VOLKART HOLDING
Dear Sir,
My husband and daughter travelled to Niederglatt, Switzerland last year, hoping to find descendents of Heinrich Volkart (16/03/1860-15/07/1934), a Swiss man that arrived in Argentina around 1870 and started my family.
Although they do not speak German, they managed to meet Mr. Edwin Dünki who, as a hobby, traces genealogy. They gave him all the information I had gathered about Heinrich’s arrival to my country and the
establishment of the Volkart family.
He gladly offered to go to Zürich and try to find Heinrich’s siblings, so we could
find out what happened to the rest of his family. He also gave my husband two books about the history of Niederglatt (“Ein Haus und Seine Bewohner” and “Von der Müle bis zum Tanzlokal”). In the second one,
on pages 11 and 13, it mentions a brother of Salomon Volkart, Heinrich
, that immigrated to South America and was never heard
from again.
Surfing the Internet I found many websites which contained information about the history of “Volkart Brothers”,
who immigrated to India, settled there and started one of the most important family enterprises in the country.
I am sure that is the story you know. But another story took place in Argentina, when Heinrich Volkart
began in 1869 in San Carlos Sud. At that time the national government promoted immigration by offering benefits to foreigners, one of them being lower land prices. That way, many Italian, Spanish and Swiss men were able to work
on lands bought
by Mr. Lehmann, sowing soy and other crops.
Many local historians
cite the participation of Heinrich and his children in institutions of the
nascent colony such as the choir “Harmonie”, the school that taught German and the
Protestant
church.
My husband has been working on my family tree for quite some time now; I would gladly e-mail it to anyone interested.
After telling you the story of the first ancestor of mine that arrived in Argentina I would also like to tell you that I have a strong desire to get in touch with descend
ants of the “Volkart brothers” who, despite having chosen such a different destiny from Heinrich’s,
were able to pass
their family values on to their children.
Yours faithfully,
Ingrid Volkart.
Corrections welcomed :D
