Plaza Alemania in the Palermo Woods
The Plaza Alemania also known at the ‘Source Farming Wealth” or the “German Source in Buenos Aires” is located in the farthest southeastern corner of Palermo Woods. It was given to the Argentineans by Germany to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Argentina’s revolution. On May 25th, 1910 Argentina hosted a celebration of the Centenary of the Revolution of May and invited the leaders of all the countries of Europe and the Americas. It was on this day that Germany gave the plans to build a monument to demonstrate their gratitude and serve as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries.
Gift from germany to argentina
This gift was probably meant to solidify a relationship that Germany was in great need of maintaining. Germany knew that war was approaching and they needed to keep the supplies delivered by Argentina coming into their country during the conflict. During WWI Argentina was a major importer to Germany, and they maintained neutrality.
Bredow took great pains to erect this monument, traveling to Greece for stones and spending four years in construction before delivering the stones to Buenos Aires where he spent several more months erecting the statue.
On the left side of the monument is a carving of a bull and a man which represent a cattle ranch. Opposite of the ‘cattle ranch’ is a statue of three men each with an element of agriculture. The first sits on a plow, the next holds a shovel and the last lifts a stone of the earth; these each respectively represent agriculture, horticulture and mining. On the back of the monument are brass plaques which represent the benefits of culture. Located on the lower wall of the monument are brass shields of the sixteen German regions.
The German Seat, or Plaza Alemania was finally inaugurated on May 6th, 1964, 54 years after Germany sent the plans to Argentinia.
In 2004 the Head of Government of the city of Buenos Aires, Aníbal Ibarra, declared that many works in the Palermo woods needed restoration and she allocated 700 thousand pesos to the project. Plaza Alemania received 442,565 pesos to install a new hydroelectric system, lights, and other improvements.