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DAVID WOODARD, CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT , MD , AND THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO JOIN A SMALL GROUP EXPEDITION TO

Elisabeth Nietzsche's Nueva Germania.

David Woodard with the Schweikhart brothers, descendents of original settlers who arrived in Nueva Germania with Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche and her husband Bernhard in 1886 (Photo 2004 Christoph Schubert, MD)

The Fischers and Haudenschilds reside in NG's Tacarutý ("Place of Anthills") region. Like the Schweikharts and Schüttes, these profoundly intermingled clans descend from pilgrims. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

JuniperHills.Net is offering an intensive, week-long seminar in Nueva Germania , Paraguay . Under the guidance of award-winning American conductor David Woodard and Nueva Germanians Christoph Schubert, MD, and Mayor Ceferino Zena Duarte, you will experience an eye-opening tour through the mesmeric history of Elisabeth Nietzsche's Wagner-inspired family-planning sodality—with no greater than five companion explorers. Tucked in the middle of Paraguay 's vast subtropical jungle, the forgotten fatherland contends with unauthorized marijuana farms, wild parrots, savage Guaraní natives and the tepid hand of Lady Fortuna.

Though revered as the colony's founding "queen," Elisabeth Nietzsche, best known here as Luisa, enjoys playful street sign representation at the hands of a Guaraní municipality. As of 2006, the signs are being updated: JPG. Click pic for moment of sound recorded with shown mic. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

Per local legend, Josef Mengele resided in Nueva Germania, comfortably if intermittently, for over two decades. Casa de Mengele remained untouched for years following his death—until one afternoon in the early '90s, when the historic landmark was reduced to these scattered bricks. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

Our practically free offer includes ground transportation in Paraguay, lodging and hospitality in a private Nueva Germania home (including a vegetarian option), daily visits to important landmarks, meetings with remarkable men, and your own rucksäcke containing study materials, Elisabeth Nietzsche's Yerba Maté, a CD of Wagner under Golovanov's amiable baton, a DVD of Forgotten Fatherland, and photo portraits of Wagner, Woodard and Nietzsche.On November 1, the October, 2006 expedition came to a close with the Asunción premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser. This was the first time that any of Wagner's operas had been performed in Paraguay . Musicians were flown in from Brasil and Europe, fourteen of whom the esteemed Paraguayan maestro Diego Sánchez Haase had selected and assigned to a mid-October recital in Nueva Germania under Woodard's stick.

Christoph Schubert, MD, presides over an elderly patient's electrocardiogram. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

In the unlikely event of medical emergency, the Consultorio Medico is centrally located. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

During October, 2004, JuniperHills.Net delivered $12,500 in medicine to Nueva Germania—donated by Heart to Heart, International, of Olathe , Kansas . We are privileged to maintain beautiful working relationships with not only the colonists and municipality but also Heart to Heart, Plasticos and the dedicated staff at Nueva Germania's triage unit.

Mrs. and Mr. Federico Kück operate Nueva Germania's largest Yerba Maté farm. They also cure and package their yield on premesis—and cultivate stevia. (Photo 2004 Christoph Schubert, MD)

Herr Küchenmeister and offspring are proud owners of Försterhof, former dwelling and ruling HQ of Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche and her husband Bernhard. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

Nueva Germania is the world's cradle of yerba maté, the herb from which South America 's most popular stimulant beverages are steeped, and yet the colony boasts few Yerba Maté farms. Our group visits not only these farms, and learns how the crop is properly grown, harvested and cured, but local farms dedicated to other products as well—sesame, stevia and manioc. Of course we explore the gorgeous Försterhof property—and learn from dear memories of old-timers.Lovers of yerba maté in all its forms tend to overlook its origin: the herb was discovered and developed as a tonic in Nueva Germania during the first year of the pilgrims' landing. In 1886, Federico Neumann, a member of Nietzsche's first wave, invented what has become the growing and curing process. This involves a singular germination technique that mimics a bird's digestive system—and ultimately takes one year to cure, requiring a carefully timed sequence of harvest, semi-drying and slow smoking in a darkened room.

