Germany–Uruguay relations
Encyclopedia
Germany–Uruguay relations are foreign relations between Germany
and Uruguay
. Germany has an embassy in Montevideo
. Uruguay has an embassy in Berlin
, a general consulate in Hamburg
and 6 honorary consulate (in Bremen
, Düsseldorf
, Frankfurt am Main, Munich
, Potsdam
and Stuttgart
). Germany is Uruguay's principal trading partner in the European Union
.
communities emigrated from Germany to Uruguay after World War II
, starting in 1948.
of Montevideo, is a German binational school that opened in 1857. There is a joint Uruguay Germany university-entrance examination which qualifies takers for university in both countries. A German-language school is run by the Mennonites. A cultural cooperation accord was signed on 8 May 1989.
205 million and Uruguayan imports from Germany were EUR
133 million in 2009. Germany is the country’s principal trading partner in the European Union
. Germany is fifth overall among export countries to Uruguay, after Brazil, the USA, Argentina and Mexico. Germany is seventh on the list of import countries, after Brazil, Argentina, the USA, China, Venezuela and Russia. Uruguay is 84th among suppliers of German imports and 108th among buyers of German exports.
and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation
have representation in Montevideo. Other German foundations include the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
, Heinrich Böll Foundation
and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
.
, Uruguay sided against Germany and broke off diplomatic relations.
On December 13, 1939 the Battle of the River Plate
took place off the coast of Uruguay where British forces sunk the German Graf Spee
. Most of the Graf Spee’s surviving crew of 1,150 were interned in Uruguay and Argentina and many remained after the war. A German Embassy official in Uruguay said his government has sent an official letter stating its position as to whether Germany claims ownership of the vessel. The German claim would be invalid because early in 1940 the Nazi government sold salvaging rights to the vessel to a Uruguayan businessman who was acting on behalf of the British government. However, any salvaging rights would have expired under Uruguayan law.
By 1940 Germany had threatened to break of diplomatic relations with Uruguay.
Nazi Germany
protested that Uruguay gave safe harbor to the Carnarvon Castle after it was attacked by a Nazi raider. The ship was repaired with steel plate reportedly salvaged from the Graf Spee
.
On January 25, 1942 Uruguay broke diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. Germany has an embassy in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
. Uruguay has an embassy in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, a general consulate in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and 6 honorary consulate (in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Frankfurt am Main, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
). Germany is Uruguay's principal trading partner in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Migration
Starting in the 1850s German immigrants have made an important contribution to the development of Uruguay. Uruguay offered asylum to German Jews starting in 1935. MennoniteMennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
communities emigrated from Germany to Uruguay after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, starting in 1948.
Cultural
There is a Goethe Institute in Uruguay. The German SchoolGerman School
*German School of Athens*German School of Guayaquil*German School of Lisbon*German School of Manila*German School of Milan*German School New York*German School of San Salvador*German School Seoul International*German School Washington, D.C....
of Montevideo, is a German binational school that opened in 1857. There is a joint Uruguay Germany university-entrance examination which qualifies takers for university in both countries. A German-language school is run by the Mennonites. A cultural cooperation accord was signed on 8 May 1989.
Trade
Exports to Germany from Uruguay were worth EUREuro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
205 million and Uruguayan imports from Germany were EUR
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
133 million in 2009. Germany is the country’s principal trading partner in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Germany is fifth overall among export countries to Uruguay, after Brazil, the USA, Argentina and Mexico. Germany is seventh on the list of import countries, after Brazil, Argentina, the USA, China, Venezuela and Russia. Uruguay is 84th among suppliers of German imports and 108th among buyers of German exports.
Political foundations
The Friedrich Ebert FoundationFriedrich Ebert Foundation
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation is a German political foundation associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany , yet independent of it...
and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation
Konrad Adenauer Foundation
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political party foundation associated with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union . The foundation's headquarters are located in Saint Augustine and Berlin. Globally, the KAS has 78 offices and runs programs in over 100 countries...
have representation in Montevideo. Other German foundations include the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Friedrich Naumann Foundation
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party. Established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, it promotes individual freedom and liberalism.The Foundation follows the ideals of the...
, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Heinrich Böll Foundation
The Heinrich Böll Foundation is a German, legally independent political foundation. Affiliated with the German Green Party, it was originally founded in 1987 and rebuilt in 1997...
and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is a German research foundation associated with The Left party. The organisation was founded in Berlin in 1990 as the "Social Analysis and Political Education Association". It was named after Rosa Luxemburg.The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is actively involved in...
.
War
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Uruguay sided against Germany and broke off diplomatic relations.
On December 13, 1939 the Battle of the River Plate
Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War. The German pocket battleship had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September 1939...
took place off the coast of Uruguay where British forces sunk the German Graf Spee
Graf Spee
Graf Spee may refer to:*Graf Maximilian von Spee, German admiral in World War Ior to several German ships that were named after the admiral:* SMS Graf Spee, incomplete Mackensen class battlecruiser of World War I, scrapped in 1923...
. Most of the Graf Spee’s surviving crew of 1,150 were interned in Uruguay and Argentina and many remained after the war. A German Embassy official in Uruguay said his government has sent an official letter stating its position as to whether Germany claims ownership of the vessel. The German claim would be invalid because early in 1940 the Nazi government sold salvaging rights to the vessel to a Uruguayan businessman who was acting on behalf of the British government. However, any salvaging rights would have expired under Uruguayan law.
By 1940 Germany had threatened to break of diplomatic relations with Uruguay.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
protested that Uruguay gave safe harbor to the Carnarvon Castle after it was attacked by a Nazi raider. The ship was repaired with steel plate reportedly salvaged from the Graf Spee
Graf Spee
Graf Spee may refer to:*Graf Maximilian von Spee, German admiral in World War Ior to several German ships that were named after the admiral:* SMS Graf Spee, incomplete Mackensen class battlecruiser of World War I, scrapped in 1923...
.
On January 25, 1942 Uruguay broke diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.