Javari Valley, Amazonia
50 years ago, a German journalist went after the mythical underground city, revealed by an indigenous of an unknown people. Years later, foreigners who tried to get there disappeared.
Legend has it that one of the oldest civilizations in the world was founded around 15,000 AC by extraterrestrial beings in Amazonia. The lost city will also have, according to the legend, welcomed more than two thousand Nazis that left Germany around 1930, which will have lived hidden in underground tunnels alongside the natives.
It seems crazy, but in the 1970s, a respected German correspondent in Brazil, Karl Bruggerbelieved in the story. Deeply plunged into the investigation and even published a book about the mythical city of Akakor. Years later, he was murdered when he was preparing to live in the Amazon and trying to find this civilization. The case of the journalist was not isolated: all who went in search of the mythical city never returned.
German writer and journalist Karl Brugger
“When you come in, you never make it”
The plot attracted to Jacques Cousteaubesides inspiring works such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), by Steven Spielberg. Today, 40 years after the death or disappearance of several foreign explorers, Akakor’s myth continues to fascinate those who seek to unravel the mysteries of this story.
Documentary filmmaker Rapha Erichsen, author of the newly released book Akakor’s puzzle: Fars and Secrets in the Amazon Foresthe is a friend of filmmaker Jorge Bodanzky, who worked in the 1970s with Brugger.
To DW, he tells that he learned of the story of the “cursed Eldorado” by chance, when he saw Akakor’s chronicle book at the co -worker’s bookcase, Bodanzky. “Leave this story there, it brings bad now,” said the filmmaker. Even so, and without asking, Erichsen borrowed the book.
Since then, it has become another fascinated by myth. In his documentary book, he travels inhospitable routes and brings together files from the time to try to unravel the mysteries of Amazonian legend. “Despite the fantasy, Akakor’s plot inspires and captivates everyone who gets involved with her. When you enter it, you never leave.”
How it all started
When in mid -1971 Karl Brugger heard the indigenous reports Tatunca Narain a bar in the municipality of Barcelos, located 370 kilometers from Manaus, his eyes shone before what could be the great report of his life.
Tatunca Nara – a white man who spoke German fluently – told the journalist that it was the heir to the oldest civilization in the worldin the Amazon, and that only he knew how to get there.
According to the alleged indigenous, Akakor was somewhere between Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, and had Two other “sister cities”: Akahim (in the northwest of the Amazon) and Akanis (in Yucatan, Mexico). The three locations would be linked by underground tunnels.
The same man also said he was the son of a prince Ugha Mongulala – the tribe who would live in the mythical city – and a German nun who had reached the Amazon in the 1930s. He also told that his people welcomed and lived harmoniously with two thousand Nazis Submitted to the Brazilian tropical rainforest by Adolf Hitler, shortly before stripping World War II.
In fact, the Nazis sent an expedition to the Amazon in 1935 to study the region. But it was made up of two Germans, a Portuguese-German and local helpers.
This is also why the mythical Akakor fascinated Karl Bruggger. According to reports from the indigenous stranger, the city could be recognized for its pyramid -shaped mountains, but the path remained hidden, hidden behind an almost impossible access waterfall. The journalist decided to find her and, shortly thereafter, organized a Expedition in search of the lost city.
“What tells is the story”
The then Brazilian Chamber Operator Jorge Bodanzky accompanied Brugger in the endeavor. They had known years earlier in Germany. Together they covered reports in the Amazon, critical social themes and even the coup in Chile.
Bodanzky said that from the beginning, he suspected that supposed German -speaking indigenous. Still, the prospect of recording the discovery of a mythical city in the middle of the forest was too tempting to be ignored.
“This first expedition was frustrating. Tatunca left us stranded in front of Barcelos. He left and promised to bring an official authorization from leaders Ugha Mongula to enter Akakor, but never returned, and we had to return,” recalls the filmmaker. Despite the failure of the mission, Brugger’s enthusiasm in finding Akakor remained.
“Deep down, Brugger believed he could find Akakor. Once, he said: ‘If in 1911 they discovered Machu Picchu, why wouldn’t it be possible to find another city in the Amazon? It was perfectly plausible that there could be a hidden city there, ‘”says Bodanzky.
