San Bernardino, Paraguay
| San Bernardino | |
|---|---|
 San Bernardino
|
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| Coordinates: 25°18′38″S 57°17′46″W / 25.31056°S 57.29611°WCoordinates: 25°18′38″S 57°17′46″W / 25.31056°S 57.29611°W | |
| Country |
 Paraguay
|
| Department | Cordillera |
| Founded | August 24, 1881 |
| Government | |
| • Intendant | Ramón Zubizarreta |
| Elevation | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Population (2002) | |
| • Total | 9,491 |
| Area code(s) | 0512 |
San Bernardino (colloquially known as San Ber) is a town and district in Paraguay, located on the shores of Ypacarai Lake in the Cordillera Department. It is a popular holiday resort for people from Greater Asunción.
The town was founded in 1881 by German and Swiss immigrants, among them Santiago Schaerer, founder and first colony manager, and was renamed after Saint Bernard to honor Bernardino Caballero, president of Paraguay between 1880 and 1886.
In the last decades of the nineteenth century was built the Hotel del Lago, where the National Socialist German Dr. Bernhard Förster spent the last six weeks of his life, before committing suicide on June 3, 1889 by taking an overdose of strychnine. Inspired by a letter from Richard Wagner and his own anti-Semitism, he traveled to Paraguay to create a model German settlement with his wife Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (sister of the philosopher) and several German families. Their efforts, at the site was called Nueva Germania, were not successful, leading him to go to San Bernardino.
San Bernardino is the summer home site of traditional families from Greater Asunción. The peak tourist season in San Bernardino is from December to mid February, which is the summer season in the country. During this time young people from Asunción and neighbouring cities and towns meet around the main meeting points, which are clubs and pubs at night and public spaces in the morning.
The town contains a museum.
According to the Statistics, Surveys and Censuses Bureau of Paraguay, In 2012 San Bernardino has a total of 20,491 inhabitants.
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