The German missionary ordained Methodist pastor in the United States but with a Lutheran training from his childhood and youth, Oskar von Barchwitz-Krauser, held conferences in the German capital to gather people who wanted to emigrate to the historic region of Araucanía, in Southern Chile, to found a community governed by Christian principles.

The colonizers left from Berlin to Hamburg to embark to Liverpool, where after making a stop in Rio de Janeiro, they crossed the Strait of Magellan to reach the Chilean port of Talcahuano in April 1884.

[8] Contulmo spans an area of 961.5 km2 (371 sq mi)[3] It is bordered by the commune of Cañete to the north and northwest, Tirúa to the southwest, Purén to the east and Lumaco to the southeast.

As a commune, Contulmo is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years.

The commune is represented in the Senate by Victor Pérez Varela (UDI) and Mariano Ruiz-Esquide Jara (PDC) as part of the 13th senatorial constituency (Biobío-Coast).