Akakor: The Legend of the Lost City in the Amazon

In the 1970s, a German journalist pursued the story of a mythical city revealed by a supposed indigenous person from an unknown tribe. Years later, foreigners who attempted to reach the site disappeared. Legend has it that one of the world's oldest civilizations was founded around 15,000 BC by extraterrestrial beings in the Amazon. This lost city is also said to have sheltered more than 2,000 Nazis who fled Germany around 1930. They reportedly lived hidden in underground tunnels alongside the natives and were protected by this secretive tribe.

It seems crazy, but in the 1970s, a respected German correspondent in Brazil believed the story. He delved deeply into the investigation and even published a book about the mythical city of Akakor. Years later, he was murdered as he was preparing to live in the Amazon and attempt to find this civilization. The journalist's case was not unique: none of those who set out in search of the mythical city never returned.

The story even captivated Jacques Cousteau and inspired works like Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Today, 40 years after the deaths or disappearances of several foreign explorers, the myth of Akakor continues to fascinate those seeking to unravel its mysteries.

Documentary filmmaker Rapha Erichsen, author of the recently released book The Enigma of Akakor: Farses and Secrets in the Amazon Rainforest, is a friend of filmmaker Jorge Bodanzky, who worked in the 1970s with Karl Brugger, the German journalist who propagated the myth of the lost city.

He told DW that he learned about the story of the cursed El Dorado by chance, when he saw the book Chronicle of Akakor on his coworker Bodanzky's bookshelf. "Leave this story alone, it's a bad omen," the filmmaker reportedly said. Even so, Erichsen borrowed the book without asking.

Since then, he has become one of those fascinated by the myth. In his documentary book, he travels inhospitable routes and gathers archives from the time to try to unravel the mysteries of the Amazonian legend. "Despite its fantasy, the story of Akakor inspires and captivates all who engage with it. Once you're involved, you never leave."

A fascinated German journalist

When, in mid-1971, Karl Brugger heard the stories of a supposed indigenous man who called himself Tatunca Nara in a bar in the municipality of Barcelos, located 370 kilometers from Manaus, his eyes lit up at what would be the great story of his life.

Tatunca Nara—a white man who spoke fluent German—told the journalist that he was the heir to the world's oldest civilization in the Amazon, and that only he knew how to get there. According to the supposed indigenous man, Akakor was located somewhere between Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia, and had two other "sister cities": Akahim (in the northwestern Amazon) and Akanis (in Yucatán, Mexico). The three locations were allegedly connected by underground tunnels.

The alleged Indigenous man also claimed to be the son of an Ugha Mongulala prince, the tribe believed to live in the mythical city, and a German nun who arrived in the Amazon in the 1930s. He also said that his people welcomed (and lived well with) 2,000 Nazis sent to the Brazilian rainforest by Adolf Hitler shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

Indeed, the Nazis sent an expedition to the Amazon in 1935 to survey the region. The expedition, however, consisted of two Germans, a German-Brazilian, and local assistants.

This is also why the mythical Akakor fascinated Karl Brugger. According to the strange indigenous man's accounts, the city could be recognized by its pyramid-shaped mountains, but its path remained hidden, concealed behind a waterfall that was nearly impossible to access. The journalist resolved to find it and soon organized an expedition in search of the lost city.

Too good a story

Then-Brazilian cinematographer Jorge Bodanzky—now one of the country's most renowned filmmakers—accompanied Brugger on the venture. They had met a few years earlier in Germany. Together, they covered stories in the Amazon, critical social issues, and even the coup d'état in Chile.

Bodanzky said that, from the beginning, he was suspicious of this supposed German-speaking indigenous man. Still, the prospect of recording the discovery of a mythical city in the middle of the forest was too tempting to ignore. "That first expedition was frustrating. Tatunca stranded us in front of Barcelos. He left promising to bring official permission from the Ugha Mongulala leaders to enter Akakor, but he never returned, and we had to turn back," recalls the filmmaker.

Despite the mission's failure, Brugger's enthusiasm for finding Akakor remained undiminished. "Deep down, Brugger believed he could find Akakor. He once said, 'If Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911, why couldn't another city in the Amazon be found? It was perfectly plausible that there might be a hidden city there,'" Bodanzky recounts.

Furthermore, "the story was good, and for a journalist, what matters is the story," Bodanzky recalls the words of his German journalist friend. The relentless search for Akakor became a lifelong project for Brugger. In 1976, he published the book Chronicle of Akakor, based on the accounts of Tatunca Nara.

