Immigrants In Brazil

German Impact on Brazilian Industry and Culture

By: Chris Frome, Phillip Katz, and Mike Rose

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Introduction

German immigration into Brazil has played an integral role in shaping Brazilian culture and has facilitated a cultural role that has culminated in numerous cultural exchanges between the two countries. Brazil’s German population is most concentrated in the South region of Brazil and immigration began in the 1820s. When the German immigrants first started coming over to Brazil, the South was most appealing to them due to the climate in the area. The climate is generally warm throughout most of the year without extremely hot or cold seasons. A very popular destination for the immigrants was Florianopolis:
Despite the Brazilian shoe industry’s help by the Germans, as time went on (and even today) because the Brazilian shoe industry was a lot of small manufacturers and was fragmented. German immigrants brought with them the skills and technology to contribute to the leather shoe making industry. Immigrant groups such as the Germans coming in with new technology and skills helped boost productivity in Brazil. The advent of the rail system in Brazil allowed Vale Dos Sinos, a region heavy in German population to become a manufacturing hub for shoes. The rail brought more businesses and people into the region as it allowed the area to enjoy economic success. michael-runkel-rebuilt-german-farm-near-pomerode-brazil-south-america Typical German farmland

Farming
German immigrants into Brazil were given land and had to develop the land and homes themselves. They also had to find a source of income which often meant they would come in as small farmers because there were very few people working the land. For many, this meant farming. This meant that especially early on, farming was the economic livelihood of the Germans. Eventually, as Germans settled in Brazil, many made it outside the low-income jobs of farming and became merchants and helped developed German villages which are discussed later. oktoberfest-blumenau-720x480
Oktoberfest in
Today in these provinces, over thirty per cent of the inhabitants are Germans, or of German descent, and the ratio of their natural increase far exceeds that of the Portuguese. Surely to us belongs this part of the world, and the key to it all is Santa Catharina, stretching from the harbor of San Francisco far into the interior with its hitherto undeveloped, hardly suspected wealth. Here indeed, in southern Brazil, is a rich and healthy land, where the German emigrant may retain his nationality, where for all that is comprised in the word ‘ Germanismus,’ a glorious future