of them married locally. 4.2.3. Immigrant

Groups Arriving During the Porfiriato

I will present the main characteristics of the newcomers from the initial migration categories of "Contracted Laborers" and "Independent Migrants." I also decided to add the category of "Combo or Unclear Group," for a cluster whose characteristics are imprecise. At the end a special segment is dedicated to those people of other Mexican states who also contributed with their presence, skills, and efforts to the Golden Age of the peninsular society. 4.2.3.1. Contracted Laborers Some workers came with individual contracts; others were hired as a group. Popularly imagined exclusively as Chinese and Koreans, the specific groups present in the peninsula were much more varied.

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Reviewing Yucatecan contemporary newspapers, 338 I noticed that the media seemed to have reinforced some practices that contributed to this lack of differentiation, a way to make the other "invisible." Apparently in daily usage the collective expression asiáticos, Asians, or hijos del celeste imperio, children of the Celestial Empire, were used as umbrella terms. Chinese and Koreans formed the largest contingents of Asians; there were also smaller groups of Javanese and Japanese. There are reports of reduced numbers of Chinese immigrants coming to Mérida from Cuba from the 1840s, or from Belize from the 1860s.339 International conjuncture increased this migration as the nineteenth century was coming to its end: political and economic crisis in China, rejection on the part of the United States, and the interest of Yucatán in acquiring laborers were crucial. Beginning in 1880, when the Burlington Treaty was revised, and becoming stronger after the passing in 1882 of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the United States' racist ban on Chinese migration had severe consequences.340 Besides making the life of some of those persons difficult and forcing them to immigrate into the Mexican northern states, groups of newcomers had to be redirected into various countries, whereas others who were for example in Cuba could not return to their country of origin and had to migrate further. 341 Some of these came to the peninsula, where they built a part of the railway system —which has selectively been forgotten by several chroniclers of the Mayab's history— while others worked as laborers in henequen haciendas.342 From the 1890s on, contractors introduced Chinese immigrants by the 338. See Periodicals, in Appendix 1. 339. Antonio Manuel Alamilla Fuentes, El cosmopolitismo de los común y corrrientes. La inmigración a Yucatán durante el Porfiriato, (Licenciatura en Ciencias Antropológicas con especialidad en Historia, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 1994), p. 69; Raúl Casares Cantón, Yucatán en el tiempo. Enciclopedia alfabética, vol. Ill, (Mérida: Cares, 1998c), pp. 394f; José Juan Cervera Fernández, "La herencia cultural de los chinos en Yucatán," Cbacmool. Cuadernos de Trabajo Cubano-Mexicanos 1, no. 1 (2003): pp. 172-221. 340. For an analysis of these discriminatory migration policies against the Chinese people in the USA, see Orn Bodvarsson and Hendrick van den Berg, The Economics of Immigration. Theory and Policy, (Berlin: Springer, 2009), pp. 355-8. 341. Cervera Fernández 2003:181. According to this author, the USA did not allow Chinese to pass through the country on their way back to China. 342. González Navarro 1979: 212; Cervera Fernández 2003: 176f.

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hundreds. Only those who worked in agriculture and came with a contract have been roughly estimated at about 3,000 people.343 After their engagements expired, some stayed among the rural population, working for example in stables or as small farmers, activities by which they initiated new techniques that made certain vegetables available all year round. However, many moved to Mérida. Recent research estimates that more than a thousand Koreans, among them women and children, were brought to Yucatán in 1905 to work on henequen haciendas.344 Recruited in large Korean cities by a British trader and his Japanese associate, this migration was requested by the Junta de Inmigración de Yucatán. The families came under false promises of prosperity, only to find out that they had been hired as a contracted group to labor in Yucatecan haciendas at a daily wage that went from 70 cents to one peso for eight to 12 hours of work.345 According to scholars who have carefully studied this group, the immigrants' living conditions were that of slavery.346 Many died, others escaped. Those who survived became free after having fulfilled their contracts, if they could afford to —meaning, if they were able to repay the loans they had allegedly taken from their masters. Not being able to return to their country, many moved to Mérida, where they started small businesses and offered services; others migrated to Cuba.347 Another part was hired in the neighboring state of Campeche, working in haciendas that belonged to a German-speaking businessman,348 details I will discuss in another chapter. The Yucatecans also attempted to attract Japanese immigrants, without great success. By 1910, only 46 individuals of the projected 600 families had been recruited, given that the Japanese government, reacting to John Turner's reports of slavery-like working conditions in Yucatecan haciendas, decreed a ban on further migration to the peninsula.349 The 343. Cásares Cantón 1998c: 394f; González Navarro 1979: 213. 344. Some regional literature still uses the euphemism of colonos to refer to groups of contracted laborers, see Yucatán en el tiempo. Enciclopedia alfabética, vol. II, (Mérida: Cares, 1998a), p. 395. 345. Corona Baeza 2006: 160f. 346. Ibidem: 65. 347. Ibidem: 166; Gutie'rrez May 2011:1, 5-8, 75. 348. A G E Y , J C , Administración, Schacht, caja 108, exp. 1,1916-1930. 349. The North American investigative journalist John Kenneth Turner (1879 1948) traveled to Yucatán just before 1910, trying to answer the question as to whether

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same appears to have happened to the plan of bringing Javanese as workers. In the opinion of a local scholar, it is possible that the Indonesians brought to the area the now famous chile habanero, Habanero chili, without which it is not possible to imagine the cuisine of the Mayab.350 The Asian immigrants had in common that, working initially in haciendas, they integrated into the rural laborer class. Those who were in mid-sized groups —working in the haciendas Yaxcopoil and Timul, among others— were able to keep some of their traditions and many married Maya women. 351 Once in Mérida, they belonged to the modest strata.352 Groups of Canary Islanders also came to Yucatán as contracted laborers. Besides the settlers brought in 1841 by the Government to repopulate the then-abandoned area of Bacalar in the southeast of the peninsula, more than 700 laborers were imported during the Porfirian Era to work in haciendas.353 Additionally, there are reports of a minimum of 600 Puerto Ricans who worked as agricultural laborers from 1901 until 1903 in the Mayab.354 The discourse of the elites about several of these groups changed, from praising them as hard-working people who could get used to the weather easily and adapted well to a rural lifestyle, to discrediting them as pernicious as soon as they moved into the cities.355 The Asians usually suffered more discrimination than other groups. They became the target of tasteless jokes and attacks on the there was slavery in the Mayab's haciendas, see John Kenneth Turner, México bárbaro, (México: Contenido, 1975). His work, published originally as articles in The American Magazine, and issued later as a book, created great controversy. 350. González Navarro 1979: 213; 1998a: 395. 351. Javier Amado Corona Baeza, La vida de los descendientes coreanos en Yucatán, Seminario Internacional en Conmemoración del Centenario de la Inmigración Coreana en Yucatán, Seoul, 30.08.2005, 6f; Corona Baeza 2006: 159,170. 352. Corona Baeza 2005: lOf, 14f; Gutiérrez May 2011: 112-30. 353. Alamilla Fuentes 1994: 68; Cásares Cantón 1998c: 394. 354. It is unclear if these were laborers or real colonists: Cásares Cantón 1998c: 396, portrays them as the former, while González Navarro 1979: 211, presents them as independent settlers who cultivated tobacco and precious woods, besides producing for their own consumption and keeping cattle. Taking under consideration the USA invasion in 1898 and the consequent changes in the island, the timing of this immigration is interesting. This could be a promising new line of study. O n the history of Puerto Rico, José Trias Monge, Puerto Rico: The Trails of the Oldest Colony in the World, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), (pp. 21-49). 355. González Navarro 1979: 174,210, 212f.

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part of the media, being stigmatized as dangerous, unhealthy, and vicious,356 while the Cubans and Spaniards blended more easily with the working classes. Those Asians who stayed after the expiration of their contracts moved from rural Yucatán into the popular barrios of Mérida, such as San Sebastián. In the city, they usually started a life as small merchants, opening corner stores or ice cream shops, or offered their skills in areas such as laundry, ironing and cooking according to demand. They showed great discipline and work capacity,357 interacted with the local population and influenced the daily life of the meridanos, among other ways, by exploring new areas of the service industry.358 The paths of several of these humble migrants crossed with those of the German-speaking immigrants, as suggested above. However, the Western-Europeans and their offspring were not always in charge: sometimes they were workers in haciendas, married contracted laborers, etc., as I will present in Chapters 6 and 7. 4.2.3.2. Combo- or Unclear-Group The Porfirian administration subsidized several Italian colonies in other areas of the Mexican Republic, but not in Yucatán.359 Nevertheless, the Mayab received at least two groups of distinct Italian migration. The first arrived during the last decades of the nineteenth century, and was composed of artisans —especially shoemakers— and laborers, who aided in the construction of Yucatecan railways. The second group had different characteristics. Public and private construction during the Porfiriato followed European models. When the Teatro 356. Ibidem: 213. Some examples of this unfair treatment have been studied in detail by Alamilla Fuentes 1994: passim. 357. Blichfeldt 1912: 46, was very impressed by their work in Mérida, where they took care of the vegetable gardens of the city. 358. Alamilla Fuentes 1994: 69; Cervera Fernández 2003: 198. 359. On the Italians in Mexico during the Porfiriato, see Lemcke 1900: 172ff; González Navarro 1960: passim; José Benigno Zilli Mànica, Italianos en México. Documentos para la Historia de los colonos italianos en México, (Xalapa: Ediciones San José, 1981); José Benigno Zilli Mànica, La Villa Luisa de los italianos. Un proyecto liberal, (Xalapa: Universidad Veracruzana, 1997); José Benigno Zilli Mànica, "Colonos vénetos en territorio mexicano (1881-1882)," in: De extranjeros a inmigrantes en México, ed. Carlos Martínez Assad, (México: U N AM, 2008), pp. 201-31.

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Peón Contreras was commissioned in 1903 to the Italian architect Enrico Desserti, who also designed the Palacio Cantón years later, he brought with him a good number of skilled construction workers and artists, such as sculptors, draftsmen and painters.360 Several Italians arrived as singles and became permanent residents, forming ItalianYucatecan families. Others migrated with their families. Because this group, unfortunately, has not been studied in detail it is not possible to determine the specific migratory conditions of its people. Neither can it be identified to which group some Italians belonged, who in one way or another had to do with German-speaking people. One of such cases would be that of the Italian painter Benedicto Barone, who brought his German wife Elena Jacobis to Mérida. The family lived there for at least ten years, at least part of the time in the barrio of Santiago.361 During my research I was able to see that the Yucatecan archives contain enough data to carry out a specific study about the presence and integration of this group in the Mayab.

4.2.3.3. Independent Immigrants The migration of Spaniards into Yucatán did not stop except briefly in 1821. An undetermined number of newcomers apparently integrated well and quickly into the host society during the Porfiriato, and some of them reached positions of power.362 Nonetheless, given that the group in its totality has not been studied in detail, it is difficult

360. Cásares Camón 1998a: 395; Christian Heilkov Rasmussen and Luis Millet Cámara, Mérida en la época colonial y del oro verde, (Mérida: Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 1984), pp. 84f, 97. 361. Elena Jacobis Chápiro (Breslau, 1884 - New Orleans, 1917) and her husband Benedicto Barone (Cantabria, 1874 - ?) had a daughter named Juana Narcisa (Mérida, 1903 - ?). Two Italian men served as witnesses to Juana Narcisa's birth registration , Pedro Macini, also a painter, and Martin Bruselli, a merchant. A H R C E Y , Mérida, Nacimientos, 1903, libro 84, no. 2341; C A I H Y , L M E P , 03.10.1913, p. 48, no. 99; Ancestry, Familienstammbaum, Roig Family Tree, Benedetto "Benedicto" Genaro Barone, http://trees.ancestry.de/tree/25922322/person/1742103461 ?ssrc=, (accessed 13.01.2013). Apparently the Barone Chápiro had more children in Mérida; these were, however, not included here because the information about them is insufficient. 362. Várguez Pasos 1990. The cases of Avelino Montes and Rogelio Suárez, who through marriage reached upward social and economic mobility are presented in Ramírez Carrillo 1994: 72-7.

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to apply these assertions to all Spanish immigrants of various socioeconomic strata.363 Cubans also constituted a cultural group that was no stranger to the Yucatecans prior to 1876. Some of these migrants were politically motivated members of the elite, who left —sometimes temporarily, others for good— during their three wars of Independence against Spain, known as the Ten Year War, or the Great War (1868-1878), the Little War (1879-1880), and finally the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1899). During these conflicts people of all strata fled the uncertain economic conditions of the island.364 Given the old standing links between the peninsula and Cuba, migration has been numerous and some aspects of it remain understudied. It is important to mention, however, that not all Cuban newcomers were independent migrants. From 1865, colonies of workers were organized by an enterprise called Compañía Colonizadora de la Costa Occidental de Yucatán.365 Probably around 200 people of this origin lived in three colonies on the peninsula named Vega de San José, Yalakin, and Puerto Morelos. Cubans not only brought revolutionary ideas, theatre, and literature to the Mayab starting in the nineteenth century, but also baseball, new vocabulary, public behaviors —such as to talk in the movie theatre, speak openly about one's own private life, and the use of the guayabera (a short-sleeved lightweight shirt, typically worn by Yucatecan men). Thanks to the Cubans, in the Mayab not only are the buses called by the Cuban word guagua, people dance mambo and enjoy the Cuban Creole cuisine but, more specifically, a discourse about friendship and solidarity has been put into practice in many ways throughout the centuries.366 Commonly, but wrongly, called turcos (Turkish people), most of the migrants from Mount Lebanon who came to Yucatán were Maronite 363. Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 394, reported that Spanish, Italian, Lebanese, and members of other national groups of modest means lived in working class neigborhoods among the Maya and mestizo population. 364. Carlos Urzáiz Rodríguez, La inmigración cubana en Yucatán, (Mérida: Club del Libro, 1949); González Navarro 1979: 21 Of; Cásares Cantón 1998c: 394. 365. González Navarro 1979: 210. 366. The most interesting study about the cultural contact between Cubans and Yucatecans is that by Victoria Novelo, Yucatecos en Cuba: Etnografía de una migración, (México: CIESAS, I C Y , 2009).

