Geo von Lengerke (born August 31, 1827 ''Georg Ernst Heinrich von Lengerke'', Dohnsen (Weser) in the then

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

in northern Germany;Caminos, biography of Geo van Lengerke
died July 1882 in

Zapatoca Zapatoca () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It is at a high altitude and is a common stop between Bucaramanga and San Gil. It was built in the early 17th century by the Spanish conquistadores. Clim ...

, Santander, Colombia) was a German

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and landowner.

Biography

Possibly running from the law after killing a man in a duel over a woman, Von Lengerke left Germany and went to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in 1852, where he settled down in the then state of Santander. Once settled, he dedicated himself to cultivation of cinchona (quina) and its commercialization as well as

road construction A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. The ...

and land development. His property spread over 12,000 hectares. His best-known

haciendas A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards) ...

were "Montebello" and "El Florito", located in what is now the town of Betulia, where he lived in a semi-feudal life of extravagance. The eventual failure of his colonization project, construction of an alternative route to the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

and the decline of the market for cinchona diminished his fortune and left him in ruin. His name and figure became legendary in the region, and the 1977 novel by Pedro Gómez Valderrama, "''La otra raya del tigre''" (The tiger's other stripe) was based upon his life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lengerke, Geo von 1827 births 1882 deaths People from Holzminden (district) People from the Duchy of Brunswick German emigrants to Colombia Engineers from Lower Saxony