Centenary of Wulff Castle in Vina del Mar

Number by catalogue:  Yvert: 1705   Scott: 1460b  

Perforation type: 13 ¼x13 ¼

Subject:

390 peso. An early view of a castle with a water pump

Additional:

*Viña del Mar (Spanish for: "Vineyard of the Sea"), also known locally as La Ciudad Jardín (Spanish for: "The Garden City"), is a Chilean commune and coastal city in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. With a population of 286,931 (2002 census), it is Chile's fourth largest city. It is also part of the Greater Valparaíso area, the country's second largest conurbation, which includes nearby Valparaíso and other cities.

Viña del Mar is best known as a tourist and beach destination. One of its key attractions are a gambling casino and a yearly music festival, Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar (Spanish: "Viña del Mar International Song Festival") that is hosted in the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, every february since 1959. The city also hosts a yearly ATP clay-court tennis tournament (Movistar Open).

 

**Mr. Gustavo Wulff, German saltpeter and coal trader, as well as maritime transporter, migrated to Chile in 1881. In 1904, he bought from Dr. Teodoro Von Schoeders 1,260m2 in front of Cerro Castillo (Castle Hill), in Viña del Mar where he have a house built and ready in 1908.

By 1917, Mr. Wulff hired architect Alberto Cruz Montt to make the house into a castle. Eventually a new tower was added built upon some rocks on the northern side of the castle, and a bridge joined them together.
 
The City bought the castle in 1959. Since 1960 until 1988 it housed the Museo Naval de la Armada de Chile (Chile Navy Forces Museum). Between 1990 and 1999 it lodged the collection of the writer Salvador Reyes Figueroa. In 1995, it was pronounced National Historical Monument by Chilean Law.

Current Headquarters for the Unidad de Patrimonio de la Municipalidad de Viña del Mar (Viña del Mar City Hall Patrimony Unit)