19th century

The first wave of immigration was in 1853, organized by then-president Ramon Castilla. These immigrants established themselves in the cities of Tingo Maria, Tarapoto, Pucallpa, Moyobamba, and in the department of Amazonas. Baron Kuno Damian Freiherr Schutz von Holzhausen, the leader of the immigration movement, consulted with the then Peruvian Minister of Foreign Relations, Manuel Tirado. The meeting's purpose was to colonize the central jungle to better link the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The colonists would end up colonizing Pozuzo. In 1854, the first immigration contract was signed between the Baron and then-president José Rufino Echenique. The next year, in 1855, this contract was nullified as Echenique had been ousted and Ramon Castilla had assumed the presidency again. The Baron signed a new contract with the new president on December 6, 1855. According to the contract each colonist would be reimbursed by the government for the cost of the voyage from Europe to Pozuzo, the construction of a new highway from Cerro de Pasco to Pozuzo, each colonist 15 years old or older would receive 15 pesos, the distribution of 360 square kilometres (140 sq mi) land between the colonists of which they would have legal ownership, exemption for the first six months of taxes, and the responsibility to build schools, churches, and other basic needs. The government, however, required that the colonists be Catholic and workers skilled at a trade. To make this project possible the Baron was hired by the Peruvian government to oversee the colonization, paying him a salary of 2,400 pesos annually. The first wave of colonists departed Antwerp in 1857 and arrived in the Peruvian port of Callao two months later. The third wave of immigrants to the jungle occurred in 1868, taking the same route as the second wave of immigrants did. In later years, the descendants of the German immigrants would go on to found new cities throughout the central jungle such as Oxapampa and Villa Rica.

20th century

During World War II, some German Peruvians became under the influence of Nazi Germany and began their own branches of Nazi Party.^[1] About 2,000 German Peruvian lived in Peru during World War II,^[1] with the total number of known active Nazi party members in Peru being documented at more than 200.^[1] The prominent families such as the Emmel and Sprinckmöller families in Arequipa and Fischer family in Andahuaylas, the Albrecht family in Cusco and the Schäfer family in Piura signed their names as Nazi Party members.^[1][2] Carl Dedering led the Nazi Party in Peru and much of the documentation regarding the party in Peru was lost, some of it burned by party members to prevent incrimination.^[1][3] In the remote village of Pozuzo, the Nazi Flag would be raised on the town's flagpole.^[3]

Peru's government would abide by British blacklists targeting German businesses in the country during the war.^[1] The Alexander Humboldt School in Lima was a meeting place for five branches of the Nazi Party, with the school's director and teachers being deported to internment camps in the United States for being leaders.^[1] After Peru broke diplomatic relations with Germany in 1942, some naturalized German Peruvians were sent to internment camps in the United States.^[1] Many German Peruvians placed their accounts in the Embassy of Francoist Spain due to its closeness with Nazi Germany, with about 3 million soles being present by 1945.^[1]