Editing Cobán (section)

=== Independence and German settlers ===

As of 1850, Cobán population was estimated to be at 12000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baily|first=John|title=Central America; Describing Each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica|year=1850|publisher=Trelawney Saunders|location=London|page=87|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7306/view/1/87/}}</ref> Ca. 1890, British archeologist [[Alfred Percival Maudslay]] and his wife moved to Guatemala, and visited Cobán.{{sfn|Maudslay|Maudslay|1899|p=105}} Around the time the Maudslays visited Verapaz, a German colony had settled in the area thanks to generous concessions granted by liberal presidents [[Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián]], [[José María Reyna Barrios]] and [[Manuel Estrada Cabrera]].{{sfn|Martínez Peláez|1988|p=}} The Germans had a very united and solid community and had several activities in the German Club (Deutsche Verein), in Cobán, which they had founded in 1888.  Their main commercial activity was coffee plantations. Maudslay described the Germans like this: "There is a larger proportion of foreigners in Coban than in any other town in the Republic: they are almost exclusively Germans engaged in coffee-planting, and some few of them in cattle-ranching and other industries; although complaints of isolation and of housekeeping and labour troubles are not unheard of amongst them, they seemed to me to be fortunate from a business point of view in the high reputation that the Vera Paz coffee holds in the market, and the very considerable commercial importance which their industry and foresight has brought to the district; and, from a personal point of view, in the enjoyment of a delicious climate in which their rosy-cheeked children can be reared in health and strength, and in all the comforts which pertain to a life half European and half tropical. Hotels or fondas appear to be scarce; but the hospitality of the foreign residents is proverbial."{{sfn|Maudslay|Maudslay|1899|p=99}}

{{multiple image
| align     = center
| direction = horizontal
| width     = 
|title=Cobán in the 1890s
|caption=During the presidency of general [[José María Reina Barrios]], British anthropologist [[Alfred Percival Maudslay]] and his wife visited Cobán and published these photographs in their book ''A Glimpse at Guatemala''.{{sfn|Maudslay|Maudslay|1899|p=151-160}}
|image1=A glimpse of Guatemala 151-Iglesia de Coban 1898.png|caption1=Central park church|width1=250
|image2=A glimpse of Guatemala 155-People from Coban 1898.png|caption2=Street market|width2=230
|image3=A glimpse of Guatemala 160-Calvario de Coban.png|caption3=Calvary church|width3=230
}}

The city was developed by [[Germans|German]] coffee growers towards the end of the 19th century and was operated as a largely independent dominion until [[World War II|WWII]].<ref name=deutsch/> In 1888 a German club was founded<ref name=rise>{{cite web|url=http://www.contextxxi.at/context/content/view/391/95/|website=Risse im Context XXI; Magazin zur Alpenbergradigung|language=de|date=2002|location=Germany|title=Der Auslandsdeutsche kann nichts anderes sein als Nationalsozialist!|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210040215/http://www.contextxxi.at/context/content/view/391/95/|archive-date=10 February 2007}}</ref> and in 1935 a German school opened its doors in Cobán. Until 1930, about 2000 Germans populated the city.<ref name=rise/> In 1941, all Germans were expelled by the [[Guatemala|Guatemalan government]], led at the time by [[Jorge Ubico]] because of pressure from the [[United States]];<ref name=bucheli8>{{cite journal |last=Bucheli |first=Marcelo| year=2008| title=Multinational Corporations, Totalitarian Regimes, and Economic Nationalism: United Fruit Company in Central America, 1899-1975| journal=Business History| volume=50| issue=4| pages=433–454| doi =10.1080/00076790802106315|s2cid=153433143}}</ref> it has also been suggested Ubico's motivation was to seize control of the vast amounts of land Germans owned in the area.<ref name=bucheli8/> Many ended up in internment camps in [[Texas]] and were later traded for American POW's held in Germany. A sizable resident German population persists though most having been completely assimilated into the Guatemalan culture through intermarriage. Multiple German architectonic elements can still be appreciated throughout Cobán.

The Germans also set up [[Rail transport in Guatemala|Ferrocarril Verapaz]], a railway which connected Cobán with [[Lake Izabal]], operated from 1895 until 1963 and was a symbol for the wealth in this coffee-growing region those days.<ref name=deutsch>{{cite news|url=http://servicios.prensalibre.com/pl/domingo/archivo/revistad/2005/julio05/240705/dfondo.shtml |title=Deutschland en la Verapaz|newspaper=Revista D|location=Guatemala|publisher=Prensa Libre|date=5 July 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626133655/http://servicios.prensalibre.com/pl/domingo/archivo/revistad/2005/julio05/240705/dfondo.shtml|archive-date=26 June 2015}}</ref>