With Martha and Heiner Schütte, children of pilgrims. Heiner (RIP) was often sought for his extensive knowledge of guns—old and very old. (Photo 2004 Christoph Schubert, MD)

Mayor Ceferino Zena Duarte and David Woodard. Nueva Germania's first non-corrupt leader is aggressively seeking to improve the enclave's living standards. (Photo 2004 Christoph Schubert, MD)

With the shifting sands of government in Paraguay , this is a unique opportunity to explore a forgotten facet of the Nietzsche / Woodard / Wagner legends.Wagner's 1880 treatise "Religion and Art" seeks to define the role of art as it relates to religion. In so doing, it addresses the origin and nature of religion—and whether humankind, a species built on deceit and artifice, may ever have true religion. Along the way, Wagner perseverates on the importance of humans abstaining from the unnecessary slaying and eating of animals—in observance of karmic law. It is on this basis, and in light of man's reliance on the flesh of beasts in Northern climes, that he suggests "a sensibly conducted transmigration to those quarters of our globe whose rich fertility is sufficient to sustain the present population of every country in the world, as has been asserted of the South American peninsula in itself." These words resonated with Elisabeth Nietzsche and Bernhard Förster. In an effort to render the ideas behind “Religion and Art” sensible and relevant to the English-speaking layreader, David Woodard has endeavored to clarify and enrich the Master's ignored text. For further details, please see the NG Downloads / Links / Media console below.

Magdalena Fischer is a kindly, albeit timid, conduit to Nueva Germania's founding spirit. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

Palm trees sway—many of which also swooned over Elisabeth and her husband Bernhard. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

Magdalena 's great-granddaughter, youngest Fischer belle Talia, transvaluates all values. (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

NG DOWNLOADS / LINKS / MEDIA

Updated June 28, '09

* Photojournalist Heidi Hattestein's expedition to Nueva Germania, and sidestep to lakeside Hotel del Lago in the Asunción suburb of San Bernardino (where Bernhard Förster crossed the Great Divide), has almost yielded a work of beauty—"Her ble ikke den amerikanske drømmen til," in Norwegian (Vagabond, December '07): PDF

* Hans Blüher scholar Martin Lichtmesz’ “Nietzsche und Wagner im Dschungel,” an interview with David Woodard and Christian Kracht, in German (Zwielicht, Summer '07): PDF

* "Religion and Art" (Wagner and Woodard): LINK ON SABBATICAL

* Henning Kober's "In, um und um Germanistan herum," in German (Die Tageszeitung, May 18, '06): LINK

* A description (LINK) and review of Woodard's standing room-only lecture at Wissenschaftsakademie Berlin, in German (Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 21, '06): LINK

* "Funeral for a Friend"—in memory of NG blueblood Heiner Schütte (David Woodard): SABB.

* Jesse James Hollywood's imminent arrival, in Spanish (Diario Popular, January 15, '06): LINK

* A Paraguayan view of Elisabeth Nietzsche's Yerba Maté, in Spanish (Diario Popular, November 3, '05): LINK

* October '05 Field Report, in German: SABB.

* Hutterite esoterica of NG origin: LINK

* April '05 Field Report: SABB.

* Eiger Stiftung scholarship, in German (Spring '08): LINK

* "Our Jungle Holy Land," Juniper Hills' celebratory motet (Spring '04): MP3

* Christian Kracht's "Der durstige Krieg," in German (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 28, '05): PDF

* Paraguay's tab, in Spanish (Diario Popular, April 4, '05): LINK

* Jack Epstein's indepth-ish fantasia (SF Chronicle, March 13, '05): LINK

* Columnist Leah Garchik (SF Chronicle, February 15, '05): LINK

* Wolfgang Hindrichs on NG's Lutheran church, in German: PDF

* Gerda Harder on the Schweikharts (WMV) and the Fischers (WMV)

* Early alliance correspondence: PDF

* "My Story," by Gerda Harder: SABB.

* Introducing Berta Schütte: WMV

* Gerda Harder reflects on the colony—past and future: SABB.

C. Schubert, MD, and Mayor C. Zena Duarte (Photo 2004 David Woodard)

If you wish to participate during October of 2009, kindly petition.

We appreciate and reply in confidence to each sound query.