Evening star., 1914-11-15

many of the original settlers are found
there. but it has lost it's distinctive Ger
man quality and is now thoroughly
Brazilian.
trict was that of New Freiburg. This
was in it's beginning more of a Swiss
colony. Dom Pedro had Swiss guards in
his suite, and these started the. settle
ment at Freiburg. They were themselves
from the cantons in which German is
the language, and considerable body
of settlers from Germany Joined them.
New Freiburg gradually lost much of
nent and merged into its Brazilian sur
roundings, so that it is no longer Ger
man. Portuguese, the language of the
country. is spoken by the descendants
of the original German cOlonistS.
The colonies in southern Brazil were
partly the result of the political move
ment of 1S4S which caused SO large an
emigration of Germans Of liberal tend
enc'es to the United States. Many Of
those who went to Brazil were of the
burgher class and others were agricul-
turists. The Hansiatic states OF north
Germany and the borders of the Rhine
furnished the mCst of the colonists.
The immigration was encouraged by the
Hamburg Colonization Society. the name
of which was afterward changed to that
of the Hansiatc Colonization Company.
At a later period something o. a ma
tional phase was given to the movement
tion from North America to South Amer
lea Here. possibly was the germ of the
pan-German propaganda of later days.
German political influence in South
America and German trade were both in
mind. Nothing came of the movement.
German emigration to the United States
continued in broad streams, while to Bra
zil 1t was only a rivulet
The German colonists obtained liberal
landholdings in southern Brazil and they
Tod Cfof nf
Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sui
were almost unpopuated. and there was
plenty of land for them. both for rails
ing crops and for pasturage. The char
acter of the people is still pastoral.
The original settlement was named
Blumenau after DR.. Blumenau, one of
the leaders In the colonizing movement.
Another settlement was made at Join
vile. nearer the border of Uruguay 9th
er villages grew up as offshoots
All these settlements remained thor
oughly German as to language and Gus
toms. The kirche, or church, was eStab-
lished along with the school, the sanger =
bund and the turnverein. The local news
paper also was maintained in three or
This is the condition which travellers
today find at Blumenau, Joinville, New
Hamburg. and few other villages and
towns. New Hamburg may be taken as
typical of all of them. The cottages are
German, the kirche is a reproduction of
the Lutheran Church anywhere in Ger
many and German Is the language of
the schools.
Travellers find that German customs OBJ
tain and they praise particularly the ex-
cellent inns which are like the hospitable
inns in German 1t is true that in
some Of these villages Brazilian or Por-
tuguese servants are compelled to learn
German be ore they can get work
1t is this prevalence of German Ian
guage and customs in these towns and
villages which has given rise to the ex-
aSgerated ideas about new Germany in
Brazil. But in the larger towns the Ger
man identity is not maintained.
Florianapolis. the capital of the state
of Catharina and also the port, is pre-
dominantly Brazilian as to language
and population. Rio Grande do Cul. at
the head of the bay. with a population
of possibly $4,000, is more Portuguese
and Italian than German.
Porto Allegro. the big port through