Between Valparaiso and Niebla we passed over site of the Battle of Coronel in 1914, when the German Navy defeated the British Navy in a sea battle that saw 2 British warships sunk and 1600 British sailors being killed.
Niebla was built as a series of fortifications to protect Valdivia further up the river. The Fort System is a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River. During the period of Spanish rule (1552–1820), it was one of the biggest systems of fortification in the Americas. It was also a major supply source for Spanish ships that crossed the Strait of Magellan.
The original fortification plan was based on using the exceptional defensive qualities of the Corral Bay, at the mouth of the Valdivia River. The project contemplated the building of four basic fortresses which, in case of attack, would jointly operate with its cross-fire. In the disposition of these four central points and in the design of these bastions, topographical, geographical and environmental factors were fitted together: sea currents, ground unevenness, prevailing winds, etc. Although with the passage of time the installations grew with regard to the number of batteries, and the role of the four basic fortresses changed, the original scheme remained unaltered, with four sites retaining their leading part: the Mancera island, Corral, Amargos and Niebla.
The main bastion of this defensive complex was the Constantino island, later called Mancera. The island is located in the middle of the bay into which the Valdivia River flows, and there the San Pedro de Alcantara Castle was built according to the project designed by the Navy chief engineer, Constantino Vasconcelos. The castle, made of stone, was armed with fifteen pieces of artillery, and had a moat and two turrets. Inside it, among other installations, there was a church and two convents: one Franciscan, an the other Augustinian. At the so-called Punta de Amargos, on the southern side of the Valdivia river mouth, the San Luis de Alba Castle was built, entirely of stone. It had up to eleven pieces of artillery, which due to its strategic position, could batter down the anchorage of enemy ships. The castle was isolated from it surroundings by a moat, crossed by a draw-bridge. Aside from the quarters and the commander's house, there was a chapel inside the castle.
The Fort of Niebla stands up on the northern side of the Valdivia river mouth. It was built on a Cancagua stone slope about 30 meters high, dominating the entire bay and open sea. Its very original design adapts itself well to the site geography. The Fort of Corral, to the south of the said mouth, was fully remodeled in the second half of the 18th century. It consists in a long battery facing the sea: 24 cannons standing on a solid stone wall. Both the inner constructions and the defences towards inland have vanished. In the second half of the 18th century, a thorough plan was carried forward for restoring and improving the fortresses. The engineers José Birt and Juan Garland were commissioned for the task. The defensive complex of Valdivia reached the point of having 17 bastions, with surveillance installations, castles, fortresses and batteries. This complex would exert during the Colony a thoroughly efficacious deterrent effect, since, in fact, it frustrated the raids of the rival powers. Paradoxically, those who took these defences to pieces weren't the European enemies, but the independentist patriots. At the time of Chilean independence Valdivia remained a Spanish stronghold, and was perceived as threat to Chile's independence by Lord Cochrane, admiral of the Chilean navy who captured the forts in 1820 without facing the batteries by using a surprise land assault. Valdivia surrendered when the news about the fall of Corral Fort came.
Included below is a map of Corral Bay and the location of the coastal defences. The four largest forts are marked with red. The fort we saw, Niebla Fort, is number 10 on the map.
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We then went the short distance to Valdivia. On May 22, 1960, Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world, rating 9.5 Richter scale, with Valdivia being the most affected city. The earthquake generated devastating tsunamis that affected Japan and Hawaii. Spanish-colonial forts around Valdivia were severely damaged, while soil subsidence destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the Río Cruces y Chorocomayo - a new aquatic park north of the city. Large sections of the city flooded after the earthquake, and a landslide near the Tralcán Mount dammed the Riñihue Lake. Water levels in Lake Riñihue rose more than 20 meters, raising the danger of a catastrophic break and of destroying everything downriver. Government authorities drew plans for evacuating the city, but many people left on their own. Danger to the city was reduced after a large team of workers opened a drainage channel in the landslide; water levels of the lake slowly returned to normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.