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Christians of rural origin. This was a scaled migration carried out from 1879 until 1930, by which men came first, bringing their wives, children and other relatives afterwards. Studies that examined the personal and familial connections among the immigrants in Yucatán have found out that 5 7 . 2 % of 585 resident families came from just seven Mediterranean towns, 367 meaning that this was partly a chain migration. The Lebanese were initially independent street peddlers, selling inexpensive fabric goods and articles to the poor in Mérida and in other localities. After a few years some of them were able to establish small stores, in which they employed freshly arrived compatriots. 368 Apparently a supportive minority, they buttressed the business efforts of other compatriots in terms of providing credit, for example, and invested great efforts in keeping their ethnic community together. Through the preservation of intense inter-ethnic links and endogamy during the first two generations, they kept their family life private and maintained a strong cultural identity. Yet, at the same time, they carried out intense economic and social interactions with the Yucatecans and other foreign cultural groups. The Syrian-Lebanese as a group applied strategies to accumulate capital that included hard work, frugal spending and territorial concentration —living mostly in the working class neighborhoods of Mejorada and San Cristobal, establishing their businesses in Calle 6 5 — but also patronage, associations with the local elites, and even illegal activities. Thanks to these tactics, some families embarked on a process of upward mobility from 1916 on, reaching its peak as an ethnic community in the 1930s.369 As Wells and Joseph have noticed, their success was not always well looked upon, given that other colectives perceived them as competitors. 370 In several interviews with

367. Ramírez Carrillo 2006: 183. Most of the research on this subject specifically in Yucatán has been carried out by Ramírez Carrillo. Consult also the smaller monograph by Teresa Cuevas Seba and Miguel Mañana Plasencio, Los libaneses en Yucatán, (Mérida: Impresiones Profesionales, 1990) as well as a few essays in diverse books. Additionally, there are firsthand retrospective accounts of migrants, such as the one by Jorge Nacif Elias, Crónicas de un inmigrante libanés en México, (México: Instituto Cultural Mexicano Libanés, 1995), (pp. 32-72), where the author describes the role of interpersonal contacts in his diverse changes of residence and lines of work. 368. Ramírez Carrillo 2006: 185-7. 369. Montejo Baqueiro 1981: 198; Cuevas Seba and Mañana Plasencio 1990: 43-6; 1998a: 394; Ramírez Carrillo 1994: 272-86; Ramírez Carrillo 2006: 190-2. 370. Wells and Joseph 1992: 188f.

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Yucatecans of German stock, the Syrian-Lebanese were presented as a group that profited from the downturn and restrictions experienced by the local Germans during the World Wars. Documentary evidence shows that business and personal relationships among these units existed; no clear substantiation of opportunism on the part of SyrianLebanese businessmen has been found. 371 The fact that some people of this origin are considered an integral part of the power elite in Yucatán, while the Germans are not, also comes up as a point of contention during the interviews.372 Although there are certain common aspects, there are also differences between the original characteristics, behavioral and integrative patterns, and a diverse development throughout the decades of these two communities that, without a doubt, would be interesting to study in the future. The French are perhaps the group with most similarities, in terms of migratory characteristics, to the Germans. Also independent migrants of various socio-economic conditions —from artisans to professionals and merchants— they found a positive reception because of the Yucatecan idealization of all Europeans. Those who stayed apparently incorporated themselves into the various social classes.373 There was also what appears to be a considerably large Englishspeaking migration in the Mayab for the period here studied. During my research I found many references to businessmen of British and North American origin that became residents of the peninsula, some of them playing important roles in the social and economic development of Yucatán. For example, already in the 1880s Charnay reported that there was in Mérida a "small Anglo-American colony." 3 7 4 O n his part, Thomas Gann observed by his arrival to the port of Progreso that "the Yucatecans, unlike most Mexicans, are extremely friendly both to Great Britain and the U.S.A." 3 7 5 He explained this through the Mayab's dependency: the United States was the largest buyer of the peninsula's 371. The information analyzed was that included in the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914." 372. Juan Edwin Schirp Milke, interview by author, Mérida, 12.03.2003; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, interview by author, Mérida, 13.02.2010; fieldnotes of the 2005, 2008, and 2010 seasons. 373. Canto Mayen 2011a: Capítulo III. 374. Charnay 1888: 269. 375. Thomas Gann, In an Unknown Land, (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924), p. 171. Thomas William Francis Gann (Ireland, 1867 - London 1938), served

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only major export, henequen; at the same time, Yucatán depended on all sorts of imported products from those countries. The statistics also point to a considerable presence: exclusively during the first semester of 1887, 30 North Americans and 19 British arrived to Progreso; 376 by 1910, the number of North American residents of Yucatán had risen to 4,678, according to that year's census. 377 This is, then, one of the groups that ought to be studied in particular soon. Here, I will only make reference in the following chapters to some aspects of regional life in which they interconnected with the German-speaking newcomers. I have noticed while carrying out this study, that Europeans and North Americans seemed to have enjoyed advantageous positions in the local society, often being part of privileged groups. My interpretation is that the capitalistic orientation of Yucatán at that time, along with the prevailing positivist-Darwinist ideology, added to the elite's over-idealization of "civilized" countries, facilitated some of these immigrants positioning themselves as a type of neo-colonial overlords.

4.2.3.4. Other Mexican States Along with the hundreds of immigrants born abroad that came to Yucatán in order to satisfy the demands created by the "Terrible Green Monster" there were by 1900 around 4,000 Mexican nationals from other states.378 These came not only from the states of Campeche and Tabasco, but also from distant districts in the center and the north of the Mexican Republic, such as San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas, bringing diverse cultural traits with them. A large contingent that requires special attention is that of the Yaqui,379 from Sonora. According to estimates made by an American newspaper, about 8,000 of these natives were deported to Yucatán; however, the 1910 census registered only 2,757 people of this origin.380 It could be possible that the first approximation is inflated, but it is also m a n y years as medical officer in British H o n d u r a s , t o d a y Belize. H e became one of the pioneers in M a y a studies. 376. Alamilla Fuentes 1994: 68. 377. C á s a r e s C a n t ó n 1998c: 395. 378. Ibidem: 395; Wells and J o s e p h 1992: 188f. 379. T h e Y a q u i , a native g r o u p , still live in the state of Sonora, in the Mexican Northwest. 380. G o n z á l e z N a v a r r o 1973: 59.

4.

THE

RECEIVING

SOCIETY

213

conceivable that, given the conditions of their deportation, many had died and some had escaped. The Yaqui, compared to the people from other Mexican states, were not voluntarily contracted laborers, but were survivors of a long-lasting peasant rebellion in the state of Sonora who were declared prisoners of war by the Diaz regime because of their resistance to giving up their land and water to the capitalists allied to the political system.381 Labeled as rebels, they were captured, sentenced without a trial to forced labor, and sent to diverse states in the republic. Those who arrived to Yucatán were turned over to contractors who distributed them to the henequen haciendas;382 later some of them were instrumentalized by certain power groups that tried to advance their political agendas after 1911, before being "repatriated" to Sonora.383 Once in rural areas, some hacendados attempted to keep them separate from other workers; this, by the way, also applied to Maya rebels taken as prisoners in the eastern part of the peninsula controlled by the cruzo'oh In spite of adversities, some of the Yaqui were able not only to revitalize their culture and to keep their identity, but also to interconnect with other ethnic groups.385 They contributed also to the ethnic and cultural mixture that is the Mayab and some people have learned to appreciate, as a local blogger recently expressed by asking his readers: "Is there anything more Yucatecan, than an identity formed of many others?"386 381. Raquel Padilla Ramos, " L o s yaquis: migración y deportación," in: Henequén, leyenda, historia y cultura, coord. Maureen Ransom Carty, (Mérida: Instituto de Cultura de Yucatán, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, 2006), pp. 146-56, (p. 152). On the Yaqui's rebellion and forced dispersion see Ramón D. Chacón, Yucatan and the Mexican Revolution: The preconstitutional years, 1910-1918, (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1988), pp. 163-7; Evelyn Hu-DeHart, "Pacification of the Yaquis in the Late Porfiriato: Developments and Implications," HAHR 54, no. 1 (1974): pp. 72-93; Wells 1985: 164-7. 382. Joseph 1985: 119; Padilla Ramos 2006: 149; Hea Jin Park, "Dijeron que iba a levantar el dinero con la pala. A Brief Account of Early Korean Emigration to Mexico," Orientáis IV, (2006): pp 137-149, (p. 138). 383. This theme has been studied by Raquel Padilla Ramos, Los irredentosparias. Los yaquis, Madero y Pino Suárez en las elecciones de Yucatán, 1911, (México: I N A H , 2011). 384. Gilbert M. Joseph, "Mexico's 'Popular Revolution': Mobilization and Myth in Yucatán, 1910-1940," Latin American Perspectives 6, no. 3 (1979): pp. 46-65, (p. 52). 385. On the living conditions of the Yaqui in Yucatán's haciendas and their integration to the host society, see Padilla Ramos 2006: 152-6. 386. "¿Acaso no hay nada más yucateco que la identidad compuesta a partir de muchas otras?" Kalycho Escoffié, "Yucatán: La centroamericana mexicana," Hojas en el Cenicero, no. 18.06.2012, http://hojasenelcenicero.blogspot.de/, (accessed 21.10.2012).

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An invisible group of coerced migrants that is barely spoken about is the one composed by children. These were mostly orphans that, following false promises, were taken as laborers to the Mayab before and during the Porfirian Era. The tutors of these minors were, according to reports, deceptively told that the children would be educated and well taken care of by families in the peninsula, when in reality they were put to work as if they were adults and sometimes were even mistreated by their "owners" or their foremen, as those who were able to escape and other witnesses reported.387 Although the majority were brought from other states, legal records in Yucatecan archives also document cases of alleged kidnapping of orphans in impoverished villages by people of certain means or connections. I believe it is important to recover the stories of these disremembered forced laborers. An important aspect that should not be forgotten is that, although in smaller numbers, a good part of upper class Yucatecans had traveled, studied, and lived in the United States;388 a smaller number did so in Europe. Among the latter, some spent time in Germany, such as Nicolás Cámara Vales, Pedro Solis Aznar, as well as some other members of the Aznar and the Peón families.389 These had a certain command of the German language and also served as cultural bridges among the groups. I hope to have conveyed in this brief sketch an impression of the difference between practice and imagery in the Yucatecan society at the time here studied. As a stratified society during the Porfiriato, not all locals were alike and neither were all the "whites." This initial segmentation concretized in class and lifestyle distinctions. In my opinion, Porfirian migration policy as applied in Yucatán was in its time believed to be in line with the needs of a modernization

387. González Navarro 1979: 206f; Clara Estela Sánchez Olivas, Cuando la luz ilumina y la sal no pierde el sabor, (Puebla: El Arca, n.d.), 141 f; A G E Y , JP, 1867, caja 115, exp. 37, Plagio. 388. F o r instance, the explorer Stephens recalls having met the hacendado Simón Peón dining in N e w York, see John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, vol. II, (London: John Murray, 1841), p. 397. Peón and his family offered all kinds of assistance to Stephens during his two reasearch seasons in the peninsula. 389. A G E Y , PE, Gobernación, 1866, vol. 156, Memorandum del 10 al 18 de agosto de 1866; Joaquín Rodríguez de la Gala Faller, e-mail to author, 21.07.2010; Casáres Cantón 1998a: 484.

4.

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215

program while maintaining an old social stratification, by which "racial" groups had a hierarchical order. Relying heavily on European and North American capital and know-how, the peninsular elites welcomed immigrants from states with a powerful economy who, in their minds, would make "modernization" possible. To many of these privileged migrants the host country became, as worded by a popular Mexican saying, "father of the foreigners and stepfather of the Mexicans." In contrast, work in agriculture was the only entrance option for Asians and other members of non-industrial areas, who subsisted in difficult conditions, similar to those of the poor locals. According to the perspective of some Yucatecans, preference was given in trades and skilled positions to persons of European or North American origin, which was resented.390 What we see, thus, is capitalist thinking shaping migration policy during the Porfiriato: private ownership, financial capital and the promotion of manufacture were highly valued, at the same time that workhands were considered an expendable commodity. Migration also revealed the strong economic and political nature of the articulation between the countries at play: "free" laborers from underdeveloped areas being objectified by the local elites; at the same time that the latter were under pressure, or were even manipulated, by nationals of those countries who bought henequen. Considering these initial distinctions, it is possible to venture that members of diverse groups of newcomers, even if living in the same city, did not participate in equal form in social and public events, nor were they assigned similar societal roles or had the same chances at reaching a certain social mobility within a couple of generations. In the following chapter, I will elucidate in detail the characteristics of the German-speaking immigrants as a group, so that an analysis of how they incorporated themselves into the host society is possible.

390. These expressions usually found an outlet in newspapers and similar publications. In the case of Yucatán, I located such contents in various issues of La Campana (1906-7), El Padre Clarencio (1903-5), and El Peninsular (1904-7), among others. At the national level, such contents have been throughly documented by González Navarro 1994b: passim.

5 . G E R M A N - S P E A K I N G IMMIGRANTS AND T H E I R DESCENDANTS

In Chapter 4,1 explored the characteristics of Yucatán as a host society with the intention of creating a framework that allows us to envision the environment into which the germanophone people arrived. However, to address that, we also need to identify what types of migrants we are speaking of, given that the migratory experience varies greatly depending not only on structural factors, but also on the migrants' background, age, gender, life cycle, aspirations, human and cultural capital, etc. Within the limitations of all historical research, I will attempt to recognize those specific features of this migration that contribute to answering the first question guiding this examination —what were the social and economic characteristics of the Germanspeaking immigrants in the Mayab between 1876 and 1914? This chapter, devoted to identifying the characteristics at the point of arrival of the immigrants as a group, is composed of two main sections. The first one details and analyzes the demographical and socioeconomic features of this unit. I am proceeding in this way for two reasons. First, concrete data is needed to attempt any type of further classification. Second, this is required to investigate to what extent particular claims about German migration in México applied or not to the Yucatecan case: was this an elite migration? Did the migrants' characteristics match those assigned to the Handelskonquistadoren, meaning male, rich, with wealthy connections, single, transients? The second section deepens the interpretation of the results using Klaus Bade's Typology of Migration as an analytical tool, which has been slightly adapted for this study, as discussed in Chapter 2. This can add a layer to the evaluation, by confirming or challenging some assumptions.

