CASA MADSEN
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In the Fitz Roy estancia is the house (now a museum) of Andreas Madsen, the first inhabitant of the village. Through photographs and numerous artefacts, we delve into the past of this man born in Denmark in 1881. At the age of 15, he decided to try his luck by boarding a ship. Finally, he landed in Buenos Aires where he worked with the commission headed by Perito Moreno. In 1903, he reached the Lago Viedma where he settled and lived in total autonomy like a Robinson Crusoe: his survival depended on hunting and his knowledge of nature. In 1910 he finally returned to Denmark to marry. But his life was a succession of tragedies: the suicide of his son Karl at 16, the death of his other son Fitz Roy in 1945 in a car accident and, a few years later, that of his wife due to a brain disease. Andreas then returned to Argentina and founded his estancia Cerro Fitz Roy. He spent the rest of his life in Bariloche where he died in 1965. His remains were transferred to the family estancia, which served as a base for the Glacier National Park office and the starting point for numerous expeditions to the Fitz Roy. It now lies next to the Rio de las Vueltas "en el más bello lugar sobre la tierra que algún hombre pueda eligir para vivir" (in the most beautiful place on Earth that a man can choose to live). A beautiful walk through 20th century Patagonia, full of anecdotes and stories about the life of the first settlers.