Also, “the story was good, and for the journalist what tells the story,” recalls Bodanzky, citing the words of his German friend. Akakor’s incessant search has become a life project for Brugger. In 1976, he published the book Chronicle of Akakorwritten from the reports of Tatunca Nara.
The German correspondent, plunged into history, didn’t even fear losing his reputation. In the book, it addresses the origin of the universe to modern history, from the perspective of the alleged Ugha Mongulala. It also refers to contacts of these people with Egyptians, Phoenicians and others, long before the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese.
Who tried, died
In September 1971, the municipality of Sena Madureira, Acre, suffered its worst air crash: a plane crashed after a engine failure, killing all 33 people on board. Among the victims was Bishop Monsignor Giocondo Grotti, who, according to reports, would have received from Tatunca Nara documents and stories about the lost civilization, although he had never visited her in person.
In the following years, A series of foreigners fascinated by the legend of Akakor disappeared in the Amazon After meetings with Tatunca. In 1980, 28-year-old American John Reed wrote to his parents to say he was two days from the mythical city before disappearing. In 1983, the 22 -year -old Swiss Herbert Wanner disappeared during an expedition with his armadills; His body was found the following year with a bullet hole in his head.
Already Karl Brugger was shot dead in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, on January 1, 1984, allegedly during a robbery. He had just left the correspondent post and was preparing to live for the Amazon. On the day of death, he was with his colleague Ulrich Encke, who confirmed that Brugger was trying to take his wallet when he was shot in his chest – precisely where he had a turtle tattoo identical to his tatunca Nara.
At the time, the author of the shots was identified as a resident of the Cantagalo community, although the only witness traveled to Germany the next day. To this day, the case has not been resolved, wrapped in suspicions and conspiracy theories.
Another story involves Christine Heuser, a German yoga teacher who, after reading Akakor’s chronicle, believed he was married to Tatunca Nara in a past life. Fascinated with the idea, he traveled to Amazonia, fell in love with the “indigenous prince” and, in 1987, decided to live in the jungle. After an argument with tatunca, he left alone for the forest. It has never been seen again.
Tatunca Nara was not the one who said it was
Tatanca suspicions reached the authorities. The supposed indigenous was actually called Hans Günther Haucka German who had abandoned the family in the 1960s to assume a false identity in the Brazilian forest. The Amazonas Public Prosecution Service and the Federal Criminal Police of Germany (BKA) investigated Hauck for involvement in homicides and disappearances. Nothing advanced. The processes ended up archived, and Tatunca continued to live on the fame that had created around her.
In the 1990s, TV Globo do Brasil’s Fantástico show went after the “last descendant of the Ugha Mongulala”, keeping the legend of Akakor and his enigmatic narrator alive. In 2024, a German public television documentary also addressed the story.
Without scientific proof
“Ugha Mongulala? It seems Japanese name!” He told DW, Rir, an indigenous knowledgeable of the Amazonian myths, who lives in Yauaretê, in the Uaupés region, on the border between Brazil and Colombia. Arlindo Maia says that “Never heard of Akakor”.
Italian archaeologist Filippo Stampanoni Bassi, director of the Amazon Museum (muse), had never heard of Akakor, or the alleged Ugha Mongulala. Despite the recent discovery in Peru, ruins of a 3,500 -year -old city – the oldest in South America – Bassi explained that There is no evidence in investigations into archeology in the Brazilian Amazon that indicates the existence of pyramids, much less underground tunnels.
“We have technology capable of accurately mapping structures on the ground. We know that there were interconnected civilizations, but not with this high level of complexity,” he said.
In addition, there is an even more intriguing question about Akakor and Tatunca Nara, related to the geopolitical context of the time. According to documentary filmmaker Rapha Erichsen and other journalists who investigated the subject, there is a hypothesis that the German “indigenous” was informing the military regime about Karl Brugger’s activities.
“Why did Tatunca received an identity document from the Brazilian government? And why didn’t the investigations advance in Brazil and Germany?” Asked Bodanzky.
Experts on the subject also raise the hypothesis of Tatunca Nara to have links with military secret services and with foreign minerals – mainly uranium, which could be used in nuclear programs. At the time, uranium deposits were being identified in various areas of the Amazon region.
But all these theories lack evidence. Tatunca Nara is still alive and residing in Barcelos, Amazonia, where she offers guided tours to those who want to meet Akakor.