First (brief) stop was the Mauricio Van de Maele Historical and Anthropological Museum which has mapuche and huilliche pieces permanently exhibited, along with objects that tell us about the Spaniard and German colonization. Also, one can see documents and objects that surrounded the daily life of the Chilean authorities of the 19th Century. It overlooks the waterfront of the Calle Calle River, and is surrounded by a park. There are various rooms inside, where the three main ethnic groups, which cooperated in the creation of the regional identity, are represented. The collections displayednrevolve around the first Americans who dwelled the template forests 12,000 years ago, the early and steady Hispanic presence which determined the character of the City of Valdivia and the impact caused by the German colonists who arrived in these lands after 1850.
In 1962, the Austral University bought the house where the Museum now stands, allowing then the transformation of this big mansion to the headquarters of the "Maurice Van de Maele Historical and Anthropological Museum". Maurice Van de Maele was a German colonist who, during 30 years, dedicated himself to the gathering and protection of the Region's Historical Heritage. The house was built in 1870. It was then restored in 1968, according to a project elaborated by the architect Sergio Anwandter Böttcher, direct descendent of Maurice Van de Maele. It was declared a Historical Monument in 1981.
In the ten minutes we were allowed here, we did not really understand the layout or the purpose. The only thing that we really noticed was the double grand piano, which seemed pretty unique
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Valdivia is famous for its fish market along the front of the river where you walk between the stalls with their fresh produce. But the main attraction is the numerous sea lions which wait and fight for scraps just behind the stalls in the river. It was inevitable that a daily fish market and the guts being thrown into the river, would attract a lot of sea lions and pelicans.
The biggest of the bunch, of course got the most food. And as a result grew even bigger. We were somewhat circumspect at getting too close to the big fellow below, but he was so satiated with food, and so used to tourists, that he never even noticed us.
As well as fish, there was an interesting selection of other fresh produce like cheese and fruit and vegetables for sale
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Then a walk round Valdivia before lunch. An eclectic selection of sights included a submarine and a Foucaults Pendulum as well as the usual churches and statues of the Liberator.
Since the first Germans migrated to Valdivia in the mid-1840s, German cultural influence has been visible in the city. Germans in Valdivia settled mostly in the Isla Teja and Collico suburban areas. Until the building of Pedro de Valdivia Bridge, inhabitants of Isla Teja lived isolated from the city, where it was common that children first learned to speak German before Spanish. Nowadays the German language is preserved by the Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter, one of Latin America's oldest German schools.
German descendants also form Valdivia's oldest fire station Germania, located in Isla Teja. German immigrants and their descendants formed their social club Club Alemán, which after World War II changed names to Club la Unión. German workers once had their own club simply called El Alemán (The German). Valdivia also hosts Bierfest Valdivia, a celebration that could be described as a small, regional Oktoberfest, despite being celebrated in late January or February of every year (during the local summer, when there is the largest influx of tourists). The main sponsor and organizer is Kunstmann, a local beer company, founded by German nationals, but since bought out by the largest beer and beverages company in Chile (CCU). Students at Valdivia's German school, Instituto Alemán Carlos Anwandter, and personnel from Valdivia's German fire station usually collaborate with the event.
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Lunch was a buffet at La Perla del Sur, only a few hundred metres from the Fish Market. We could dip into a selection of well cooked and presented fish dishes. I particularly enjoyed the local mussels
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And from there to the Kunstmann Brewery. Kunstmann is a Chilean beer produced in Valdivia. It is not quite as old and traditional as I was led to believe from the tour guide. In fact the production began when the German-Chilean family Kunstmann started to brew for personal use in the 1990s, after Valdivia's main brewery Anwandter was destroyed by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. Since 1997 the beer is sold to the public and today it can be found in most of Chile and is also exported to Germany, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and Brazil.
Beer is not my thing, but the place was well versed, in an organised German way, to deal with mass tourism. Lonely Planet sums it up as Unless you're a beer-history nut, the cost of the tour is better spent on sampling your way through the 10 or so beers on offer here, chased with hearty German fare that includes lots of pork chops, späetzle, sauerkraut and apple sauce. There isn't a German in sight, and it's nearly overflowing with tourists and tour buses, but you could do worse than drinking away an afternoon here.
The boys enjoyed the samples of the 5 beers, that came in small plastic glasses that were just their size.
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