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Whenever applicable, the results obtained in Yucatán will be compared to those referenced by other researchers for Puebla and Mexico City, which I hope will put these findings in perspective. The source of the text, statistics, tables, and diagrams presented in this chapter is the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914" that was specially developed for this work by the author. 1 While this study is based on meticulous compilation and analysis of data pertaining to 607 cases, five families' Lebenswelten have been selected as samples to be examined in detail in Chapter 7. In order to illustrate beyond statistics the most significant characteristics of the migration of this group, I am including here other particular examples in the body of the text and as footnotes. For the sake of transparency, I have added in the footnotes the specific sources that relate specifically to data being discussed in concrete examples, although these are part of the above introduced database. 2

5.1. A GROUP

PORTRAIT

In this section, I will first present the size and composition of the entire yuca-alemanes group i.e. the immigrant generation and their progenies until 1914— analyzing this by sex and generation. This will allow us to approach the question to what degree this was a group of sojourners, offering a base from which to approach the group dynamics and transcultural processes explored in further chapters. Afterwards, I will concentrate my analysis on the characteristics of the immigrant generation, that is, generations 1 and 1.5, at their point of arrival to the peninsula. This is crucial for understanding how the life paths of the immigrants, and their descendants, varied. Although the facts collected in the databank provide ample information about other features of this group, I decided to concentrate on five aspects, which are the most important for the current study: Place of Birth, Estimated Time of Immigration, Religion, Civil Status, and Occupation or Profession.

1. Previously introduced in Chapter 1. 2. As already mentioned, all relevant information f r o m the items listed in Appendix 1 was input into the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914."

5.

GERMAN-SPEAKING

219

IMMIGRANTS

This is by no means a pure quantitative exposition. I will attempt to evoke the identities and experiences of some immigrants by giving concrete examples where appropriate.

5.1.1. Size and Composition of the Group: Sex and

Generations

It has been argued that germanophone-born migrants in Mexico City, in general, identified themselves as Ausländsdeutsche, temporary residents, who wished to go back to their homeland after a few years. Mostly a migration composed of single males, these would generally not marry, nor have descendants, while in their temporary residence. Was that the case in Yucatán too? The following graph (Fig. 29) shows the composition of the German-speaking community that resided in Yucatán between 1876 and 1914. Contrary to what was expected, some families came to stay, and many more were formed with locals. Four generations lived here during this period, adding up to a total of 607 people. The breakdown by generations and sex will be evaluated thoroughly here.

M 100 80 60 40

20

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GL.!

G2

G3

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Figure 29. German-Speaking Immigrants: Sex and Generation

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Generation

The immigrant generation, composed of generations 1 and 1.5, consisted of 188 people. O f them, 129 were male (69%) and 59 female (31 %). 152 were older than 15 years of age when they arrived in Yucatán; and of these, 114 were male and 38 female. Generation 1.5 totaled 36: 15 male and 21 female who, although born outside of Mexico, were younger than 15 at the time of arrival. Comparing these results: Puebla received 111 Germans from 1821 until 1910, divided into 88 men and 23 women. 3 If we were to consider the immigration received by the Mayab for the equivalent time span, first, we need to include individual migrants who lived in Yucatán for a minimum of one year between 1821 and 1865 —that is, eight people. After that, we must add up the colonists of Villa Carlota, 443, which totals 451. As a third step, we add the 159 individual newcomers (that is subtracting from the 187 people of the immigrant generation the 28 Villa Carlotans who were still residents in 1876) that arrived between 1876 and 1914. That means, that the Mayab, in total, received 610 germanophone immigrants in about the same period estimated for Puebla. Taking out the Austrians (eight) and Swiss (five), we can estimate a total of 597 Germans. 4 Thus, the Mayalands attracted five times more Germans than Puebla, probably being second only to Mexico City. It is noticeable that many more women immigrated into Yucatán (58) than to Puebla, which received only 23, and to Mexico City. 5 This can be explained by the fact that more families, including their children, chose the Mayab to reside.

Further Generations until 1914 From this point on, it is not possible to compare the additional generations of German stock in Puebla and Mexico City against those

3. Rojas Marín 2007: 12. 4. Given that the German-speaking people coming from Poland, Russia, and Alsace were legally Germans at that point in time, these are considered as such. 5. Rojas Marin 2007: 12, 61, estimates that women represented about 2 0 % of the immigrants. Statistics offered for Mexico City, although for a different time span, identify a vast majority of single males (97.6%), see Nagel 2005: 164.

5.

G E R M A N - S P E A K I N G

IMMIGRANTS

221

in Mérida, given that the i n - d e p t h studies carried o u t d o n o t offer systematic i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t the offspring of the immigrants during this period. 6 In Y u c a t á n , 112 males and 83 females, totalling 195 people, f o r m e d the second generation. O t h e r researchers have often confused this seco n d generation, or even later ones, as first.7 This usually happened w h e n o n l y last names o r hearsay w e r e taken as a point of reference. I will provide three examples: construing the letters written b y J u a n N . Ritter, in perfect G e r m a n , one could guess him t o be first generation, and the consular c o r r e s p o n d e n c e accounts him as a G e r m a n subject. Ritter — w h o w o r k e d for the Siemens & H a l s k e p o w e r plant in Mérida for several years, functioning as manager in 1 9 0 3 — was actually b o r n in Veracruz, M é x i c o . 8 H e was, therefore, second generation. A n o t h e r instance was F r a n z H a r t o g , a tall, blond, blue-eyed merchant, w h o served as G e r m a n consul t o Y u c a t á n f r o m 1 8 9 9 t o 1908. 9 Carlos H e r k l o t z was also second generation b o r n in Puebla o f G e r m a n parents, w h o came to live in the M a y a b ' s capital with his wife and children in the 1880s. 1 0

6. Von Mentz et al., eds. 1988; on her part Nagel 2005: Chapter 4, inquires about the group's social institutions. 7. For instance, the case of Juan Doerbecker, who came to Yucatán after 1914, and was presented by several of my informants as first generation. Archival research made clear that he belonged to the fourth generation. 8. Juan N. Ritter (Veracruz, ? - ?), from a merchant family based in Veracruz, was a director of Siemens & Halske, Mérida, from 1903 to 1904. Siemens Aktenarchiv München (hereinafter SA A), 5269-1, Abschrift J, no. 34117, Brockmann to Berlin, Mexico, 03.02.1902; ibidem, idem, Brockmann to Berlin, México, 16.05.1903; O'Farrill y Comp., Reseña histórica estadística y comercial de México y sus estados, (México: n.p., 1895), 10; Blázquez Domínguez 2002: 54. 9. Francisco de Paula Federico Rudolfo Hartog Morales (Tampico, 1853 - Mexico City, 1916), was of German-Mexican parentage. His father, Franz Joseph Heinrich Hartog (Bielefeld, 1813 - Tampico, 1878) emigrated 1832 to México, where years later he married María de Loreto Morales. FS, "México, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Francisco De Paula Federico Rudolfo Hartog Morales, 02.04.1853, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N6S6-MZ6, (accessed 10.04.2013); PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 9, 09.07.1899; PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 8, Sibeth to Kaiserlichen Gesandten von Ketteier, Mérida, 01.05.1897; AGEY, JC, 1917, caja 128, exp. 1, Hartog; Family Collection Catoir, Barcelona and Paris (hereinafter FC-Ct), Lebensbeschreibung von Tante Thusnelda Koch, Bielefeld, 1915. 10. Born as Carlos Roberto Juan Herklotz Reimer (Puebla, 1854 - Mérida, 1897), son of Nicolas Herklotz and Carolina Reimer. His father embarked on several business ventures in Puebla in the 1850s with modest success, cf. Rojas Marín 2007: 62, 94. The family, including his sister Ana Adelaida Albina and brother Nicolas, also lived in Veracruz

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By the time there was a third generation —the majority around the turn into the twentieth century— the composition of the group had inverted: 74 males (approx. 39%) and 117 women (approx. 61 %). The fourth generation was by 1914 relatively small, amounting to only 15 males and 18 females, that is, 33 people in total. The second generation, and part of the third, lived as teenagers or as adults, the beginning of the Revolution in Yucatán. While some of wealthy and middle class people resisted the changes and feared losing their privileges, several of those belonging to the lower classes probably saw in this movement a chance to improve their living conditions and even participated actively in the formation of unions, such as Bonifacio Dietrich. Hijo natural, out of wedlock child of a female ex-Villa Carlotan, Bonifacio was born in Santa Elena. After years of being a campesino, farmer, in that town and in the close-by Muna, he attempted various small businesses, such as traveling merchant —offering games of chance in fiestas de los Santos Patronos, in working class neighborhoods in Mérida and in different towns. Later he worked as drayman, or carriage driver (conductor de calesa)n in Mérida, and began to organize cockfights and other popular events in rural areas, among other occupations. Although able to save enough money to buy a few carriages he lost this property rather quickly, which together with various legal problems apparently led to the failure of his small enterprises. Probably around the turn of the century he found himself in need of attaining a salaried job in Mérida, started participating in union activities and by 1910 he was elected Secretario de la Unión Obrera de Yucatán.12

for several years. Carlos later married Concepción Méndez, from Ciudad del Carmen, with whom he had three children. In Mérida, he was a small merchant, and the family lived modestly in the working class neighborhood of San Sebastián. A G E Y , R C , Mérida, Defunciones, 1897, no. 365; FS, "México, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Carlos Roberto Juan Herklotz Reimer, 09.10.1854, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/NBV7-Y6J, (accessed 10.04.2013); ibidem, "México, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Ana Adelaida Albina Herklotz Rerines, 07.08.1856, https://familysearch.org/ pal:/MM9.1.1/NVZNX 4 X , (accessed 10.04.2013); ibidem, "México, Bautismos, 1560-1950," index, Carmela Herklotz, 04.09.1885, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/NFHK-ZLM, (accessed 10.04.2013); P A A A , Mexiko, Paket 45-1, Konsularliste Veracruz 1881. 11. These vehicles have already been described in Chapter 4. 12. This political and anti-capitalist organization was founded in 1907 and apparently was closed down and opened up more than once. It should be considered as a proto-type of a union. Most of the workers organizations during the Porfiriato were

5.

GERMAN-SPEAKING

IMMIGRANTS

223

Contemplating the totality of the group during the period studied —607 individuals— there were a total of 330 males and 277 females. In percentage terms, the former represented 5 4 % and the latter 4 6 % , numbers that are more balanced than those previously presented for Puebla. However, all of this still does not allow us to have a clear idea of h o w tangible at specific times the German-speaking presence was in the Mayab. Figure 30 can formulate this. It breaks d o w n the minimum number of persons of the immigrant generation residing in Yucatán year by year f r o m 1876 to 1914. This is a conservative approximation, because it does not include those people w h o stayed for only a f e w months in the peninsula. 13 The immigrants resided mostly in Mérida, but also in the port of Progreso, and a f e w towns, such as Hunucmá, Santa Elena, Muna, etc. (see Fig. 3). A s Figure 30 shows, immigration grew slowly but steadily f r o m the end of the 1890s. In my estimation, among the general factors that made the state more attractive f o r immigrants were the economic wealth created by the rising export of henequen, 14 an augmented spending power, the need f o r considerable amounts of machinery, tools and construction material of diverse kinds, the demand f o r qualified workers and service specialists, the societal turn towards conspicuous consumption, better sanitary conditions, 15 and the increased urbanization that made Mérida

oriented towards social activities, and real rebellions started around 1910, see Menéndez Rodriguez 1995: 316, capítulo 11. Bonifacio Dietrich (Santa Elena, 1873 - Mérida, 1961), Registro Civil de Santa Elena, Nacimientos, 1873, no. 14; Cementerio General de Mérida, tombstone Bonifacio Dietrich; Registro Civil de Muna, Defunciones, 1898, no. 224; AGEY, J C , caja 284, exp. 35, Ancona vs. Dietrich; "Centro de Obreros," Diario Yucateco (hereinafter/)y), 19.02.1910; Enrique Ayil Chi, interview by author, Santa Elena, 23.02.2003; Antonio Bonilla Baak, Santa Elena, 08.03.2003; Lizbeth Dittrich Gómez de Aldana, interview by author, Mérida, 10.03.2011. 13. In comparison, another source estimated that in year 1900, 80 German males and 13 females lived in Yucatán; documentally corrobated as permanent residents for that year were only 29 males and 24 females. See Hubert, Fritz, Richard Henoch, Gustav Lenz, and Wilhelm Dibelius, Handbuch des Deutscbtums im Auslande (Berlin: Reimer, 1904), pp. 120f. The difference could come from how the terms "German" and "resident" were defined, and from the loss of documents during the following decades. 14. For example, the income from henequen exports went from 1,078,000 pesos in 1877, up to 6,229,000 in only ten years, reaching one of its peaks in 1902, when it brought in a total of 33,977,000 pesos. Cf. Carstensen and Roazen 1992: 559. 15. Improved sanitary conditions controlled to a certain degree some epidemic diseases, such as yellow fever and malaria. The efforts to control yellow fever are explored by McCrea 2010: Chapter 5; Barceló 2005: passim.

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known as a progressive city.161 will go into some detail. In addition to needing more business related products —such as motors, electronics and ironwoods, among others— the Yucatecan planter's appetite for imported luxury goods boosted, and importers were ready to satisfy those needs. Additionally, a tax on henequen was introduced in 1883, which by 1900 equaled 70% of Yucatán's budget.17 The government used this income to introduce city lighting and to construct public works, meaning parks, transportation, street pavement, community buildings, etc. Many of the related contracts went to German-owned or with German participation- local companies that, accordingly, expanded their inventories and staff. Another factor should be taken into consideration which, in my view, explains the family migration and family reunification that seems to have occurred at that time: after decades of insecurity and violence, Mexico had become a stable and safe country under the government of Porfirio Díaz, notwithstanding the fact that this was a draconian dictatorship. Additionally, communication with Germany had improved thanks to several shipping lines, as described in Chapter 4. Germanophone-born residence in the Mayab reached its highest peak in 1911, when at least 53 men and 27 women dwelled here, i.e. 80 people. Why specifically in this year? This could perhaps be explained by the insecurity that the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in November of 1910 brought to the north and central part of the country; since this movement was delayed by more than four years before reaching Yucatán, the state was considered relatively safe. After 1912 the German-speaking population declined in the Mayab. By 1914, the beginning of the First World War put a temporary stop to German immigration and the arrival of the Constitutionalist regime to Yucatán in 1915 probably discouraged some immigrants. However, the following time period is not part of this study.

16. Such as the introduction of electricity, tramway lines, city sewage, new residential housing areas, etc., as detailed in Chapter 4. 17. Vela Sosa 2011:91.

G ERM AN-S PEAKING

5.

