Ethnic Landscape Little Germany

 Brazil’s Little Germany Ethnic Landscape 

    Oktoberfest is widely known as one of if not the largest celebration of beer and German culture in the world.    Originating in the city of Munich, many might expect that the next largest festivals celebrating German culture would be in either countries near Germany or in the United States. This is not the case. In a town of nearly 320,000 residents, with about a third of that population being of German descent, Brazil’s Blumenau holds the second largest Oktoberfest in the entire world. This seemingly random outcropping of German culture within Brazil has a long-storied history going back to the mid 1800’s, and it can help show some of the various elements of German ethnic identity and culture that persist with the people still living in that area today. Elements of their religion, their old national identity to Germany itself, the architecture, and the dress and dance are all on display on this colony of German culture in the middle of South America.  

    This outcropping of German society began all the way back in 1850. A German philosopher who went by the name of Hermann Bruno Otto Blumenau, along with a group of over a dozen German farmers, decided to set up an agricultural colony for European people’s looking to move into the region of South America. At the time, the country was really young. They had only declared independence from Portugal a little over 2 decades before, and were still effectively ruled by a European monarch, as it was the son of that Portuguese king who had been the catalyst to declare independence and a new Brazilian empire. Much of the country was still relatively uninhabited to any significant degree, so these first Germans to show up were able to very effectively establish a region in which their own culture would be able to flourish and grow without being pressed in by a local culture they would be moving in to. Over the next couple decades, the city would see itself begin to flood in with European migrants. The rea became one of the largest colony enterprises in all South America. While not every migrant who came in to the region was ethnically German, most were European and at least had some established similar values. They would then adopt the German culture of food, dance, and architecture as they proceeded to live within the city. This helped harden this ethnic landscape into becoming something of a small representation of what life is like in Germany abroad. It is very similar to when one sees little Italys or Chinatowns in major urban centers today. The only difference is that this is on a much larger scale as they take up the entirety of the region.  

    As the German people of the region in these first few decades got settled in, one of the first things they would do is build a church. The church was a very important part of ethnic German culture as they were still from a heavy Christian background. Because of this, you can find many churches scattered throughout the region, as more and more became necessary to keep up with the demand the new population of Christians would place on the area. Additionally, German style pubs and other public spaces are located throughout the region in order to accommodate the locals living in the area. 

    After WW1, South America would see some of the greatest influxes of German migrants ever. Many people fled Europe as they wished to seek out lives away from the great war and saw this little pocket of ethnic German society as their escape. If one world war was not enough to scare ethnic Germans to Brazil, the second one certainly helped push even more of those who were on the fence into leaving the country. These push factors all come with the economic downturn of Europe and much of the world overall. Many people would move to somewhere new seeking out opportunities for new wealth and a new life somewhere else. This is why throughout the entire country of Brazil there is an estimated 5 million ethnic Germans. This landscape of Blumenau is merely where we can most see this presence of German people. This now massive influx of new Germans back in the 30s and 40s built up the second largest celebration of their culture in the world.  

    Oktoberfest is the largest beer celebration in the entire world. It is a 16-18 day festival in which the beer flows like water and there is essentially a traveling caravan and carnival all mixed into one. It will make its way around a region bringing games, food, celebration, music, and dance all together. It is the ultimate culmination of all of German culture in one go. The second largest of these celebrations is held in Blumenau, Brazil. This celebration is only possible because of the ethnic landscape that has been built up by decades of German heritage, culture, and tradition being able to grow and blossom in the region. This product of German heritage has allowed for a fun blending between the culture built up by those living in the area with the celebrations of German heritage. During the World Cup when Germany was playing Brazil, much of the country had miniature “Oktoberfests” for a day in order to celebrate the game between the two countries. Many ethnic Germans were celebrating the great win their homeland was able to secure over the Brazilians, even though they had been living in Brazil all their lives and by that metric were far more Brazilian than German. This insistence on letting their culture stay distinct has built up an electrifying ethnic landscape that will continue to prosper.