The German Colonial Museum of Frutillar promotes the valuation of the natural and cultural heritage that encircles the lake Llanquihue and particularly the History of the German Colonization in the south of Chile, Which started during the second half of the XIX century. The Museum makes parts of the Museological Directions of the Universidad Austral de Chile, an institution recognized by its contribution to the preservation and appreciation of the regional. The Museum opened the year 1984 and it counted with the support of the German Federal Republic.

Its attractive emplacement extends itself through three hectares and within them a recreation of the different types of buildings that may be found by the lake basin and the exhibition of the lifestyle of the local inhabitants.

In the interior of the emplacement the Casona de Campo may be visited, this recreates the rooms used the German families which reached the best comforts at the end of the XIXth century. The Blacksmith house shows the fundamental role of the trades, while the belfry shows the place for the threshing or of the grain storage, a building of Spanish influences with indigenous technical principles which, also reveals, the link with a the labor force that came from the Chiloe.

The Casa Del Molino (Mill House) reproduces the infrastructure installed for the grain processing, especially wheat. In its inside, a summary of the human settlement process since the archaeological period and Indigenous populations until the European influence of the XIX century, are in exhibit.

Salesian Museum

Do you have some hours in Punta Arenas? Would you like to learn and discover about the history, culture, religion, fauna, flora and domestic trade? If the answer is yes, then “Maggiorino Borgatello” is the right museum for you.

This historical collection was put together in 1893 by Maggiorino Borgatello with

Angel Benove and is up to these days the most thorough record of culture and life style in the city. Here you can find:

Flora and Fauna: this is one of the oldest collections in Patagonia. It even has samples of animals that are extinct and others that can only be be found in the Antarctic territory.

Ethnography: the collection includes tools, clothes, hunting tools, religious objects of the native groups that once roamed Patagonia. It is also important to mention that this museum has some of the few films made by Alberto De Agostini that capture the motion of these groups.

Missions: there is a vast collection of religious artifacts of the Salesian congregation. This area tells the work carried out by priests who looked after the naties and future generations.

Milodon: this is the only museum in Chile that has hair and excrement samples of this prehistorical creature found in a cave near Puerto Natales.

The Antarctic: here you can have an insight of the human presence in this unspoiled cotinent. This area is still growing and is constantly updated.

Geology and fossils: this area displays a variety of rocks that tell the ancient history of this area. There are alo samples of petrified wood and amonites.

Industry: there is a before and after the discovery of oil. Learn about the importance of this and other economical activities that have shaped the domestic trade.

As you can see this is by far the best option if you are stuck between flights and still want to know something else about the place you are visiting. It will take you probably  1 ½ hour to go through the 4 level exhibit. Just keep one thing in mind: no pictures allowed.

In addition, there is a library with graphic and audio material of the native tribes in Patagonia.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 11.30 am. And in the afternoon from 3 pm to 5.30 pm.

The cost is $ 2.000 Chilean Pesos or U$ 4. (the US entrance fee might vary a bit during the season)

They take U$, Chilean Pesos and Credit Cards

Avda. Bulnes, 336

Main entrance

PO Box 347
PUNTA ARENAS

Phone number: (061) 22 10 01

Historical Mechanical

One of my favorite places to visit as a child was the “Instituto de la Patagonia” I remember my grandpa used to take me there to see the machines that shaped the early way of living in my city. I can also recall a cartoon that was on tv those days: the transformers. It was in this place where my imagination hoped that one of those ancient gadgets would transform into a robot and go home with me.

Now I am 29 years old and it is me who drives my grandpa around town, only that whenever we go to the institute I am mature enough to understand all the stores behind the iron and rust.

This open air museum was founded in 1969 and it has the purpose of studying and preserving the history of the 12^th region of Chile. It has the biggest collection of machinery that goes from late 1800′s until mid 1900′s. In addition there are replicas of stores and a drugstore with most of their original objects.

Instituto Patagonia

This window into time can be sometimes difficult to explore since it is not protected from the elements. My advice is that you take a rain coat and you remember the layer theory just in case. Though I have to say that a visit to the institute is far more insightful when it is windy and cold because only then you discover what is like to work in Patagonia.

At the entrance you will have to pay an entrance fee that varies, but shouldn’t be more than U$ 10. It will probably take you 1 hour to walk around the whole museum.

Just one more thing: should you see a robot, send me a mail ASAP, because I still haven’t found mine.

How to get here?

Just ask for: Instituto de la Patagonia

Avenida Bulnes 01855

Punta Arenas, Chile