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225

IMMIGRANTS

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i'

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Figure 65. Remembrance of Edgardo Emilio Augusto Möller Escoffie's Baptism FC-Möller Bauzä.

people in those positions came directly f r o m abroad with such designations, as mentioned above; some arrived under different circumstances. For instance, Emilio Maximiliano Willkomm was f r o m 1884 until 1892 a merchant, before he became cashier at the Merida branch at the Banco National de Mexico. 27 Some foreign upper level managers and directors were well remunerated. The ones working for large ironwoods stores made up to 400 Mexican pesos a month, eventually plus sales commission, or bonuses. Those with Siemens & Halske received between 500 to 600 pesos, a housing allowance of 65 —which apparently was low compared to the cost of living, forcing the employees to pay out of their pockets another 27. Emil Maximilian Willkomm (Hamburg, 1854 - ?) was in 1895 accused of fraud by representatives of that national bank for the amount of 160,000 pesos. That same year he was sentenced to nine years, four months of prison. In 1900 Willkomm was pardoned by Governor Francisco Canton Rosado. AGEY, JC, 1896-1900, vol. 146, exp. 1 and exp. 4; AGAY, Sagrario, Bautismos, libro 82, p. 182.

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OF

LIFE

65 pesos— and reimbursement of transportation costs, amounting to about 50 a month.28 In this category I have also included highly skilled personnel of the power station who managed several employees or even a department, such as technical foremen (Maschinenmeister), who also had to be brought from Germany given their high level of specialization, such as the already presented Gustav Dreisow and Karl Wildfeuer (Fig. 69).29 In the case of the latter, when Siemens & Halske sold this electric plant in 1913 to the British concern J. C. White & Co, he was one of three experts that were specifically required to stay in Mérida.30 With regards explicitly to the iron goods stores, some people included in this category were called socios industriales, working partners, such as the aforementioned Germán Ravensburg. Juan Crasemann described him as a knowledgeable, reliable, and hard working person who would take care of all daily activities of the business about which he, personally, did not know much. Ravensburg brought valuable skills, but not a capital investment. Crasemann offered him a four-year contract and a 50% bonus on the profits of the incipient company.31 Some watchmakers and jewelers were also part of the middle classes in nineteenth-century Mérida. The services offered by this occupational group were highly appreciated in a consumerist society such as Porfirian Yucatán. Oligarchic families ordered from these professionals specially made cuckoo clocks for their urban residences and haciendas, several of which are still running in the homes of some meridanos. This was, nevertheless, a competitive profession, in which a few French-Mexicans also attempted to carve a niche in Yucatán, although not profitably.32 The other factor that could have contributed to the success of some of these 28. There are many reports about the unaffordability of rentals. For example, Richard Spieler, an engineer, complained about the high cost of houses in Mérida, which apparently S & H was not able, or willing, to negotiate. The conflict ended up with Spieler leaving the company. See S A A , 5135-1, Spieler to S & H Berlin, Mérida, 21.10.1903. 29. Karl Wildfeuer (Rohmhild, 1885 - ?) arrived to Yucatán in 1911. P A A A , Mexiko, Liste der im Staate Yucatan ansaessigen Deutschen, 27.06.1911. 30. S A A , 6558-3, Siemens & Halske Aktien Gesellschaft and J. C. White & C o m pany Ltd, Agreement for the Transfer to a Mexican Company of an Electric Light and Power Undertaking in Mérida, Yucatán, México, and for the Sale and Purchase of Shares and Bonds therein, 03.01.1913. 31. F C - C r , Johannes Crasemann to Father, Mérida, 09.02.1869. 32. Canto Mayén 201 la: 83, narrates the case of the Tabasco born Luis Claudón who, although very active, did not necessarily make a fortune. In the 1880s there were 17 people listed in this business in Mérida, only one of them was German, see Delmar 1889: 81.

7.

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

415

German-speaking professionals was the diversification of their businesses. While certain specialists crafted the pieces they offered themselves, or acted as distributors of prestigious businesses, such as Tiffany —selling for example 24 carat watches and chains, bracelets, rings and hairbands with precious stones, etc.— others imported fine silverware, or offered optical or photographic services.33 From four people of this profession, two prospered financially and socially while in Yucatán: Otto Milke, and Juan Dellenberg.34 Milke opened his jewelry, optician, clock and watch shop in 1899 in a central location, Calle 60 no. 508; by advertising as a "relojero alemán," German watchmaker, he highlighted his European precedence, which was a social asset at that time.35 Before his arrival, optometrist services were occasionally offered by traveling providers, such as a Dr. T. M. Roth, a professional from Vienna, who consulted in his hotel room during a short stay in Mérida.36 If this was unsuitable, people had to go to Havana or Veracruz to see a specialist. Positioning himself as a "scientific watchmaker and optician"37 Milke made use of a vocabulary and style that linked him to modernity and professionalism. The business prospered, leaving behind other competitors, who insisted on being "exclusively dedicated as opticians,"38 and probably creating some resentment. A few years later, Milke imported the newest ophthalmic appliances from the United States to offer the first fully equipped professional establishment in the region. While there were services and merchandise for

33. This was the case of Eduardo von Faber, who previous to opening his business in Yucatán had traveled as photographer throughout Central America. "Emilio Moller Bauzá, In situ," La Revista Peninsular, no. 830 (2005), http://www.larevista.com.mx/ ver_nota.php?id=218, (accessed 20.07.2009). 34. Dellenberg opened his "Relojería y Joyería Alemana" next to J. Crasemann y Sues. LRdM, 11.07.1880; Delmar 1889: 81; Alejandro K. Coney and José Francisco Godoy, The Legal and Mercantile Handbook of Mexico, (Chicago: Pan-American Pub. Co., 1892), p. 39. 35. "Milke," LRdM, 13.01.1899. There is a discrepancy about the date when the Milke's business was founded in Yucatán. Although an advertisement originally placed in the Album Recuerdo del Carnaval de 1920, reprinted in Ransom 2006: 176, says that this was established in 1879, this probably refers to Milke's activities in another city. All records compiled in the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914" informing this book, point to the year 1899 as the beginning of this business in Mérida. 36. Caballero 1901: 66. 37. "Milke," LRdM, 26.01.1900. 38. "Milke," ibidem, 18.01.1905.

416

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

IH

C u «

40-» bp c/5 Ô : -0 2 GÌ N •w c ^ U 0 rt N u JÍ * Q -O 3 S i> 'C '3 M-i g ó UH S « ci o e "rt "3 t/*5 -a a 0 e u 0 3 J5 o •M e u rt

0 O Ô E . 4-» i-.' y

„

C O WN=null&SHIP=null&RF=4&p ID=100956170308 (accessed 11.01.2011). Maria Sperber, 03.04.1914, Progreso, LN 0004, p. 0302, http://www. ellisisland.org/search/shipmanifest.asp ?MID=1287220426014521 6800&FNM=MARIA&LNM=SPERBER&PLNM=SPERBER& first_kind=l&last_kind=0&TC>WN=null&SHIP=null&RF=4&p ID=100426050078 (accessed 11.01.2011). Raoul Paul Harms von Rhasmy, 21.06.1893, Progreso, LN 0023, p. 0333, http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipManifest.asp ?MID=12872204260 145216800&LNM=RHASMY&PLNM=RHASMY&first_kind=18dast_ kind=0&RF=l&pID=103189160138&lookup=103189160138&show=% 5C%5C192%2E168%2E100%2Ell%5Cimages%5CM237%2D0612%

612

IN

O U R

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

5CM237%2D06120333%2ETIF8corigFN=%5C%5Cl92%2E168%2El 00%2E11%5CIMAGES%5CM237%2D0612%5CM237%2D06120335 %2ETIF (accessed 28.08.2011). Rosa von Rotheim, 20.04.1903, Progreso, Nellie Rowe de Bohm, family, and Rosa von Rotheim (domestic), LN 0003, p. 0035, http://www.ellisisland. org/search/shipmanifest.asp?LNM=BOEHM&PLNM=BOEHM&SYR =1903&E YR= 1903&first_kind=18dast_kind=08ctown_kind=0&ship_ki nd=OSiTO WN=null&SHIP=null&RF=21 &pID=l 02634180724&M ID=02132991710933983008& (accessed 17.12.2010). Footnote ICFBI, OGF, 8000-89576, Augustine (Agustín) Vales, Memorandum, R. Panster, Port Arthur, Texas, 03.06.1918, http://www.footnote.com/image/1433794ff, images 1-6, (accessed 18.04.2009). ICFBI, OGF, 28257, Christina Franke Vda. de Worbis, http://www.footnote.com/image/2358992, to www.footnote.com/ image/2358997 (accessed 07.04.2009. ICFBI, OGF, 72982, Max Heinick, http://www.footnote.com/image/957718 (accessed 05.04.2009). ICFBI, OGF, 366362, Otto Milke, http://www.footnote.com/image/5199012 (accessed 23.04.2009). NARA, Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation 1908-1922 (ICFBI), Old German Files (OGF), 17962, Adolf C. Fabricius, http://www.footnote.com/mage/2231942 (accessed 06.02.2009). NARA, Records of the Department of State Relating to World War I and its Termination, 1914-1929, Neutral Commerce, 763.72112/4370, Marsh to the Secretary of State, Progreso, 09.08.1917, http://www.footnote.com/ image/5418092Iff, images 1-6 plus aattachments, (accessed 07.04.2009). Geni Ali Khalil, Johannes Karl Heirich Crasemann Family Tree, http://www.genealogy.net/privat/r.wieland/wielanck/d0022/g0000040. html#I4322 (accessed 20.11.2011).

APPENDIX

1

613

Family Search Deutschland, Geburten und Taufen 1558-1898, index, Peter Engelbert Schirp, 01.01.1871, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/NT8G-HHW (accessed 10.04.2013). Ana Adelaida Albina Herklotz Rerines, 07.08.1856, https://familysearch.org/ pal:/MM9.1.1 / N V Z N - X 4 X (accessed 10.04.2013). México, Bautismos, 1560-1950, index and images, Agustin Worbis Ditry, 10.07.1874, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /N6LD-4Y8 (accessed 12.04.2013). Anastacio Aranjo, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3Z-VZB (accessed 25.05.2012). Anastacio Aranjo and Juana Celar, 29.12.1883, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/JZZD-64L (accessed 18.04.2013). Carlos Roberto Juan Herklotz Reimer, 09.10.1854, https://familysearch. org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /NBV7-Y6J (accessed 10.04.2013). Carmela Herklotz, 04.09.1885, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/NFHK-ZLM (accessed 10.04.2013). Chacón Worbis family, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3H-SlY (accessed 12.04.2013). Chacon Worbis family, 1930, https://familysearch.0rg/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3Z-54S (accessed 01.11.2007). Felipe Suaste and Maria Juana Celar, 21.11.1879, https://familysearch. org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /JZZ8-56J (accessed 04.01.2012). Francisco De Paula Federico Rudolfo Hartog Morales, 02.04.1853, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /N6S6-MZ6 (accessed 10.04.2013). Gruintal family, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /MK3Z-27L (accessed 10.04.2013). Joaguin (Joaquín) De Jesús Hubbe García, 25.12.1832, https:// familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /NY51-V55 (accessed 10.04.2013). José Tomás De Jesús Dietrich Munos, 20.09.1869, https://familysearch. org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NlVP-9Q8 (accessed 10.04.2013).

614

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

Luis G. Suaste Celar, 11.07.1881, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/J9H9-M9D (accessed 12.02.2011). María Encarnación Gruintal, 07.04.1872, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /N24S-F5C (accessed 10.04.2013). Meinhardt family, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK34-VN2 (accessed 12.01.2013). Meinhard; Krosker et al., 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /MK3Z-1 G H (accessed 16.09.2010). Worbis Franke family, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3H-8QX (accessed 12.04.2013). United States Census, 1900, index and images, Henrietta X Dorchester, 1900, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MSPS-252 (accessed 10.04.2013). United States Census, 1920, index and images, Herman Fritsch, 1920, https:// familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1 / M C R F - H F S (accessed 10.04.2013). United States, Germans to America Index, 1850-1897, index, Henrietta-H. Dorchester, 1867, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/KD3Z-4N6 (accessed 10.04.2013). Venezuela, Registro Civil, 1873-2003, index and images, Jacinto Agustín Meinhardt Krosehke (Krosker), 1885, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/K32B-C83 (accessed 24.12.2009). Förderverein Eisleber Synagoge Family Group Sheet, Alfred Hirsch, http://data.synagoge-eisleben.de/gen/fg03/fg03_397.htm (accessed 15.01.2013). Genealogybank Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Death Record, Carlos Fritsch, file:/// Volumen.n.O%20NAME/family%20search/Carlos%20Fritsch:%20 Death%20Record%20from%20the%20Social%20Security%20 Death%20Index%20(SSDI)%20-%20GenealogyBank.webarchive (accessed 04.09.2008).

APPENDIX

1

615

GeneaNet Sanchiz Ruiz, Javier. Family Tree, Felix Faller Rombach, http://gw5. geneanet.org/sanchiz?lang=en;p=felix;n=faller+rombach (accessed 25.09.2012). . Joaquin Hiibbe Peon, http://gw5.geneanet.org/sanchiz?lang=en;p= joaquin;n=hubbe+peon (accessed 07.09.2012). . Maria Luisa Pause, http://gw5.geneanet.org/sanchiz?lang=en;p=maria+luisa;n=ponce, (accessed 15.04.2013).

APPENDIX 2. CHRONOLOGY

Year

Yucatán

México

International

18151914

• About six million German-speaking people emigrate.

18151866

• German Confederation. • 1828: Mexico opens its Commercial Office in Hamburg; by 1831 it becomes a Consulate.

1820s1830s

• Friendship, Navigation, and Commerce Treaties are signed between Mexico and different German • 1829: Wilhelm Hoppe appointed as first Consul General of Prussia to Mexico.

• Independence from Spain.

1821 1834

• Mexico is connected by ship to Hamburg and Bremen.

18461857

• First peak of a German out-migration wave.

18471901 1854

1857

18641867

• "Caste War." • Officially only one German (from Prussia) is listed as resident of Yucatán. • Campeche is separated from Yucatán; becomes a Mexican state. • Second Mexican Empire. • Second peak of a German out-migration wave.

18641873 1865

• Civil Registry starts operations.

18651867

• 443 German settlers in the Villa Carlota colony, in Santa Elena and Pustunich.

618

Year 1867

IN

OUR

Yucatán

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

México

18671871

• North German Confederation.

18671876

• 25 governors rule in Yucatán in one decade.

1869

• 04/1869: Inauguration of the hardware store Ferretería y Mercería J. Crasemann y Cia, in Calle la de Molas, in Mérida.

• Mexico's Republican government is restored (República Restaurada).

