Preface
Georg Steinmetz's biography prior to the events that led to his emigration is well-known but unremarkable. The son of Friedrich Immanuel Steinmetz (1773-1834), a moderately wealthy clothes merchant in Stuttgart, Georg Steinmetz was born in 1806 and grew up in the Kingdom of Würtemberg, one of the German League states that had emerged from the chaos of the Napolenic Wars. From 1824, he studied philosophy and law at the University of Tübingen, where he was also offered a teaching position after his graduation in 1828 and a professorate in legal science in 1831.
However, Steinmetz's promising academic career was cut short due to his involvement in contemporary politics. As a prominent member of a vocal liberal political society and a supporter of several petitions for more extensive civil liberties, Steinmetz eventually became so much of a thorn in the side of King William's government that he was dismissed from his professorate in the Spring of 1835 and ordered to leave the Kingdom. Such incidents were not unusual during the politically charged period between the Vienna Congress and the Revolutions of 1848 – the dismissal of the Göttinger Seven by King Ernst Augustus in December 1837 is of course the best known example.
However, unlike most others in his situation, Steinmetz did not attempt to find a position elsewhere in another German state; instead, he used the inheritance from his father, who had died two years earlier, to purchase an estate near the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires and begin afresh in the New World. Exactly why Steinmetz decided to emigrate, and why he picked Argentina for his destination is unclear, and he never discusses the subject in the journals or letters. However, it is likely that he was influenced by his father's friend Jacob Neubauer, a merchant who was involved with a trading company operating in South America, and who also provided important contacts and assistance during Steinmetz's early years in Argentina.
His writings are fascinating not just for their observations of and comments on the events of his time, both in Argentina and abroad, but also for what they show about Steinmetz's personal character development. The entries for the early years are, to put it mildly, highly critical and very quick to compare everything unfairly to the European standards to which he was accustomed. Gradually, however, he eventually begins to acknowledge and even appreciate the unique culture of Argentina, creating a very interesting example of an early 19th century cultural encounter.
Of course, as Steinmetz became increasingly involved in Argentinian political life, the journals also become an invaluable primary source for those events which he participated in and helped to shape.
There remains only to express my gratitude to those people and institutions without whose invaluable support this project would not have been possible. I owe great thanks to the consistent backing of the University of Tübingen for the project, for granting a six-month leave to conduct research in Bueno Aires, and for making the necessary resources available for its completion. Further, I must thank Professor Miguel Carlos Campanella of the Universidad de Buenos Aires for invaluable advice on the sometimes convoluted history of 19th century Argentina, and without whom God only knows how many more mistakes this study would have included, and Dr. Alejandro Mora and Dr. Gabriella Puerta of the National Archives of Argentina for their selfless assistance during my research in Buenos Aires. Finally, above all to my wife and children who I suspect grew tired of hearing about Herr Steinmetz long ago, but who nevertheless have been a constant and invaluable support all along.
Dr. Walther Frizsch
Tübingen, 2003
The Journals
11.02.1836
Buenos Aires
As my ship approached Buenos Aires this morning, I had the most uncanny feeling. Although reason of course dictates otherwise, it felt as if, despite a harrowing six-month sea journey, I had not really travelled anywhere at all. When I left Cadíz in August, it was late summer, warm, and there was Spanish architecture everywhere. Now, it is February, late summer, warm, and there is Spanish architecture everywhere.
However, this feeling soon dissipated as we entered the harbour and cast anchor. Never have I seen a more dismal place in my life! No docks or wharves or even so much as a simple wooden pier. A couple of boats appeared to ferry my fellow travellers and I ashore, where a rank stench of rotten fish and worse greeted us. And this, they tell me, is the commercial centre of Argentina! Gott im Himmel. It seems barely sufficient for a few fishing boats.[1]
Buenos Aires itself appears more appealing. It is a small town of only a little less than 50.000 citizens. (The population of the entire country is not believed to be more than 800.000, about half of that Württemberg,[2] although according to my maps, imprecise as they are, its geographic extent must be some 75 times greater than the Kingdom.[3]) The streets are generally unpaved, but clean, and lined with trees and tastefully constructed townhouses. And there is a theatre, the Coliseo Argentino which, I understand, produces acceptable plays and operas.
I have lodged for tonight at the Santa Cruz hotel (or perhaps 'inn' is a better term) in the town centre. At the hotel I also met with Felipe Moriena, my German-speaking Argentine assistant. He was recommended to me by Herr Neubauer, and seems competent. I only hope he turns out to be trustworthy as well, as I suspect I will come to rely on him a great deal – although some of the better educated locals know some French, most of them are impossible to communicate with.
In any event, we shall set out for the manor, or the 'estanzia', tomorrow. Tonight, however, I shall go and see Don Giovanni at the opera house. Provincial as the production will likely be, I suspect it may be a while before I get another opportunity for such entertainments.
Fig. 1: Boats in the Buenos Aires Harbor, ca. 1840
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1. Although clearly subjective, Steinmetz's description of the harbour echoes that of his contemporary José Antonio Wilde: ”...a messy patch of land covered in rubbish, sand and whatever the tide left; great quantities of fish chucked away by the fishermen could be seen, often rotting, for it was also where people dumped their rubbish and dead horses...” (Wilde 1948). Even though Buenos Aires had been granted the right to independent trade in 1776, there had apparently not been any particular investments in infrastructure yet.
2. Exact censuses do not exist for Argentina in the 1830's, but a good estimate of the population is around 820.000 for the country as a whole and 48.000 inhabitants in Buenos Aires. The Kingdom of Württemberg had a population of 1.578.000 in 1836.
3. This number is fairly accurate, assuming it does not include the Patagonian territories which Argentina claimed, but did not yet control at this time.