The German correspondent, immersed in history, no longer feared losing his reputation. In the book, he addresses the origin of the universe up to modern history from the perspective of the supposed Ugha Mongulala. He also discusses their contacts with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and others, long before the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese.

Despite its unusual nature, the work caused quite a stir in the 1970s, especially among esoteric and counterculture circles. The preface was written by Erich von Däniken, author of the famous "Were the Gods Astronauts?" The book captivated a generation, attracting travelers and curious souls to the Amazon in search of Tatunca Nara. But almost all of these stories ended badly.

Macabre contours

In September 1971, the municipality of Sena Madureira, in Acre, suffered its worst plane crash: a plane crashed after engine failure, killing all 33 people on board. Among the victims was Bishop Monsignor Giocondo Grotti, who reportedly received documents and accounts of the lost civilization from Tatunca Nara, although he had never met the person.

In the following years, a number of foreigners fascinated by the legend of Akakor would disappear in the Amazon after encounters with Tatunca. In 1980, 28-year-old American John Reed wrote to his parents saying he was two days away from the mythical city before disappearing. In 1983, 22-year-old Swiss Herbert Wanner disappeared during an expedition with Tatunca; his body was found the following year with a gunshot wound to the head.

Karl Brugger was shot dead in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, on January 1, 1984, allegedly during a robbery. He had just left his post as a correspondent and was preparing to move to the Amazon. On the day of his death, he was with his colleague Ulrich Encke, who stated that Brugger was trying to reach for his wallet when he was shot in the chest—exactly where he had a turtle tattoo similar to Tatunca Nara's.

At the time, the shooter was identified as a resident of the Cantagalo community, although the only witness traveled to Germany the following day. To this day, the case remains unsolved, surrounded by suspicions and conspiracy theories.

Another story involves Christine Heuser, a German yoga teacher who, after reading the Chronicle of Akakor, believed she had been married to Tatunca Nara in a past life. Fascinated by the idea, she traveled to the Amazon, fell in love with the "indigenous prince," and, in 1987, decided to live in the jungle. After an argument with Tatunca, she set off alone into the forest. She was never seen again.

Suspicions about Tatunca reached the authorities. The alleged Indigenous man was actually named Hans Günther Hauck, a German who abandoned his family in the 1960s to adopt a false identity in the Brazilian forest. The Amazonas Public Prosecutor's Office and the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) investigated Hauck for involvement in homicides and disappearances. Nothing came of it. The cases were eventually dropped, and Tatunca continued to live off the fame he had created for himself.

In the 1990s, TV Globo's Fantástico program tracked down the "last descendant of the Ugha Mongulala," keeping the legend of Akakor and its enigmatic narrator alive. In 2024, a documentary by German public broadcaster ARD also covered the story.

No scientific proof

"Ugha Mongulala? Sounds like a Japanese name!" an Indigenous man with a deep knowledge of Amazonian myths who lives in Yauaretê, in the Uaupés region on the border between Brazil and Colombia, told DW, laughing. Arlindo Maia says he's "never heard of Akakor."

Italian archaeologist Filippo Stampanoni Bassi, director of the Amazon Museum (MUSA), has also never heard of Akakor, nor of the supposed Ugha Mongulala. Despite the recent discovery of ruins of a 3,500-year-old city, the oldest in South America, in Peru, Bassi explained that there is nothing in the archaeological research 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 interconnected civilizations existed, but not at a high level of complexity," he said.

Furthermore, an even more intriguing question about Akakor and Tatunca Nara concerns the geopolitical context of the time. According to documentary filmmaker Rapha Erichsen and other journalists who have investigated the matter, there is a hypothesis that the German "indigenous" may have been an informant for the military regime on Karl Brugger's activities.

"Why did Tatunca receive an identity document from the Brazilian government? And why haven't the investigations progressed in Brazil and Germany?" Bodanzky also asked.

Experts on the subject also hypothesize that Tatunca Nara had ties to the military intelligence service and foreigners interested in minerals, particularly uranium, which could be used in nuclear programs. At the time, uranium deposits were being identified in several areas of the Amazon region.

But none of these theories have been proven. Tatunca Nara, however, is still alive and continues to live in Barcelos, in the Amazon, where he offers guided tours to those interested in visiting Akakor.