• German Nationality Law (Gesetz über Erwerb und Verlust der Bundes- und Staatsangehörigkeit) is approved.

18701913

1871

• 18/01/1871: Proclamation of the German Empire. • Great Depression affects USA and German economies negatively.

• 07/1871: The port of Progreso starts operations.

18731879

18741875

• Smallpox epidemic in Mérida; 1,637 people die.

1875

• Around 40,000 bales of henequen are exported. • 01/04/1875: Construction of the Mérida-Progreso railway line begins. • The wide-gauge train runs between Mérida and Xcanatún (animal traction).

1876

International

• First public school in Mérida opens.

18761894

• In this 19-year span 19 people occupy the Governor's office.

1877

• Around 30,000 people reside in Mérida.

1878

• 07/11/1878: Hardware store El Candado moves into its new building, Calle 60 with 65 in Mérida.

• 21/03/1876: Porfirio Díaz temporary President of Mexico.

• 02/04/1877: Diaz is elected President.

A P P E N D I X

Year

Yucatán

1879

• First Protestant (Evangelic) mission arrives to Mérida. . 0 8 / 1 8 7 9 : T h e first steam locomotive is brought to Mérida.

18791930

• Immigration from Syria-Lebanon into Yucatán.

1880

• Juan Crasemann's credentials as first H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany to Yucatán in Mérida are accepted (appointed 1879). • 30/03/1880: In Crasemann's yard, the first windmill in Mérida starts to work. • 15/09/1880: Animaldrawn-tramway is inaugurated in Mérida.

619

2

México

• E n d of Diaz's first presidential term; Manuel González (straw man of Diaz) assumes power.

International

• U S A : Burlington Treaty limits immigration.

1880s1914

• German colonial expansion in parts of Africa and the Pacific.

18801883

• Third peak of a German out-migration wave.

1881

• Inauguration of the Mérida-Progreso railway.

1882

• T h e first bank in Mérida opens (a branch of the Banco Nacional de México). • 05/1882: Construction of the MéridaValladolid (with a fork to Progreso) train line starts.

18821887

• O t t o Rosenkranz is H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany in Mérida.

1883

• A tax on henequen is introduced

• Minister Resident Waecker-Gotter reports up to 150 German businesses in México. • U S A : Chinese Exclusion Act.

620

Year

IN

O U R

Yucatán

1884

• 233,000 bales of henequen are exported.

1885

• First Evangelic Church in Mérida opens it doors.

OF

LIFE

México

International

• 12/1884: Beginning of Diaz's second presidential period. • U S A : Contract Labor Law-control, screen out, return or deportation of "undesirable" foreigners. • Migration and Naturalization Law (Ley de Extranjería y Naturalización) comes into effect.

1886

1887

SPHERE

• The New York Times

• Construction of the jailhouse begins (Penitenciaría Juárez).

1888

publishes two articles about the Villacarlotans in Yucatan.

• 12/1888: Beginning of Diaz's third presidential period.

18881895

• Félix Faller is H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany in Mérida.

1890s

• Large Chinese immigration. • Baseball is introduced.

1890

• 7 0 % of Yucatan's budget comes from the tax on henequen. • 0 1 / 0 2 / 1 8 9 0 : T h e Banco Yucateco opens. • 04/03/1890: T h e Banco Mercantil de Yucatán starts its operations. • 10/1890: Ritter y B o c k opens on Calle 56 # 524 (La Ciudad de Mérida). • Lamp posts for the electric plant, Planta de Alumbrado Eléctrico in Mérida, are installed.

• In Germany this is known as " T h e Year of the Three Kaisers." . Wilhelm I I is proclaimed German Emperor.

• 18/03/1890: Germany's Prime Minister O t t o von Bismarck resigns because of irreconcilable differences with Wilhelm II.

APPENDIX

Year 1891

Yucatán

2

Mexico

• 12/1892: Beginning of Diaz's fourth presidential period.

18941897

• Carlos Peón Ancona is Governor of Yucatán.

1895

• According to the Census only 1 4 % in Yucatán can read and write Spanish; the state has around 300,000 inhabitants, among them are 1,321 foreigners. • 01/1895: Inauguration of the Penitenciaría Juárez.

18961899

• Hans Sibeth is H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany in Mérida.

1897

• 01/01/1897: Inauguration of the port of Progreso. • 01/02/1897: Inauguration of Mérida's public clock. • First open movie projections in Mérida.

18981902

• General Francisco Cantón Rosado is Governor.

18991908

• Franz Hartog is H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany in Mérida.

1900

• According to the Census, Mérida has around 57,000 people, and Yucatán has about 310, 000 inhabitants. O f the state's population, 2,459 are foreigners. • Drainage system inaugurated in Mérida. • T h e Circo Teatro Yucateco opens its doors.

. U S A : T h e Ellis Island screening station operates.

• Germany: Specialized magazine reports that the U S A is not an option for employees seeking a job. T h e market has been saturated for almost a decade.

• 12/1896: Beginning of Diaz's fifth presidential period.

1896

International • U S A : Bureau of Immigration is established. • Germany: high level of unemployment among clerks.

• 04/1891: First local fire brigade.

1892

621

• 12/1900: Beginning o f Diaz's sixth presidential period.

622

Year

IN

OUR

Yucatán

1901

• End of the "Caste War." • 08/1901: Inauguration of the Planta Eléctrica de Mérida.

19011903

• At least 600 Puerto Ricans work as agricultural laborers in the Mayab.

1902

• Quintana Roo is separated from Yucatán and becomes a territory. • As the first of several parks in Mérida, the Santa Ana Park is remodeled.

19021911

• "Clericato" in Yucatán.

19021906

• Olegario Molina's first term as Governor of Yucatán.

1903

• The El Candado hardware store inaugurates its new building on Calle 60 with 65 in Mérida. • Siemens & Halske takes over the Planta Eléctrica de Mérida. • The main streets of Mérida are paved. • The Paseo de Montejo is inaugurated.

1904

• 29/02/1904: The Chuminopolis and Chuburna suburbs are incorporated into Mérida.

1905

• According to the Census, Yucatán has around 340,000 inhabitants; among them are 4,678 foreigners. • More than a thousand Koreans are brought to work in haciendas. • Mérida's tramways are electrified; the first automobiles also start to circulate.

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

Mexico

• 12/1904: Beginning of Diaz's seventh presidential period.

International

APPENDIX

Year 1906

Yucatan

2

México

623

International

• 02/1906: Diaz visits Yucatan. • Governor Molina travels to Europe. • Molina's second term as governor starts. • Yucatan's telephone line network is among the most extensive in Mexico. • Hardware store Ritter y B o c k moves into its new building on Calle 56 # 514 in Merida. • T h e Hospital O ' H o r a n commences its services. • Parque El Centenario opens to the public. • 10/1907: Banker's panic in the U S A spreads through the nation, affecting other countries.

1907

• Olegario Molina is Secretary of Public Works in Mexico City.

19071911 19071909

• Enrique M u n o z Aristegui "governs" Yucatan for Olegario Molina.

19071908

• Economic crisis.

1908

• Teatro Peon Contreras re-opens in its current location.

1909

• First rural rebellions. • Pro-Madero demonstration in Merida. • 01/02/1909: Foundation of the Liga de Acciôn Social. • 0 1 / 0 5 / 1 9 0 9 : The Lucas de Gâlvez Municipal Market is inaugurated in Yucatan's capital.

19101919

• Franz Glukher is H o n o r a r y Consul of Germany in Mérida.

• Migration L a w (Ley de Inmigración) comes into effect.

624

Year

IN

OUR

Yucatán

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

México

International

1910

• Around 5,000 people live in Progreso; in Mérida more than 60,000 people. • Census registers 2,757 deported Yaquis in Yucatán; newspapers estimate around 8,000 of them in the state. • German Consul Rieloff visits Yucatán.

• In light of Porfirio Diaz's attempt to get "reelected," rebel groups form around Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, and Pancho Villa. • Mexican Revolution starts. • 12/1910: Beginning of Diaz's eighth presidential period.

• John Kenneth Turner publishes Mexico Barbaro.

1911

• Highest peak of German-speaking immigrants living in Yucatán: 80. • Uprisings in Santa Elena.

• 05/1911: Revolutionary troops take Ciudad Juárez. • 25/05/1911: Diaz's government falls; he leaves to France. • 05/1911-11/1911: Francisco León de la Barra is interim President of México. • 11/1911: Francisco Madero is elected President.

1912

• 10/1912: The Comisión Reguladora del Mercado del Henequen is founded.

1913

• Siemens & Halske sells Mérida's Electric Plant to J. C. White & Co.

1914

• 02/1913: Victoriano Huerta overthrows President Madero. • 19/02/1913: Huerta becomes President. • 22/02/1913: Madero is shot. • 04/1914: US troops in the port of Veracruz. • 07/1914: Huerta goes into exile; shortly afterwards the AntiHuerta coalition (Venustiano Carranza, Villa, and Zapata) falls apart. • 15/07/191413/08/1914: Francisco Carbajal is President.

• 28/06/1914: in Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated. This leads to the outbreak of the First World War in August.

APPENDIX

Year

Yucatán

1915

• 01/1915: First issue of the Boletín de la Guerra, a propaganda newspaper financed by members of the German community in Yucatán and by certain yucatecos. • 03/1915: Battle of Blanca Flor and Halacho. General Salvador Alvarado and his troops arrive to Yucatán; he establishes a pre-Constitutional Government. • 03/1915: Land begins to be distributed among the poor. • 950,000 bales of henequen are exported. • The German Club, Deutscher Verein, is founded in Mérida; it exists only until 1924.

19161920

• The German School, Deutsche Schule, operates in Mérida.

1917

• A German bowling alley, boliche, is inaugurated in Mérida.

2

México • 05/1915: Carranza is sworn in as President of México.

625

International

APPENDIX 3.

GLOSSARY

(G) = German; (M) = Maya; (N) = Náhuatl, (S) = Spanish. Agiotista (S): speculator, usurer; person engaged in abusive money lending activities. Alemán (S): person of German culture, Reichsdeutscher. Almacén (S): warehouse or storehouse. Alpargata: (S): a traditional Yucatecan sandal with a sole made out of rubber. Angestellter (G): clerk, employee. Ausbildung (G): training. Auslandsdeutscher (G): German subject living outside the Reich. Barrio (S): neighborhood at the edge of the central area of a city. Camarilla, (S): oligarchical faction. Campesino (S): agriculturalist. Campesino libre (S): free agriculturalist. Carta de seguridad (S): literally, safeguard letter, the predecessor of a passport. Casta (S): Colonial racial category denoting mixed ancestry. Casta Divina (S): name given by General Salvador Alvarado to the Porfirian Yucatecan oligarchy. Catrín (S): pejorative expression, used by various strata, to label those who emulated the clothing style of the upper classes, wearing out of date, or inexpensive versions of European inspired clothing. Also called gente pobre de vestido. Coche calesa. (S): horse-drawn carriage. Cochero/carretonero (S): driver of a passenger coach, or merchandise goods wagoner. Colonia (S): suburb. Comerciante (S): merchant.

628

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

Compadrazgo (S): ritual kinship ties between godparents and birth parents of particularly great importance in México. Compadre (S): godfather or godmother. Conductor de calesa (S): carriage driver. Contratismo (S): series of practices in which contracts are assigned to political allies, or to companies that provide bribes in exchange. Cordelero (S): rope maker. Costumbre (S): habit. Criollo (S): child of Spanish people born in the Americas. Cruzo'ob (M): Maya rebels. Curandera/curandero (S): Maya healer. Deutschtum (G): Germanness. Encomendero (S): holder of an encomienda. Encomienda (S): a system by which the Spanish Crown granted the conquerors special privileges. Estancia (S): cattle ranch. Estanciero (S): owner of a cattle ranch. Feria/verbena (S): fair, popular festival. Ferretero (S): hardware dealer. Fiesta de los Santos Patrones (S): popular celebration to honor patron saints. Gente decente (S): form in which the upper and middle class people spoke of themselves. Gente de vestido (S): form in which the upper and middle class people spoke of themselves, it defined wearers of up to date, expensive, European-style outfits. Gente pobre de vestido (S): see catrín. Guayabera

(S): short-sleeved lightweight shirt, wore by Yucatecan men.

Hacendado

(S): owner of a hacienda.

Hacienda (S): large landed state dedicated to grain, sugar, and/or henequen production. Hamaca (S): hammock. Handelskonquistador (G): trade conqueror. Hijo natural (S): child born out of wedlock. Huipil/jipil (N): traditional dress worn by Indigenous women.

APPENDIX

3

629

Juez de paz (S): Justice of the Peace. Kaufmann (G): merchant. Labores/labores domésticas/labores propias de su sexo (S): domestic labor, or housework. Lebenswelt/Lebenswelten (G): life-world/life-worlds (not easily translatable, a concept that encompasses lifestyle, living environment, and everything that makes up one's daily way of life). Lonja (S): local club or association. Maschinenmeister (G): technical foreman. Meridano (S): person who resides in Mérida. Mestizo (S): person of mixed European and Indian ancestry. In Yucatán used as an euphemism to refer to Maya people, commoners, or those who wear traditional clothing; Creole. Milpa (S): Maya cornfield. Milpero (S): Maya agriculturalist. Padrino (S): godfather. Peninsular (S): peninsular. Prokurist (G): general manager. Quinta (S): urban or country villa. Rancho (S): ranch. Reichsdeutscher (G): member/subject of the German Reich; Reichsangehóriger. Retreta (S): free open-air concert. Salir a tomar el fresco (S): to go out of the house and enjoy the fresh evening air, an activity enjoyed by the meridanos. Se acostumbraron (S): they got used to it. Sociedad en comandita (S): limited partnership with shared capital. Socio capitalista (S): investor in a business. Socio comanditado/socio industrial (S): working partner. Socio comanditario (S): investor, general director. Solar (S): Maya backyard with fruit trees, vegetables, and animals. Stammtisch (G): the regular's table or gathering of the same group of people at a regular day/time to meet and socialize.

630

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

Tertulia (S): Yucatecan meeting attended by regulars, usually held in open spaces. Tilburi/victoria (S): personal carriages of animal traction. Übermenschen (G): dominant men, supermen, idealmen. Verein (G): a form of voluntary association, such as a club, a society, a union, or a league. Voldn (S): horse-driven wooden vehicle. Yuca-alemán (S): Yuca(tecan)-German. Yucateco (S): Yucatecan.

