La Carolina: Nueva Población y colonos alemanes

La Carolina (Jaén), in the heart of the Eastern Sierra Morena, is the natural gateway to Andalusia through the Despeñaperros Natural Park. La Carolina is a new settlement founded during the Enlightenment by King Charles III and his collaborator Pablo de Olavide to put an end to the bandits who attacked the Royal Road that connected Madrid with the ports of Cádiz and Seville. In the La Carolina Museum, its director, José Antonio Vacas, recounts the history of the new settlements. Residents of La Carolina comment on the numerous German surnames, due to their descendants of colonists. [Program "This is My Town", November 9, 2013. Canal Sur Television] La Carolina… "The municipality is made up of five population centers: Las Navas de Tolosa, La Fernandina, La Isabela, El Guindo, and… La Carolina. The population of La Carolina is 15,649 inhabitants (2008)… At this time (16th century), the current Despeñaperros pass, opened in the 18th century, did not yet exist. The Muradal and Rey passes were used to connect Andalusia with Castile and La Mancha. … the enlightened King Charles III and his ministers (Aranda, Campomanes, Jovellanos, etc.) implemented a new project. With the collaboration of Juan Gaspar de Thürriegel, it was decided to bring more than 6,000 colonists from Central Europe. A close collaborator of King Charles III, Pablo de Olavide, would be appointed head of the project, with the title of Superintendent of the New Colonies." Settlements. On February 28, 1767, the aforementioned plan was approved, and on July 5 of the same year, the Charter of the New Settlements was approved—a whole series of rules and laws that were to govern the new settlers, distinct from those of the rest of the country. …La Carolina… was the capital of the New Settlements of Sierra Morena, and Olavide lived there, in the Palace adjacent to the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Carmelite Convent… Today, it is still easy to find tall, blond, fair-skinned, and fair-eyed residents of La Carolina, reminiscent of Germans, Austrians, Swiss… Surnames like Auffinger, Eisman, Kobler, Metzveiler, Minch, Mitelbrum, Neff, Payer, Prigman, Scheffle, Scheroff, Smidt, Tecklemayer, Trunser, Yegler, and others, are clear relics of those times. Families… La Carolina is the best example of Enlightenment urban planning. It is known as the Urban Jewel of the Holy Kingdom. It was designed like a Roman camp; that is, following two intersecting axes, one from north to south, called the cardo (Jardines and Real streets), and another called the decumanus, from east to west (Madrid and Olavide streets), which meet at the Town Hall square. This intersection marks the center of the city, according to the design of Simón Desnaux, supervised by Olavide. Las Huertas and Juan Carlos I avenues are the main lines for the division of the land. The result of its urbanization is an orthogonal grid that divides it into blocks, with straight and wide streets and avenues…”. Source and more information: La Carolina Town Hall. King Charles III of Spain (Madrid, 1716 - Madrid, 1788) was the son of Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese. Between 1729 and 1733, the court moved to Seville, so he spent part of his adolescence in Andalusia. With the signing of the Treaty of Seville, Infante Carlos de Borbón was named Duke of Parma and settled in Italy. He returned to Spain as king in 1759 and attempted to modernize society with an Enlightenment program, which included the repopulation of the Sierra Morena mountains and the middle Guadalquivir valley, primarily with Central European immigrants from Germany. Among other towns founded as part of the New Settlements Plan were La Carolina (Jaén), La Carlota (Córdoba), and La Luisiana (Seville) to curb banditry and improve agriculture, industry, and commerce. 2016 marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles III. Pablo de Olavide y Jáuregui (Lima, Peru, January 25, 1725 – Baeza, Jaén, February 25, 1803) was a Spanish intellectual and politician. He arrived in Spain in 1752 and traveled through Europe, settling in France where he met Voltaire and Diderot. Upon his return to Spain, he became involved with the Enlightenment thinkers. On February 28, 1767, the project for the colonization of various areas of Andalusia was approved, and on July 5, 1767, the Charter of the New Settlements was published, outlining the rules and laws that would govern them. King Charles III entrusted Pablo de Olavide with the projects, and he was appointed Intendant of Andalusia and Assistant to the city of Seville (June 21, 1767). In 1769, Pablo de Olavide left Seville and settled in La Carolina (Jaén). More information on the New Populations of Sierra Morena and Andalusia: http://www.ieca.junta-andalucia.es/at... @ArchivoCanalSur November 9, 2013 July 5 ma2mm