View source for San Bernardino, Paraguay

{{Infobox settlement
|settlement_type        = [[List of cities and towns in Paraguay|Town]] and District
|official_name = San Bernardino
|native_name = 
|image_skyline          = Lago_Ypacaraí.jpg  
|image_caption          = On the shores of [[Ypacarai Lake]], in San Bernardino, Paraguay
|imagesize              = 200px
|image_flag             = Bandera_San_Bernardino.PNG
|image_shield           = Escudo_San_Bernardino.PNG
|pushpin_map            =Paraguay
|pushpin_mapsize        =200
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = {{flag|Paraguay}}
|subdivision_type1      = Department
|subdivision_name1      = [[Cordillera Department|Cordillera]]
|leader_title           = Intendant
|leader_name            = Ramón Zubizarreta
|established_title      = Founded
|established_date       = August 24, 1881
|area_total_km2         = 
|area_footnotes         = 
|population_as_of       = 2012
|population_total       = 20,491
|population_density_km2   =
|timezone               =
|utc_offset             = 
|timezone_DST           = 
|utc_offset_DST         = 
|coordinates            = {{coord|25|18|38|S|57|17|46|W|region:PY|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_m            = 80
|area_code              = +595 (512)
|website                = 
}}

'''San Bernardino''' (colloquially known as '''San Ber''') is a town in [[Paraguay]], located on the shores of [[Ypacarai Lake]] in the [[Cordillera Department]]. It is a popular holiday resort for people from [[Gran Asunción|Greater Asunción]].

==History==
The town was founded in 1881 by German and Swiss immigrants, among them [[Santiago Schaerer]], founder and first colony manager, and was renamed after Saint Bernard to honor [[Bernardino Caballero]], president of Paraguay between 1880 and 1886.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century was built the Hotel del Lago, where the German anti-Semitic activist [[Bernhard Förster]] spent the last six weeks of his life, before committing suicide on June 3, 1889 by taking an overdose of strychnine. Inspired by a letter from Richard Wagner and his own anti-Semitism, he traveled to Paraguay to create a model German settlement with his wife [[Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche]] (sister of the philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]) and several German families. Their efforts, at the site called Nueva Germania, were not successful, leading him to go to San Bernardino.

==Tourism==
Having one of the highest [[per capita income]] in the country, San Bernardino is the summer home site of traditional families from Greater Asunción. The peak tourist season in San Bernardino is from December to mid February, which is the summer season in the country. During this time young people from [[Asunción]] and neighbouring cities and towns meet around the main meeting points, which are clubs and pubs at night and public spaces in the morning.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} There are breweries and places that sell traditional German food and drinks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1635342-d19815197-Reviews-San_Beer_Cerveceria-San_Bernardino_Cordillera_Department.html|title = SAN BEER CERVECERIA, San Bernardino - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews}}</ref>

The town contains a museum.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

==Demography==
According to the Statistics, Surveys and Censuses Bureau of Paraguay, In 2012 San Bernardino has a total of 20,491 inhabitants.<ref name="Atlas Censal del Paraguay - Cordillera">{{cite web |url=http://www.dgeec.gov.py/Publicaciones/Biblioteca/Atlas%20Censal%20del%20Paraguay/6%20Atlas%20Cordillera%20censo.pdf |title=Atlas Censal del Paraguay - Cordillera |language=es |year=2002 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122201129/http://www.dgeec.gov.py/Publicaciones/Biblioteca/Atlas%20Censal%20del%20Paraguay/6%20Atlas%20Cordillera%20censo.pdf |archivedate=2009-11-22 }}</ref>
Due to its colonization, the German and Spanish influences are visible and the city is predominantly [[White Latin Americans#Paraguay|white]], where 85% are made up of whites of Italian, Spanish, German and Swiss descent, and roughly 15% are made up of mixed race (mestizo).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lanacion.com.py/gran-diario-domingo/2019/12/01/san-bernardino-la-ciudad-que-vino-de-lejos/|title=La Nación / San Bernardino, la ciudad que vino de lejos}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://independiente.com.py/san-bernardino-la-ciudad-de-los-bollos/|title = San Bernardino, la ciudad de los bollos|date = 28 December 2020}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:16121-brochure-jgl-105.jpg|[[:es:Anfiteatro José Asunción Flores|José Asunción Flores Amphitheater]], in San Bernardino, Paraguay.
File:Café_Francés_in_San_Bernardino.jpg|Restaurants in San Bernardino.
File:San_Bernardino_PARAGUAY.JPG|San Bernardino, Paraguay.
File:Hotel_del_Lago_San_Bernardino.jpg|One of the hotels in San Bernardino, Cordillera, Paraguay.
File:Hassler_Bierschlucht_San_Bernardino_2000.jpg|A house built by [[Emil Hassler]] in 1898, in a place known as ''Bierschlucht'' in San Bernardino.
</gallery>

== Sister cities ==
*{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Villa Carlos Paz]], Argentina<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sanbernardino.gov.py/ciudades-hermandas/ |title=Ciudades Hermandas con San Bernardino – Paraguay &#124; Municipalidad de San Bernardino |website=sanbernardino.gov.py |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223619/http://sanbernardino.gov.py/ciudades-hermandas/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|BOL}} [[Tarija]], Bolivia<ref>{{cite web | url=https://elpais.bo/tarija/20210814_torres-concreta-relacion-comercial-tarija-paraguay.html | title=Torres concreta relación comercial Tarija-Paraguay }}</ref>

==Sources==
*[http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-179&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=x World Gazeteer: Paraguay]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} &ndash; World-Gazetteer.com
*[http://www.dgeec.gov.py DGEEC]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sanbernardino.gov.py/ The official website of San Bernardino (Spanish) ].

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Cordillera Department]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1881]]
[[Category:1881 establishments in Paraguay]]