APPENDIX 4. LIST OF THE IMMIGRANT G E N E R A T I O N

The following list is based on the information included in the "Database Yuca-Alemanes, 1876-1914." Please note that first and last registrations in Yucatán were estimated based on the documents located to date. The actual length of stay of some immigrants may have been longer. NAME

REGISTERED IN YUCATÁN

Andresen, J o h n (Juan)

1905-1909

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

Asharrer, Maximilian (Maximiliano) 1901

Ascharrer

Asharrer, Rosa

1901

Ascharrer

B e c k m a n n , Willi A n d r e a s

1914-1919

Beiswenger, A n n a

1865-1889

Bensel, W a l t e r

1908

B l u m (Gruintal), Maria D o l o r e s

1866-1927

B l u m (Fröhlich), L u d w i g (Luis)

1865-1889

Bock, Bertha J u a n a C a r o l i n a

1894

Wisbenga, Beisvenga, Peiswenger Grünenthal

Bock, Phillip (Felipe)

1889-1894

Bockwitz, Emil

1907-1913

B ö h m (Boehm) Wolf, H u g o

1893-1900

Boehm Wohl

B ö h m , A n n a (Ana)

1865-1906

A n a Bein

Bornitz, Carl A u g u s t

1865-1894

Bornitz, C a r o l i n e

1865-1911

Bornitz, H e r m a n n A u g u s t (Germán Augusto)

1865-1891

Bornitz, Pauline

1865-1922

Bornitz, Ernestine

1865-1911

Brauns, Friedrich (Federico)

1903-1911

Brauns Cubero, Guillermina

1903

Karoline

632

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

NAME

REGISTERED IN YUCATAN

B r a u n s C u b e r o , Teresa

1903

Bros, Lorenz ( L o r e n z o )

1906

Biirkle, ?

1903

Buhl, Wilhelm H u g o (Guillermo Hugo)

1906-1958

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

Buhl-Bros

Burck, R o b e r t o

1891

Clasing, J o h n Siegesmund Carl (Juan)

1903-1948

C r a s e m a n n , Johannes Carl H e i n z (Juan)

1868-1882

Czakowski, Stanislaus (Estanislao)

1905-1916

Davids, Bernhard (Bernardo)

1902-1935

Dellenberg, Hans Heinrich Adolf (Juan Enrique Adolfo)

1880-1892

Dellemberg

Dietrich, Friederike Louise (Federica)

1865-1922

Dittrich, Didrid, Dittry, Fittry, Fitry,

Dietrich, Louise Auguste

1865-1912

Doerge, Christina Isabel (Cristina)

1866-1894

Dorchester, Henrietta (Enriqueta)

1879-1898

Dreisow, Gustav (Gustavo)

1904-1909

Dreisow, Valesca

1907-1909

Dreisow, Wally

1907-1909

Dreisow, Erna

1907-1909

Dreisow, Else Valeska

1907-1909

Eckelt, Friedrich Louis (Federico Luis)

1865-1889

Eisner, Wilhelm (Guillermo)

1866-1898

Eisner, Gustav (Gustavo)

1866-1906

Engel, Alfred Friedrich Louis (Alfredo Federico Luis)

1897-1909

Ericksen, Hans

1913

Faber, Eduard (Eduardo)

1880

Czakowsky, Czachowski

Christine

Ekelt, Equelt, Eckell

V o n Faber

APPENDIX

NAME

633

4

REGISTERED

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

IN YUCATÄN

Fabricius, Adolf Conrad August Wilhelm

1905-1920

Fabricius, Johanna

1911-1916

Fabricius, Ellen Ida Maria

1911-1920

Fabricius, Vera

1912-1920

Faller, Felix (Felix)

1880-1920

Figler, Francisco

1905

F i g u e r o a Meinhardt, Siegfried

1889-1930

Franke, Christiane Friederike (Cristina)

1881-1919

Frisch, Alfred

1903

Frisch, Paul

1903

Fritsch, H e r m a n n

1905

F r o i t z h e i m , Franz

1914-1925

Galler, M o r i t z Georg (Mauricio)

1909-1920

Gerardts, Heinrich (Enrique)

1898

Giese, Carl (Carlos)

1896-1902

Gimbel, Andreas (Andres)

1865-1882

Glükher, Franz O t t o (Francisco)

1904-1919

Glükher, Karolina

1909-1912

G o m e r y , Alexander (Alejandro)

1906-1915

Franque

Herman

Gerhardts

Glükher, Gluekher, Glückher

Gretsch, Carl (Carlos)

1903

Gruintal, Carl Adolf (Carlos Adolfo)

1866-1900

Grünenthal, Blum

Gruintal, Maria Charlotte (Maria Carlota)

1866-1878

Grünenthal, Blum

Gruintal, Wilhelm (Guillermo)

1866-1889

Grünenthal, B l u m

G r u n d m a n n , August Arved

1914-1915

G ü n t h e r , Fernando

1911-1912

H a l b a c h , Erwin

1906-1908

634

IN

OUR

NAME

Harms von Rhasmy, Raoul Haupt, Pablo Heinick, Max Johannes Anton Heinick, Rosa Heinze, Hermann Hellwig, Arthur Albert (Arturo) Hellwig, Elise Herguth, August Hesse, Johannes Heydrich, Alfred Hirsch, Alfred Hirsch, Luise Ingbert, Arno Jacobis Chapiro, Helene (Elena) Jopp, Arthur Ludwig (Arturo) Kindle, Samuel Kirmes, ? Klinck, Gualteris Körber, Paul Emil Körte, Heinrich Joachim (Enrique) Krischer, Maria Kronnbitter, Joseph Kühne, Berthold Lappe, Hans Amadeus Armandus August Loos, Ernst (Ernesto) Maler, Teobert (Teoberto)

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

REGISTTERED IN YUCATÄN

ALTERNATIVE SM-LUNGS

1893

Paul

1885-1899 1914-1924 1914-1922 1914-1928 1913-1958 1914-1939

Elisabeth

1903

Herrgut

1909-1917 1896-1899 1904-1908 1904-1908 1911-1914 1903-1913 1896-1904 1881 1902 1903 1905-1928

Korber

1902-1917 1908-1910 1906 1908 1909-1918 1913-1947 1885-1917

Krombitter

APPENDIX

4

NAME

REGISTERED IN YUCATAN

Mayer, Fernando H.

1905-1907

Meinhardt, Maria (Krosker de)

1889-1935

Meinhardt Krosker, Adolfina

1889-1924

635

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

Meinhardt Krosker, Jacinto Agustin 1 8 9 3 - 1 9 4 0 Meinhardt Krosker, Albina

1900-1921

Meinhardt Krosker, Elena

1889-1930

Meinhardt Krosker (de Figueroa), Laurence

1889-1915

Meinhardt Krosker, Rosa

1894-1930

Meyer, Albrecht Eduard

1880-1881

Meyer, Federico

1907-1908

Miedtke, Jorge

1910-1913

Milke, Julius Otto

1898-1918

Milke, Elena Emma

1898-1941

Milke Milke, Aida

1898-1909

Milke Milke, Elfriede

1898-1917

Milke Milke, Emma Laura

1898-1906

Milke Milke, Gertrudis H.

1898-1982

Milke Milke Guillermo Oswald

1898-1950

Milke Milke, Otto Hugo

1898-1954

Milke Milke William Norman

1898-1955

Möller, Carl Emil Hans (Carlo Emilio Juan)

1887-1933

Pause, Maria Luisa

1866-1891

Perder, Albert (Alberto)

1914-1918

Pfennig, Augustin Emil

1866-1897

Pinkus, Eduard (Eduardo)

1847-1904

Purschwitz, Johanna

1914-1915

Ida

Fenic

636

IN

OUR

SPHERE

NAME

OF

LIFE

RF.GISTF.RED

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

IN YUCATÁN

Purschwitz, Paul Friedrich August

1910-1916

Purschwitz, Rosa

1911-1912

Rabes, Hans (Juan)

1908-1909

Ravensburg, Ernst Armin

1872-1920

Ravensburg, Heinrich (Enrique)

1885-1896

Ravensburg, Johann Hermann (Germán)

1869-1914

Redlich, Karl Johann

1902-1913

Rosenkranz, Otto (Othon)

1878-1887

Rost, Hermann (Germán)

1906

Rothe, Carl (Carlos)

1903-1907

Sanesland, Luis

1906

Savelsberg, Maria Josefina Catharina

1910-1913

Schacht, Käthe (Catalina)

1896-1932

Schacht, Heinrich (Enrique)

1890-1913

Schäffler, Ana Helena

1900-1918

Schäffler, Carl (Carlos)

1900-1921

Schäffler, Carlos jun.

1900-1921

S c h a u m a n n , Elisabeth

1909-1917

S c h a u m a n n , Henry Christian J. (Enrique)

1901-1921

Schilhab, Conrad

1890

Schiller, Carl (Carlos)

1911

Schirp Laabs, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl (Guillermo)

1905-1942

Schirp Malmedi, Peter Engelbert (Pedro)

1905-1913

Schmid, Maria Josefa Edalburga

1884-1889

Schmidt, Francisco

1903

Schmidt, Henry

1913-1915

Hans (Juan)

Schaffler, Schafer

APPENDIX

NAME

637

4

REGISTERED Ì N YUCATÁN

ALTERNATIVE SPEIAINGS

Schmidt, P. Gaspar

1892-1894

Schmiedecke, Kurt

1905-1908

Schmitt-Ring, Albert (Alberto)

1906-1907

Seller, Bertha Patricia

1865-1919

Celar, Sols, Solz, Xuls

Seller, Wanda

1865-1890

María Juana

Seller, Wilhelm (Guillermo)

1865-1879

Senius, Else (Elsa)

1908-1909

Sinius

Sibeth, Hans Victor (Juan)

1882-1899

Sibbeth

Sperber, Maria

1910-1914

S p e t h m a n n , Theodor (Teodoro)

1903-1909

Spieler, Bertha

1901-1904

Spieler, Richard (Ricardo)

1901-1911

Stein, Alfred V. (Fred)

1889

Steinmetz, Marie Antoine Joseph A. 1 8 8 8 Struck, Hermann Paul Wilhelm (Germán)

1900-1958

Sturenegger, Eduardo

1908

Taeschler, Carlos

1887

Tafel, Reinhard (Reynaldo)

1899-1907

Tauchnitz, Erdmuthe J. Frieda (de Struck)

1908-1934

V o n Haucke, Hans Martin Otto (Juan Martin Othon)

1887-1888

V o n Pustau, Joseph Gustav Wilhelm

1885-1886

Von Rotheim, Rosa

1902-1903

Voss, Lorenz

1905-1908

Waldrauch, Angela

1911-1912

Werding, Anton

1907-1908

Welz, Franz (Francisco)

1914

Frida

Rotheim, Rothein

638

I N O U R SPHERE OF L I F E

NAME

REGISTERED IN YUCATÁN

Wetzel, A l f r e d ( A l f r e d o )

1903-1908

Wetzel, A l f r e d o Jr.

1903

Wildfeuer, Karl

1911-1913

W i l l k o m m , Emil Maximilian (Maximiliano)

1890-1900

W i s s m a n n , Carl (Carlos)

1901

Worbis, A u g u s t i n a

1866-1905

Worbis, Friedrich (Federico)

1866-1899

Worbis Lange, Carl A u g u s t (Carlos) 1866-1921 Worbis Lange, Friedrich Wilhelm (Federico G u i l l e r m o )

1866-1903

Worbis Franke, L u d w i g (Luis)

1881-1928

Zielinski, A n t o n i n a

1900

Zielinski, Jose'

1900

Z u c k e r m a n n , José Francisco Alberto

1898-1902

ALTERNATIVE SPELLINGS

APPENDIX 5. SOURCES E V A L U A T E D FOR THE F A M I L Y PORTRAITS

P O R T R A I T 1 : T H E LEBENSWELTEN

Non-Print

OF THE B O E H M

FAMILY

Sources

Archives: AGEY, AN, Fernando Patron Evia, Escritura no. 1, 01.01.1905, Escritura constitutiva de Ritter y Bock. J C , 1901-1902, caja 300, exp. 6, Espinosa vs. Ritter y Bock. PE, Gobernación, 1916, caja 546, Dispute between Ritter y Bock and the Unión de Ferreteros de Yucatán. PJ, 1925-1930, caja 163, exp. 2301, Ritter y Bock vs. Schacht; 1937, caja 233, exp. 9459, Ritter y Bock. AGN, SG, Sxx, DM, A, caja 3, exp. 49, Federico Boehm, plus exp. 52, Hugo V. Boehm, and exp. 53, Nellie Boehm; caja 22, exp. 22, Nellie Rowe de Boehm. AHINM, 4-360-1931-6062. A H R C E Y , Mérida, Nacimientos, libro 71, no. 1436. Archivo Histórico de la Sociedad Mutualista Alemana en México, Inhumaciones Dolores, 1906-1946. PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 10, Burkard to Eugen Will, Monterrey, 09.02.1924; Reinkonzept, Köcker, 22.07.1925; Hagmaier to Generalkonsulat, Mérida, 16.01.1937; Departamento Jurídico to Collemberg, México City 27.11.1936. PROHISPEN, R y B, Libros de caja 1890-1894,1905-1906,1906-1908,1909, and 1910; Libro mayor 04.1905-01.1907.

640

IN

O U R

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

Family Collections: Family Collection Boehm Gasque, Merida. Interviews: Victor Robert Boehm Gasque, and Hugo Herbert Boehm Gasque, Merida, 04.03.2010; Victor Robert Boehm Gasque, Merida, 25.02.2010.

Print

Sources

Periodicals: LVdlR, 1916; NS-Herold,

Electronic

1-14-48 J a n u a r 1935.

Sources

Ancestry NYPL, T715, MR 822, p. 1, Hugo Boehm Wolf, 1907, http://search. ancestry.de/iexec?htx=View&r=5545&dbid=7488&iid=NYT715_8220280&fn=Heinrich&ln=Schacht&st=r&ssrc=8cpid=4005393109 (accessed 21.01.2011). NYPL, T715, MR 4708, p. 238, Hugo Boehm Wolf, 1930, http://search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse.dll ?MS_AdvCB=l&rank= 1 &new=l &MS AV=2&msT= 1 &gss=angs-g&gsfn=hugo&gsfn_ x—18tgsln=boehm+&gsln_x=1 &msydy=193 0&msydy_x= 1 &cpxt=1 &cat Bucket=rstp&uidh=dk6&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY8ch=20120 36218&recoff=8+9&db=nypl8cindiv= 1 (accessed 23.07.2011). NYPL, T715, MR 5566, p. 10, Friedrich Boehm, 1934, http://search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse.dll ?MS_AdvCB=l&rank=l &new=l &MSAV=2&msT=l &gss=angs-g&gsfn=friedrich&gsfn_ x=1 &gsln=boehm+&gsln_x=1 &msydy= 193 4&msydy_x= 1 &cpxt=1 &cat Bucket=rstp&uidh=dk6&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_C ATEGORY&h=20176 97070&recoff=8+9&db=nypl&indiv=l (accessed 13.03.2013). NYPL, T715, MR 6222, p. 8, Hugo Victor Boehm Rowe, 1938, http://search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse.dll ?MS_AdvCB=l&rank= 1 &new=l &MSAV=2&msT=l &gss=angs-g&gsfn=hugo&gsfn_ x=l &gsln=boehm+&gsln_x=l 8tmsydy=l 938&msydy_x=l &cpxt=l&cat Bucket=rstp&uidh=dk6&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=21063 693&recoff=8+9&db=nypl&indiv=l (accessed 13.03.2013).

