History

Chronological table of NEULAND Colony and Cooperative

• During the years 1947/48 Mennonite refugees from the former Soviet Union established Neuland Colony. According to the ships' lists there were 2,474 people. At that time that was also the biggest immigrant group of the three colonies in the Chaco. MCC had bought 40 leagues of land, i.e. 75,000 ha, for these immigrants.

• On June 4, 1947 a settlement committee was elected from among the new immigrants.

• On July 30, 1947 the immigrants decided to establish the first three villages: Neu-Halbstadt, Neuendorf and Einlage.

• On September 30, 1947 the first settlers' assembly took place on the new land of the settlement under the bottle tree next to the gas station. There were 52 female and 30 male heads of the family present.

• On December 4, 1948 it was decided in a colony meeting to establish February 1 as a day of remembrance and thanksgiving.

• On January 22, 1949 the settlement committee was replaced by an elected colony administration.

• On March 15, 1949, in a joint administrative meeting, the two colonies Fernheim and Neuland decided by mutual agreement to separate their business dealings. Neuland become independent. On June 1, 1949 the trade branch of Fernheim Cooperative was transformed into the Neuland Cooperative.

• 1949 the first phone call was made from Neuland to Fernheim.

• On September 27, 1950 the legal foundations of "Neuland" (meaning "new land") Colony were defined in a bylaw.

• 1951: Dr. Wilhelm and Anna Rakko moved into the new hospital: "Concordia".

• 1952: Neuland starts its own high school classes.

• Mennonite Brethren Church: With aid money from North America began in 1952 the construction of the meeting house in Gnadental. The foundation stone was laid on 5 June 1952. The construction work was headed by Abram Klassen. The prayer house in Gnadental was inaugurated on 16 August. On the 1st of January 1955 MBG had 260 members.
  

• 1953: The high school is built.

• Since January 1, 1954 every member of the colony is also automatically a shareholder of Neuland Cooperative.

• Mennonite Church: On 20th April 1954, thanks to generous assistance from North America, the foundation stone for the 12 x 25 m large church building was laid. Jacob Neufeld preachers of Alt-Chortitza took over the construction. Every member was required to perform 17 working days as a "crowd work". After a construction period of 20 months, the church was inaugurated on 18 December 1955.
  

• From January 1, 1958 on there are no more communal workdays or contributions.

• From 1956 to 1961 the highway "Ruta Trans-Chaco" was built from Asunción to the Mennonite colonies in the Chaco.

• 1963: The hall at the high school was built.

• 1968: The governing council decided to set up a sports ground for the youth.

• In July of 1972 Neuland Colony celebrated its 25th anniversary.

• 1972: The first colony administrator (Oberschulze), Peter Derksen, finished his 25-year tenure. At this point in time Neuland had its lowest population: 970 people.

• Alfred Bartel began his 8-year tenure as colony administrator. He pursued a progressive economic policy from 1972 on. Agriculture was mechanized and livestock farming boosted through long-term credits.

• 1976: Neuland was the first of the 3 colonies in the Chaco to centralize the elementary schools.

• 1978: The 3 colonies in the Chaco adopted a uniform social insurance. The payment of a small pension (20% of the national minimum salary) for people over 65 years of age was connected to that.

• Since 1982 there is a windstorm and fire insurance in Neuland, to which an auto insurance was also added 3 years later.

• 1983: Construction of the camp "Aurora Chaqueña".

• 1987: The cooperative installed the first computer for data processing. It cost about as much as the cooperative's new 340 VOLVO truck.

• The same year a Social Work Committee was established.

• Since 1992 Neuland has a youth center. Initially it was on the main street in Peter Siemens' old garage and since 1995 it has been in its own building on Quebracho Street.

• 1993: The joint agricultural extension service of the colonies was closed.

• In 1993 a youth orchestra was formed.

• From 1994 on the Hotel Boquerón has belonged to Neuland Cooperative.

• In 1996, the old department store of the cooperative was demolished and replaced by a modern supermarket. Since then, the supermarket offers its customers a big assortment of consumer goods.
  

• In May of 1997 Neuland celebrated its 50th anniversary.

• 1998: Electrification of the Chaco and access to the national power supply system ANDE, funded by the "Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau" of the Federal Republic of Germany.

• 2001: "Ciclo II", Neuland's meat processing plant was inaugurated in MRA, a small town next to Asunción.

• 2007: "Ciclo I", the slaughterhouse for the meat processing plant was built in Villa Hayes and in 2008 it was inaugurated.

• 2007: Neuland celebrated its 60th anniversary. At this point in time the colony has approximately 1,800 inhabitants and the cooperative has 710 members. Its land holdings have increased to 266,000 ha.

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