Yes, he is still working on the Brazilian pages. Fred ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 17:41:29 -0300 From: Fernando Julio Korndorfer <fleder@mtec.com.br> To: fred@k2nesoft.com Subject: Re: Germans In Brazil Website Hi, again, Fred. First my phone and then my computer went off. I finally fixed it, and here I am again. Fred, I do know about the online search (which are not thorough, by the way) but I never saw a CD with a national USA directory (I must also say that I was not determined to find one) Perhaps I was only expecting to find them in the same place as in Germany: regular CD stores, and they are found somewhere else. Could you tell me where I can buy one, preferably online? Here's what I thought could be a General Introduction to the Germans in Brazil page. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- General Information Description Introduction The German immigrations to Brazil, started in 1824, just after the Independence from Portugal, as a result of the need that the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro I (1798-1834) had to populate uninhabited regions of the huge country. Such regions were being disputed with neighbouring countries such as Argentina and Paraguay. Uruguay was just becoming independent. Those countries were by then former Spanish colonies, as all of South America was becoming independent, and all of them were interested in receiving the European knowledge and European laborhand. Some Brazilian states received higher inflows of Germans than others. Such is the case of Rio Grande do Sul, where the first "wave" of immigrantes was settled in the 1820s. A second "wave" went to Santa Catarina in the 1850s, but also to Rio de Janeiro, in smaller number, mainly to a city called Petropolis, where the Emperor Dom Pedro II summer house (nowadays the Imperial Museum) was located. Other German immigration waves happened in the 1890s, as well as after the First and Second World War. The latter were not necessarily only refugees, but also people who were tired of the war. They had different destinations: to the states of Sao Paulo, Paraná as well as to the other Brazilian states. Paraná and Sao Paulo also have a large number of German immigrants. Through the years, the descendants of these immigrants have spread out to other Brazilian regions, yet the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná are known for their concentrations of German descendants, while in other states there are rather "pockets" of them in cities such as Sao Paulo (capital of Sao Paulo state) and Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro state). Rio de Janeiro is no doubt the best known of the Brazilian states, because of its capital also called Rio de Janeiro,. The city of Petrópolis ("The Imperial City") is located in the mountains, one hour and half by car from Rio de Janeiro. It was home to the Emperor Dom Pedro II in 1889, when Brazil was declared a Republic. The city of Rio de Janeiro was capital of Brazil until 1961. The state is known for its beautiful beaches. The state of Sao Paulo is southwest of Rio de Janeiro. The state has a coastline and a port called Santos. The city of Sao Paulo is one of the chief cities of the entire country and of the world (more than 12 million inhabitants in the Metropolitan Area). It is Brazil's financial heart nowadays. The section of Sao Paulo called Santo Amaro has many German descendants. The state of Paraná is immediately south of Sao Paulo, with a smaller coastline and the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina. The state capital is Curitiba, located 100 km from the coast. It is known for its cleanness and higher standards of living, in terms of ecology. The city of Ponta Grossa is slightly to the northwest, 80 km from Curitiba. Both Curitiba and Ponta Grossa hold a lot of German descendants, together with Italians, Poles and Ucranians. The next state to the south is the short, wide state of Santa Catarina which has its coastal capital at Florianópolis, located on the beautiful Santa Catarina island. Florianopolis is a Portuguese colony. The German settlements occurred to the northwest of the state capital. Cities like Joinville, Blumenau, Jaraguá do Sul, Sao Bento, Itajaí and smaller ones surrounding them have a great number of German descendants. Blumenau has a huge Oktober Fest that attracts over a million Brazilians. The southernmost state of Brazil is Rio Grande do Sul immediately south of Santa Catarina, bordered in the west by Argentina and south by Uruguay. The Sinos River Valley cities are the craddle of the German immigration to Brazil: Sao Leopoldo, Novo Hamburgo, Taquara, Dois Irmaos, Estancia Velha, Ivoti and many others. These are the main regions of German settlement in Brazil. Political Divisions Being a Federative Republic since 1889, Brazil is currently divided in 26 states and one Federal District. The important states for the German immigration purposes are those mentioned above. At the time of the first German settlements in 1824-25, Brazil was an Empire, divided in Provinces, administered by their presidents, who were assigned by an act of the Emperor. One of these provinces was the Province of Rio Grande do Sul. The western borders of such province were rather volatile during that period and the years to come. This would affect directly some German immigrants who went to settle in those unpopulated areas. Religious Outlook. Nowadays, Brazil is considered a catholic country, yet evangelicals are said to be 25%, and there are regions such as Bahia, where animism is very important. There is religious freedom in the country. During the 1820s, the official religion and the only acceptable one under the Imperial Constitution was the Roman Catholic Church. As many of the German settlers belonged to Protestant churches, this posed a problem in the provinces, considering that the immigrants had been promised religious freedom.. (Fernando's note) from here on it would remain the same, until we have the whole page changed History German immigration to Brazil occurred at different periods in the country's history, as said in the Introduction. Fred Rump http://www.k2nesoft.com/~fred 26 Warren St Beverly, NJ 08010 fred@compu.com or 609-386-6846 fred@k2nesoft.com