 From the middle of the 19th century to the present, they have played a significant role in the economic, political and cultural development of the Chilean nation.The 19th-century immigrants settled chiefly in Chile’s Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions in the so-called "Zona Sur" of Chile, including the Chilean lake district.The first German to feature in the history of what is now Chile is Bartolomé Blumenthal (Spanish "alias" Bartolomé Flores) during the 16th century who accompanied Pedro de Valdivia.