APPENDIX

PORTRAIT 2: T H E

Non-Print

LEBENSWELTEN

641

5

OF THE F A L L E R

FAMILY

Sources

Archives: A G A Y , Sagrario, Bautismos, libro 24, p. 97; libro 68, no. 69; libro 76, p. 340; libro 7 9 B , p. 100, libro 82, p. 256; libro 90, no. 193; libro 96, no. 2 6 9 and 375; Matrimonios, libro 27, p. 273; libro 29, no. 258; libro 30, no. 547. Santiago, Bautismos, libro 52, no. 397; libro 55, no. 535; libro 59, no. 249; libro 7 2 B , no. 321. A G E Y , A N , Patrón Zaralegui, vol. 106, no. 8198 and 9553; Aznar Rivas, libro 2 1 0 3 , no. 240. J C , 1897-1898, caja 168, exp. 29, Pérez Galvez vs. Faller; 1898-1906, caja 90, exp. 4, Eisner; 1898, caja 202, exp. 1, Leal vs. Faller; 1899-1900, caja 229, exp. 1, Sibeth; 1900, caja 255, exp. 38, R e n d ó n vs. Faller; 1900, caja 260, exp. 6, Faller vs. Araujo; 1917-1918, caja 156, exp. 26, Molina vs. Faller at all.; 1918, caja 187, exp. 31; 1943, caja 310, exp. 011592. L i b r o s de la J u n t a Superior de Salubridad, 1912, libro 40. P E , Gobernación, 1887, caja 245, Millet H ü b b e and Félix Faller to Governor, Mérida, 31.07.1887; 1892, caja 275, Palma y H e r m a n o Sues, to the J u n t a Suprema de Sanidad, Mérida, 15.12.1892; 1906, caja 522, exp. J u n t a Superior de Sanidad sobre Félix Faller. R C , Mérida, Nacimientos, libro 51, no. 1395; libro 63, no. 359; libro 86, no. 624; libro 95, no. 341; libro 101, no. 1395; libro 110, no. 35; libro 117, no. 359. Matrimonios, libro 58, no. 459 and 469; libro 65, no. 220 and 224. Defunciones, libro from 1889, no. 235. A H A M , Municipios, L i b r o de C e n s o , 1924, Mérida. A H A Y , M U , vol. 14, Faller-Manzanilla and Dellenberg-Schmid; vol. 3 4 - 3 5 , exp. 3, Faller Manzanilla-Castillo. A H R C E Y , Mérida, Nacimientos, libro 74, no. 716; libro 131, no. 2557. M a t rimonios, libro 25, p. 16; libro 69, no. 157 and 178; libro 128, no. 937. Defunciones, libro 111, no. 2938; libro 176, no. 1535. P A A A , M e x i k o , Paket 8, Auswärtiges A m t to Rosenkranz, Berlin, 09.07.1887; Auswärtiges A m t to W a e c k e r - G o t t e r , Berlin, 09.07.1887; G M to Minister, M e x i c o C i t y , 03.04.1895; Sibeth to G M (Winckler), Mérida, 17.05.1895; Alfred Crasemann to Konsul, Mexico C i t y , 06.01.1908. Paket 9, Band 1, Glükher to Rieloff, Mérida, 30.01.1918. Paket 46, Liste der im Staate Yucatan ansaessigen Deutschen, 27.06.1911. Paket 39, G l ü k h e r to Magnus, Mérida, 13.12.1914; G l ü k h e r to M e x i c o C i t y , Mérida, 16.12.1915.

642

IN

OUR

SPHERE

OF

LIFE

SAA, 5269-1, R. Rendón and P. Esquivel Navarrete, Mérida, 07.04.1903, plus Charubin to Berlin, Mexico City, 22.04.1903, and Brockmann to Berlin, Mexico City, 27.05.1903; 6797-11, Mérida to Berlin, 14.05.1906. Cementeries: Cementerio General de Mérida, tombstones of the Faller family. Family Collections: Family Collection Catoir, Copiador de cartas particulares de Francisco Glükher, August 1907-July 1913. Family Collection Rodríguez de la Gala Faller, various documents. Interviews: Bertha Espinosa viuda de Faller, Mérida, 16.03.2003; Bertha Espinosa viuda de Faller, Félix Faller Espinosa, Francisco Javier Espinosa Faller, and Joaquín Rodríguez de la Gala Faller, Mérida, 28.02.2011; Bertha Genoveva Faller Cervera, and Joaquín Rodríguez de la Gala Faller, Mérida, 14.03.2011; Carlos Miguel Espinosa Faller, and Francisco Miguel Espinosa Faller, Mérida, 15.01.2010; Juan Edwin Schirp Milke, Mérida, 12.03.2003; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, Mérida, 05.03.2003, and 11.02.2010; Miguel Faller Cervera, Mérida, 25.02.2003, and Yaxcopoil, Yucatán, 26.01.2010.

Print

Sources

Literature: Antochiw 2000; Bolio 1886: 7-9; Burgos Brito 1968: 108-114; Gómez Rui 1918: 34; Maler 1903: 83; Salazar 1913: 18; Suárez Molina 1977a: 279. Periodicals: Boletín de Estadística del Estado de Yucatán, 16.05.1894; Diario de Yucatán, 05.01.2011 and 24.10.2012; Diario Yucateco, 22.04.1910 and 27.04.1910; Ecos de la Guerra, 29.12.1917; El Hombre Libre, 11.10.1917; El Horizonte, 02.11.1890; La Revista de Mérida, 03.02.1905; The New York Times, 03.05.1894.

Electronic

Sources

Ellis Island Passenger Lists Felix Faller and Loreto Faller, Progreso, 21.05.1904, L N 0007, p. 0477,

APPENDIX

5

643

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipmanifest.asp?MID=12872204 260145216800&FNM=FELIX&LNM=FALLER&PLNM=F A L L E R&firstJkind= 1 8dast_kind=0&TC)WN=null&SHIP=null&RF=8&p ID=102529060588 (accessed 17.04.2010). Felix Faller, Loreto Faller, and Berta Faller, Progreso, 06.05.1910, L N 0006, p. 1255, http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipManifest.aspPM ID=12872204260145216800&FNM=FELIX&LNM=FALLER&PL NM=FALLER&first_kind=l&last_kind=0&RF=8&pID=l 0133901 0044&lookup=1013390100448cshow=%5C%5C192%2E168%2E10 0%2Ell%5Cimages%5CT715%2D1473%5CT715%2D14731255% 2ETIF8corigFN=%5C%5C192%2E168%2E100%2Ell%5CIMAG ES%5CT715%2D1473%5CT715%2D14731254%2ETIF (accessed 17.04.2010). Felix Faller, Miguel Faller, and Felix Faller Jr., Progreso, 13.04.1907, L N 0008, p. 162 http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipmanifest.aspPMI D=12872204260145216800&FNM=FELIX&LNM=FALLER&PLN M=FALLER&first_kind=1 &last_kind=0&TC)WN=null&SHIP=nul l&RF=8&pID=l01935040392 (accessed 17.04.2010). Felix Faller, Bremen, 12.06.1907, L N 0021, p. 0440, http://www. ellisisland.org/search/shipmanifest.asp?MID=128722042601452 16800&FNM=FELIX&LNM=FALLER&PLNM=FALLER&f irst_kind=l&last_kind=0&TOWN=null&SHIP=null&RF=8&p ID=104677060141 (accessed 17.04.2010). Footnote N A R A , Records of the Department of State Relating to World War I and its Termination, 1914-1929, Neutral Commerce, 763.72112/4370, Marsh to the Secretary of State, Progreso, 09.08.1917, http://www. footnote.com/image/54180921ff, images 1-6 plus aattachments, (accessed 07.04.2009). GeneaNet Javier Sanchiz Ruiz. Family Tree, Felix Faller Rombach, http://gw5. geneanet.org/sanchiz ?lang=en;p=felix;n=faller+rombach (accessed 25.09.2012).

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Non-Print

OF

LIFE

O F THE M E I N H A R D T F A M I L Y

Sources

Archives: AGAY, Sagrario, Bautismos, libro 89, no. 274; libro 92B, no. 206; libro 93B, no. 410; libro 98, no. 456. Matrimonios, libro 28, no. 148; libro 29, no. 55 and 253; libro 30, no. 589, 719 and 798. Santa Ana, Matrimonios, libro 30, no. 460. Santiago, Bautismos, libro 58, no. 9. AGEY, AN, Maximiano Canto, 1904, vol. 617, pp. 140-4. JC, 1921, caja 148, exp. 14986. PE, Gobernación, 1894, caja 285. RC, Mérida, Nacimientos, libro 63, no. 793; libro 86, no. 1028; libro 111, no. 1407. Mérida, Defunciones, libro 120, no. 1838. AGN, SG, Sxx, DM, A, caja 7, exp. 94. AHAM, Municipios, Libro de Censo 1928, and Registro de Población de Pueblos y Haciendas del Municipio de Mérida, 1920-1930. AHAY, MU, vol. 31, exp. 83, Figueroa Meinhardt-López; vol. 31-33, von Hasselt-Ferrer Saldivar. AHRCEY, Mérida, Nacimientos, libro 115, no. 2219; libro 116, no. 1301; libro 159, no. 1713; libro 179, no. 3065. PROHISPEN, R y B, Libros de caja, 1890-1894,1905-1906. Family Collections: Castro Agüero, Mariola Molins Molina, and Torre Loria. Family Interviews: Jorge E. Torre Loria, Mérida, 12.01.2010; Juan Edwin Schirp Milke, 23.02.2009; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, Mérida, 05.03.2003; Mariola Molins Molina, Mérida, 17.03.2013. Print Sources Literature: Concha Vargas 2010; Directorio Hernández 1940; Duarte 1926: 85; Guía General de la Ciudad de Mérida, 1901; Pasos Solís et. al. 2012. Sellen, Adam T., and Lynneth S. Lowe. Ruinas de Yucatán. Álbum fotográfico del siglo xix. Mérida: UNAM, 2013.

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Periodicals: Boletín de la Guerra, 1915; DdY, 1926, and 2011; DY, 1910; EEdC, 1902; El Progreso, 1914; La Campana, 1906; LRdM, 1890, 1902-1903, 1905, and 1912; LVdlR, 1916. Logia Fraternidad 10. Historia de las Logias de la Jurisdicción de la Gran Logia Unida Oriental Peninsular, (2009). http://Fraternidadl0.org/noticias/verarticulo.php?IdArticulo=44 (accessed 08.03.2010).

Electronic

Sources

Ancestry HP, 373-7 I, VIII A 3, Band 001, p. 239, Laurence Meinhardt, 1883, http:// search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse.dll ?ti=5545&r=5545&db=HamburgPL_ full&F52 =99.0006&F12=Thuringia&F48=Meinhardt&rank=0&gss= angs-i8cindiv=l&pf=18crecid=&h=4656949&fh=l&ct=&fsk=&bsk= (accessed 12.02.2013). HP, 373-7 I, VIII A3, Band 001, p. 239, Otto Meinhardt, 1883, http:// search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=5545&r=5545ôcdb=HamburgPL_fu ll&F52=99.0006&F12=Thuringia&F48=Meinhardt&rank=0&gss=a ngs-i&indiv=l&pf=l&recid=&h=4656949&fh=l&ct =&fsk=&bsk= (accessed 12.02.2013). Quinto Censo General de Población y Vivienda 1930, México, Mérida, image 2341, Meinhardt Krosker and Loria Meinhardt families, http:// search.ancestry.de/browse/view.aspx?dbid=1771&iid=31367_410802500563ôtpid=2887080&ssrc=&fn=Agustinôdn=Meinhardt&st=g (04.02.2012). Family Search Mexico, Censo Nacional, 1930, index and images, Meinhardt family https:// familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MK34-VN2 (accessed 12.01.2013). Mexico, Censo Nacional, 1930, index and images, Meinhardt Krosker et. al https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3Z-lGH (accessed 16.09.2010). Venezuela, Registro Civil, 1873-2003, index and images, Jacinto Agustín Meinhardt Krosehke (Krosker), 1885. https://familysearch.0rg/pal:/MM9.l.l/K32B-C83 (accessed 12.07.2009).

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Non-Print Sources Archives: A G E Y , RC, Santa Elena, Nacimientos, 1869, n.n.; 1874, no. 33; 1880, no. 35; 1882, no. 55. Matrimonios, 1873. Ticul, Defunciones, 1879, no. 164. PE, Gobernación, vol. 159, Lista de los colonos que murieron en el viaje de Hamburgo a Sisal, Merida, 22.05.1866. Registro Civil de Santa Elena, Nacimientos, 1887, no. 12; 1888, no. 9; 1889, no. 22 and 37; 1891, no. 11; 1895, no. 51; 1896, no. 7, 9, and 14; 1898, no. 51, 63, and 73; 1910, no. 46 and 58; 1911, no. 54; 1913, no. 13; 1914, no. 81. Matrimonios, 1868; 1886, no. 13; 1888, no. 10; 1894, no. 18 and 237; 1909, no. 17 and 19. Defunciones, 1907, libro 40, no. 39; libro 44, no. 24; 1918, no. 28; 1919, no. 4. Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburger Passagierlisten, Auswandererlisten VIII A I , Band 19, Mikrofilm K1710/1711, 07.01.-23.12.1865, pp. 677-684, Verzeichniss der Personen, welche mit dem hamburger Schiffe San Luis, Capitain Reimer, nach Sisal (Mexico) zur Auswanderung durch Unterzeichneten engagirt sind, 24.08.1865, (HP-1). Cemeteries: Cementerio Municipal de Baca, Yucatán; Cementerio Municipal de Santa Elena. Family Collections: Family Collections Bonilla Caamal, Santa Elena; Castillo Castillo, Mérida; Herrera Ortegón, Baca. Interviews: Alfredo Arana Magaña, Santa Elena, 07.03.2003; Antonio Bonilla Baak, Santa Elena, 08.03.2003; Carmelita Domínguez, Santa Elena, 13.03.2006; Descendants of Carlota Seller, Baca, 16.01.2010; Descendants of Carlota Seller, Mérida, 24.02.2010; Enrique Ayil Chi, Santa Elena, 23.02.2003; Esther Castillo Castillo, Mérida, 10.03.2005; Humberto Bonilla Caamal, Santa Elena, 07.02.2003, 23.03.2003, and 15.03.2006; Idelfia Bonilla de Mián, Santa Elena, 26.02.2006; Manuel Bonilla Caamal, Santa Elena, 15.03.2003; Pablo Bonilla Solz (Seller), Mérida, 20.02.2004.

