On the Bariloche waterfront, very close to the city’s iconic letters, a new monumental figure will soon appear: a six-meter-long iron Nahuelito, nearly four meters tall. The project is an initiative of the Jung family, with a longstanding blacksmithing tradition, and seeks to pay tribute both to the city and to their own lineage.
"This arises from a documentary I am making about my family," explained Walter Jung. His grandfather’s testimony, filmed more than a decade ago, sparked in him the desire to rebuild the family roots. In talking with his uncle Aldo —a lifelong blacksmith— the idea was born to transform that memory into something visible, symbolic, and lasting: a sculpture of Nahuelito, the mythical inhabitant of the lake.
The Jung family is no stranger to metal. "My great-grandparents arrived in 1910 and opened the first blacksmith shop at Onelli and Mitre," says Walter. Since then, iron has run through several generations’ veins. Now that legacy will take the shape of a metal plesiosaur, installed at a strategic point in Bariloche. "It will be a new tourist attraction and a tribute to our history," he added.
María Jung, the current First Snow Princess, also joined the project enthusiastically: "My dad is the one who is going to build it, together with my siblings. We have already secured support from companies for the materials." The initiative, far from being just a monument, represents the collective spirit of a family that turns blacksmithing into art and living tradition.
Nahuelito is a creature that, since the 19th century, has fueled the Patagonian imagination. From Tehuelche legends to 20th-century expeditions, including "scientific fake news" and human-interest stories, the figure of the Nahuel Huapi plesiosaur has kept reinventing itself. The Jung family’s project joins that story, giving physical shape to a myth that, like so many in Patagonia, never quite fades.
They are already part of the Job Board
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