Photo album - Argentina 1924–1925 – Original German Photographic Album – Diplomatic, Business & Landowning Circles - 1924

A fascinating and historically significant original private photographic album documenting German and European diplomatic, commercial and landowning circles in Argentina during 1924–1925.

The album contains numerous original period in black-and-white photographs mounted on album pages. Many photographs bear contemporary handwritten captions in German and Spanish, identifying people, places, estates and dates.

120 photos mostly 8.5 cm x 14 cm

Rather than being an ordinary tourist album, it appears to have been compiled by a German-speaking person moving within the diplomatic, business and upper social circles of Buenos Aires, with extensive travel to private estancias and German settlements elsewhere in Argentina.

DIPLOMATIC CONNECTIONS

One of the most remarkable photographs is captioned:

“Gesandter Gneist’s Audienz beim Präsidenten Alvear. Okt. 24.”

This translates as:

“Envoy Gneist’s audience with President Alvear. October 1924.”

The inscription refers to German envoy Carl Richard Gneist and Argentine President Marcelo T. de Alvear.

The album also contains references to Adolf Pauli, the German envoy in Buenos Aires until July 1924, and another photograph identifies “Leg. Sekr. Kjelland + Frau” – Legation Secretary Kjelland and his wife.

These photographs provide a particularly interesting insight into the diplomatic and international social environment of Buenos Aires in the mid-1920s.

COLONIA LIEBIG – CORRIENTES

Of particular historical importance is a group of photographs connected with:

“Colonia Baron Liebig. Corrientes”

and

“La Merced (Liebig)”

Colonia Liebig, in the province of Corrientes, was established by German immigrants in 1924, with 29 May 1924 traditionally recognised as its foundation date.

The photographs in this album therefore belong to the very period in which this German agricultural settlement was being established.

Historical research based on German diplomatic records shows that the German diplomatic representation in Buenos Aires and influential members of the German community assisted the newly arrived settlers in their search for land and during the early organisation of the colony.

The presence elsewhere in the album of German envoy Adolf Pauli, together with photographs and captions relating directly to Colonia Liebig, makes this section of the album particularly worthy of further historical research.

The photographs should not necessarily be interpreted as depicting the actual foundation ceremony itself, but they are contemporary with the foundation period of the colony.

ESTANCIAS AND GERMAN-ARGENTINE FAMILIES

The album documents visits to a number of private estates and residences, including:

Estancia San Juan (Lahusen)

Estancia La Guardia – November 1924

La Merced (Liebig)

as well as other rural properties and social gatherings.

Numerous individuals and families are identified in the original handwritten captions.

Names appearing in the album include:

Adolf Pauli

Theo / Teodoro de Bary

Bromberg

Lahusen

von dem Bussche

Kern

Böhmer

Meyer Pellegrini

Wittgenstein

Pfatisch

and other members of the German and European community in Argentina.

Several of these names recur on different pages, indicating that the album records an interconnected social circle rather than occasional encounters.

BUENOS AIRES AND ARGENTINE SOCIAL LIFE

Other identified locations include:

Buenos Aires

Belgrano / Belgrano R.

Parque de Palermo

Ramos Mejía – Summer 1925

Mar del Plata – March 1925

as well as railway journeys, rural excursions and private residences.