APPENDIX

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647

Print Sources Literature: Durán-Merk 2007 and 2009; Medina Un 2001.

Electronic Sources Family Search Mexico, Bautismos, 1560-1950, index, Luis G. Suaste Celar, 11.07.1881, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/J9H9-M9D (accessed 12.02.2011). México, Censo Nacional, 1930, index and images, Anastacio Aranjo, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/MK3Z-VZB (accessed 25.05.2012). México, Matrimonios, 1570-1950, index, Anastacio Aranjo and Juana Celar, 29.12.1883, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 / J Z Z D - 6 4 L (accessed 18.04.2013). México, Matrimonios, 1570-1950, index, Felipe Suaste and Maria Juana Celar, 21.11.1879, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/JZZ8-56J (accessed 04.01.2012).

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Non-Print Sources Archives: AGAY, Sagrario, Bautismos, libro 1879, n.n.; libro 1882, no. 118; libro 1889, no. 1069; libro 1914, no. 279. Matrimonios, libro 30, no. 807. Santa Ana, Bautismos, libro 45, n.n.; libro 48, no. 411; libro 59, no. 587. Santiago, Bautismos, libro 48, no. 500; libro 50, no. 529; libro 51, no. 2211; libro 52, no. 393; libro 58, no. 299; libro 59, no. 777; libro 62, no. 689; libro 63, no. 480; libro 67B, no. 99; libro 68, no. 236; libro 68B, no. 445; libro 70B, nos. 107 and 108. A G E Y , AN, Maximiano Canto, 1910, vol. 1121, no. 176. J C , 1882, caja 76, exp. 33, Torres Acosta vs. Worbis; 1883, caja 83, exp. 53, Alpuche vs. Worbis (1); caja 86, exp. 18, Pasos vs. Worbis and exp. 32, Barrera vs. Worbis (1); caja 88, exp. 29, Vargas vs. Worbis; caja 89, exp. 8, Barrera vs. Worbis (2); 1884, caja 99, exp. 23, Alpuche vs. Worbis (2); 1892, caja 32, exp. 24, Péon Leal Gamboa vs. Worbis; 1892-1893, caja 35, exp. 35, Carlos Worbis Lange vs. Federico Worbis Lange; 1894, caja 83, exp. 10, Worbis vs. Vidal Castillo; 1898, caja 190, exp. 15, Chan vs. Worbis; 1901, caja 303, exp. 12, Worbis vs. Rejón; 1924, caja 142, exp. 2576, Chacon Worbis vs. Rivas; 1941, caja 278, exp. 9197, Worbis García vs. Cervera. JP, 1866, caja 112, exp. 32, Augusto Dietrich, Escándalos en la Colonia, and exp. 45, Augusto Dietrich; caja 133, exp. 33, Dietrich, Escándalo; 1890, caja 131, exp. 28, Lesiones; 1900, caja 141, exp. 43, Maximiliano Arana (Dietrich); 1918, caja 98, exp. 3, Franke de Worbis vs. Maas. PE, Gobernación, 1894-1895, caja 293, Worbis Fitry (Dietrich) to Governor, Mérida, 08.10.1895; 1904, caja 444, Conductores de carruajes to Governor, Mérida, 30.11.1904; 1910, caja 679, documents issued between July 1909 and February 1910 about Cristina Franke viuda de Worbis' selling of land to the Government; 1911, caja 738, Manzanilla to Governor, Mérida, 02.05.1911, and caja 762, Chacón Worbis to Governor, Mérida, 16.08.1911; 1916, caja 530, release of Luis Worbis from Mérida's jail, 07.01.1916; 1919, caja 667; 1933, cajas 971,972 and 967; 1934, caja 990; 1940, caja 1073; 1943-1944, caja 1093. RC, Mérida, Defunciones, libro 10, no. 270 and 1277; libro 59, no. 1458; libro 66, no. 1925; libro 113, no. 1770; libro 127, no. 992; libro 132, no. 1480. Matrimonios, libro 98, no. 503 and 505; libro 108, no. 99 and 148. Nacimientos, libro 37(1), no. 228; libro 49, no. 299; libro 52, no. 711; libro 60, no. 928; libro 65, no. 1490; libro 79, no. 1109 and 1176; libro 83, no.

APPENDIX

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649

1467; libro 86, no. 458; libro 95, no. 239 and 258; libro 101, no. 100; libro 109, no. 1671; libro 110, no. 661 and 861; libro 111, no. 1634; libro 113, no. 1501; libro 114, no. 1860; libro 123, no. 47. A G N , DIPS, caja 343, exp. 24. AHAM, Municipios, Libro de Censo 1924, Registro de Población del Municipio de Mérida, 1920-1930. AHAY, MU, vol. 12, Gimbel-Beiswenger. AHRCEY, Mérida, Defunciones, libro 88, no. 109; libro 89, no. 1231; libro 90, no. 1488; libro 93, no. 756 and 847; libro 96, no. 444; libro 106, no. 3214; libro 107, no. 512; libro 128, no. 703; libro 131, no. 2669; libro 133, no. 149; libro 139, no. 159; libro 156, no. 386; libro 166, no. 2125; libro 173, no. 1410; libro 183, no. 2095; libro 190, no. 1798 and 2023; libro 199, no. 448; libro 209, no. 779, 1793, and 2173; libro 220, no. 1450. Matrimonios, libro 80, no. 410; libro 91, no. 2; libro 106, no. 952 and 962; libro 130, no. 182; libro 138, no. 249; libro 141, no. 127 and 244. Nacimientos, libro 70, no. 955; libro 71, no. 1960; libro 74, no. 556; libro 75, no. 1858 and 1870; libro 79, no. 1822 and 1936; libro 83, no. 1867; libro 88, no. 2338; libro 89, no. 2692; libro 92, no. 855; libro 96, no. 866; libro 112, no. 671; libro 115, no. 323 and 368; libro 120, no. 551; libro 122, no. 1433 and 1434; libro 123, no. 2241 and 2292; libro 126, no. 2109 and 2288; libro 128, no. 523; libro 134, no. 1083; libro 135, no. 1465; libro 136, no. 2383; libro 139, no. 2201; libro 142, no. 1154; libro 161, no. 2858; libro 162, no. 111 and 1100; libro 167, no. 546 and 573; libro 174, no. 1949; libro 185, no. 1750; libro 188, no. 20; libro 194, no. 1851; libro 215, no. 2782; libro 220, no. 2526 and 2610; libro 231, no. 2554; libro 234, no. 277; libro 246, no. 875; libro 248, no. 2944 and 2945; libro 252, no. 2176 and 2177. Tekit, Defunciones, libro 1966, no. 2. Nacimientos, libro 1, no. 11; libro 2, no. 26; libro 1935, no. 16, libro 1937, no. 50; libro 1940, no. 125; libro 1943, no. 134; libro 1945, no. 88; libro 1947, no. 115; libro 1949, no. 90. AHSRE, Expediente de naturalización de Carlos Worbis Franke, exp. 111/591 -2(43 )/3 02. Kreiskirchenarchiv Niedergebra: Kirchenbuch, Gestorbene 1880, no. 7, Christian Karl Friedrich Worbis Franke; Taufen 1851-1876, no. 79, Christiane Friederike Franke; Trauungen 1838-1881, no. 4, Worbis-Franke, 30.09.1877. LHASA, MD, Rep. C If, no. 71, VI, Calbe 1/1865-3/1867, doc. 164.

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PAAA, Mexiko, Paket 10, Liste der Deutschen in Mérida 1928; Paket 45-1, Liste der Deutschen in Mérida, 13.09.1908; Paket 46, Liste der im Staate Yucatan ansaessigen Deutschen, 27.06.1911. Sankt Johannis, Staßfurth: Sterbebuch, 1863, no. 96, Friedrich Ludwig Worbis; Taufbuch 1864, no. 165, Auguste Henriette Louise Worbis. Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburger Passagierlisten, Auswandererlisten VIII AI, Bd. 20, Mikrofilm K1711/1712, 06.01.-22.10.1866,498-503, Verzeichniss der Personen, welche mit dem hambg. Schiffe San Luis, Capitain Reimer, nach Sisal (Mexico), zur Auswanderung durch Unterzeichneten engagirt sind, 15.05.1866, (HP-2). Cemeteries: Cementerio General de Mérida, and Cementerio Municipal de Progreso. Family Archives: Kanahuati Ceballos, Mexico City; Mary Worbis, Tampico; Sánchez Tello, Mexico City. Interviews: Antonio Bonilla Baak, Santa Elena, 08.03.2003; Carmelita Domínguez, Santa Elena, 13.03.2006; Enrique Ayil Chi, Santa Elena, 23.02.2003; Fernando Worbis Alonzo, Mérida, 06.02.2008; Fernando Worbis Puerto, Mérida, 24.01.2010; Juan Castro Lara, Mérida, 27.03.2010; Juan Edwin Schirp Milke, Mérida, 26.02.2009; Juan Francisco Peón Ancona, Mérida, 13.02.2010; Linda Sánchez Tello (per Skype), 10.03.2012; Luis Arana Bustillos, Muna, 10.03.2006; Luis Arana Bustillos and Irene de Arana, Muna, 18.02.2003; Manuel Kanahuati (per Skype), 13.02.2012, and 01.03.2012.

Print

Sources

Literature: Adressbuch Nordhausen 1877: 42; Ferrer 2002; Directorio de Mérida 1921; Directorio Hernández 1940; Directorio Mérida 1924 and 1928; Moguel 1967: 109f, 116f. Quezada Domínguez 2006: 118; Wells 1985: lOf. Periodicals: LRdM, 1880; LVdlR, 1916; La Fraternal, 1933; LRdM, 1880; LVdlR, The New York Times, 1887.

1916;

APPENDIX

Electronic

5

651

Sources

Ancestry Censo 1930, México, Mérida, image 2207, Chacón Worbis family, http:// search.ancestry.de/Browse/view.aspx ?dbid=1771&path=Yucatán. Mérida.Mérida.2207&fn=Rosita&ln=Chacon%20Worbis%20Denis&st =g&pid=2881248&rc=&zp=50 (accessed 23.08.2012). H P , 373-7 I, VIII A 3 Bd. 1, p. 209,1881, Worbis Lange family, http://search.ancestry.de/cgi-bin/sse. dll?ti=5545&r=5545&db=HamburgPL_full&F52=99.0004&F12=Boruss ia&F48=Worbis&rank=0 (accessed 23.03.2012). Quinto Censo General de Población y Vivienda 1930, México (Censo 1930), Mérida, image 475, Herminia Worbis García and family, http:// search.ancestry.de/browse/view.aspx?dbid=1771&iid=31367_410802300211 &pid=2812969&ssrc=&fn=Herminia&ln=Worbis+Garcia&st=g (accessed 12.12.2009). Ellis Island Passenger Lists Carlos Worbis F. and Cristina F. de Worbis, 17.09.1915, Progreso, L N 0001, p. 0927, http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipManifest.aspPMI D=021329917109339830088cLNM=WORBIS&PLNM=WORBIS&fir st_kind=l&last_kind=0&RF=5&pID=100378090325&lookup=l 00378 090325&show=%5C%5C192%2E168%2E100%2Ell%5Cimages%5 CT715%2D2431%5CT715%2D24310927%2ETIF&origFN=%5C% 5C192%2E168%2E100%2E11%5CIMAGES%5CT715%2D2431%5C T715%2D24310928%2ETIF (accessed 25.06.2012). Family Search Mexico, Bautismos, 1560-1950, index and images, Agustin Worbis Ditry, 10.07.1874, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1 /N6LD-4Y8 (accessed 12.04.2013). Chacón Worbis family, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/ MK3H-S1Y (accessed 12.04.2013). Chacon Worbis family, 1930, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.l.l/ MK3Z-54S (accessed 01.11.2007). Worbis Franke family, https://familysearch.Org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MK3H8QX (accessed 12.04.2013).

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Footnote N A R A , I C F B I , O G F , 28257, Christina Franke Vda. de Worbis, http://www.footnote.com/image/2358992, to www.footnote.com/ image/2358997 (accessed 07.04.2009).

APPENDIX 6. FAMILY TREES

T o access and download the family trees, please visit: https://media.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/?cfold=183786&dir=18378 6&id=l 83786 Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5

Family Family Family Family Family

Tree Tree Tree Tree Tree

of of of of of

the the the the the

Boehms in Yucatán Fallers in Yucatán Meinhardts in Yucatán Sellers in Yucatán Worbis in Yucatán

T I T L E S OF RELATED INTEREST:

BORSÖ, Vittoria; TEMELLI, Yasmin;

VISENEBER, Karolin (eds.): México: migraciones culturales - topografías transatlánticas. Acercamiento a las culturas desde el movimiento. 344 p. (MEDIAmericana, 6) ISBN 9788484896791 CHICOTE, Gloria; GÖBEL, Barbara (eds.): Ideas viajeras y sus objetos. El intercambio científico entre Alemania y América austral. 356 p. (Bibliotheca Ibero-Americana, 146) ISBN 9788484896388 GONZÁLEZ MARTÍNEZ, Elda; FERNÁNDEZ, Alejandro (eds.)

Migraciones internacionales, actores sociales y Estados. Perspectivas del análisis histórico. 356 p. (Tiempo Emulado. Historia de América y España, 38) ISBN 9788484898436 NAGEL, Silke:

Ausländer in Mexiko. Die "Kolonien " der deutschen und US-amerikanischen Einwanderer in der mexikanischen Hauptstadt 1890-1942. 428 S. (Berliner Lateinamerika-Forschungen, 17) ISBN 9783865272171