Blumenau

Blumenau is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

The city, which was founded in 1850 by German immigrants under the direction of a pharmacist Hermann Blumenau, Joinville and Brusque is next to one of the three centers of German colonization in Santa Catarina. The popular with many visitors half-timbered houses (eg Prefeitura Municipal, Casa Moellmann ), however, come mostly from recent times.

Blumenau is located about 50 kilometers from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean located between Joinville in the north and the capital, Florianópolis in the south in the valley of the Itajaí. Due to the hilly surroundings and the river the habitable space is very limited. The city is struggling as the time of its founding still with severe flooding and flooding of up to 17.1 m. About the flood of 1983 - one of the largest in the city's history - is the book A valley calls appeared to help.

  • 5.1 Sons and daughters of the town
  • 5.2 associated with the city people

Language

Approximately the first 100 years after the founding of the colony of German was the predominant language in Blumenau. It was initially used as the sole language since the first colonists came exclusively from Germany. With increasing immigration from other European countries and Brazilian internal migration also other languages ​​(especially Italian and Polish ) were spoken in Blumenau. But they were limited to the respective immigrants. As a lingua franca was in Blumenau and in the whole region German. The German-speaking emigrants and their descendants possessed a good infrastructure of schools, clubs, theaters and similar facilities.

An idea of ​​the importance of German also had two generations after the founding of the colony, mediated adjacent table that specifies the number of schools Blumenau after using the language of instruction.

With the policy of the Estado Novo (1937-1954) under the appointed with dictatorial powers President Getúlio Vargas nationalization campaign was carried out in Brazil, which also affected the German -speaking community since the state has promoted the assimilation process. When Brazil entered on the side of the Allies in the Second World War, the situation for the German -speaking population took another turn. Schools, in which was taught in German, were closed, the use of the German language was banned and the Portuguese also held in Blumenau feeder. Although today Portuguese is the dominant language in Blumenau, has been preserved in parts of the population German as their language.

Diocese of Blumenau

  • Diocese of Blumenau

Economy

Industries and businesses

One of the most important industries, the textile industry. Thus produced, among other things, the company was founded in 1880 by German immigrants herring in Blumenau especially for the Brazilian market. Furthermore, have increasingly settled companies in the information and communications industry in the city in recent years. The brewery produces railway in Blumenau beer, which is brewed according to the German Purity Law and sold by Schincariol Group in Brazil.

In addition to tourism and the textile industry, the porcelain industry is considered as another important economic sector. In addition, the city is the largest financial center in the state of Santa Catarina.

Tourism

One important sector of the economy for the city and for the entire region is tourism, which focuses in the rather atypical for Brazil facility and is on German cuisine and culture. 1984 was held the first Oktoberfest in Blumenau in reference to the original Munich. Reason for this was the need for financial resources for the necessary reconstruction after the great flood of 1983. During the last years the festival with over 600,000 visitors as the second largest after the carnival in Rio festival in Brazil has established. This has increased the awareness of the city in Germany, which is also in terms of tourism importance.

To appeal, include the half-timbered facades buildings contribute. The house opened in 1978 Moellmann ( picture) is an over-sized replica of the town hall, built in 1484 by Michel in the Odenwald in Hesse.

Twinning

  • Brazil Campinas, Brazil
  • Brazil Petrópolis, Brazil
  • Argentina Bariloche, Argentina
  • Chile Osorno, Chile
  • Brazil Macapa, Brazil
  • Argentina Posadas, Argentina

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Theo Balden (1904-1995), sculptor
  • Armin Zimmermann (1917-1976), Inspector General of the Bundeswehr
  • Vera Fischer ( born 1951 ), actress
  • Wolfgang Fenske ( born 1956 ), pastor, theologian and author
  • Marcelo da Veiga ( born 1960 ), founding rector of Alanus College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Chris (born 1978 ), football player
  • Rafael Schmitz ( born 1980 ), football player
  • Diego Viana ( b. 1983 ), football player
  • Tiago Splitter ( born 1985 ), basketball player
  • Renan Wagner ( * 1991), football player
  • Eduarda Amorim ( born 1986 ), Women's Handball World Champion 2013

Associated with the city people

  • Hermann Blumenau (1819-1899), founder of the city
  • Fritz Müller (1821-1897), biologist and nature observers
  • Julius scarlet (1842-1908), Hamburg lawyer and promoter of Blumenau transport links to the South Atlantic
  • Martin Drewes (1918-2013) German pilot and aviation author.
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