German Brazilians (German: Deutschbrasilianer, Hunsrik: Deitschbrasiliooner, ) refers to Brazilians of full or partial German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South Region, with a smaller but still significant percentage living in the Southeast Region.
Between 1824 and 1972, about 260,000 Germans settled in Brazil, the fifth largest nationality to immigrate after the Portuguese, Italians, Spaniards and Japanese.
The first German immigrants to Brazil arrived as early as the 16th century, although organized immigration began only in the 19th century. The causes of this process can be found in the frequent social problems that occurred in Europe and the abundance of land in Brazil. In 1986, Born and Dickgiesser estimated the number of German descendants in Brazil at 3.6 million. According to another survey, from 1999, by sociologist and former president of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Simon Schwartzman, 3.6% of the Brazilians interviewed claimed to have German ancestry, a percentage that, in a population of about 200 million Brazilians, would represent 7.2 million descendants. In 2004, Deutsche Welle cited the number of 5 million Brazilians of German descent. According to a 2016 survey published by IPEA, in a universe of 46,801,772 names of Brazilians analyzed, 1,525,890 or 3.3% of them had the only or the last surname of Germanic origin.
German immigration to Brazil began before the independence from Portugal and remained relatively constant until the 1960s. The reasons for this emigration lie, on one hand, in the socio-political-economic transformations that Germany underwent and, on the other, in the exceptional conditions that favored the attraction of European immigrants in Brazil. Between 1824 and 1972, about 260,000 Germans entered Brazil; the fifth nationality that immigrated the most to the country, after the Portuguese, Italians, Spaniards and Japanese.
The Germans were among the nationalities that managed to preserve their culture in Brazil the most. Due to their isolation in hard-to-access regions, especially in the southern states, it was possible to create several predominantly Germanic colonies. One of the most significant examples of cultural maintenance was the proliferation of German schools in Brazil, as well as a German-language press. As a consequence, thousands of descendants were educated in German, without knowledge of the Portuguese language. Over time, the traits of Germanness became weaker, but the influences persist more or less until today. For example, one can cite the large number of Brazilians of German origin who still speak German or other Germanic dialects such as Hunsrückisch and Pomeranian.A INFLUÊNCIA DO DIALETO ALEMÃO HUNSRÜCKISCH NA AQUISIÇÃO DA ESCRITA DO PB ENTRE PARTICIPANTES BILÍNGUES
The result of German immigration in Brazil was the formation of a German Brazilian population, which integrated into the Brazilian context, but without abdicating its culture. In addition to the cultural influence, one can add the German contribution to the diversification of Brazilian agriculture, through the formation of a typical peasantry, strongly marked by the traits of peasant culture from Central Europe. The Germans also participated in the process of urbanization and industrialization of Brazil, as well as in the introduction and modifications in the architecture of cities and in the Brazilian physical-social landscape.
Introduction and numbers The 19th century was marked by intense emigration of Europeans; between 1846 and 1932, about 60 million people left the continent. The overwhelming majority of this flow had as its destination the United States, where Germans consolidated themselves as the largest ethnic immigrant group, representing 21.9% of the total at the end of the century.GERTZ, René E. Os Alemães no Sul do Brasil. Canoas: Editora Ulbra, 2004. In contrast, German immigration to Brazil, although of great regional impact, especially in the South, was numerically modest, representing about 2% of total German emigrants:
+ Overseas German emigration by destination (1847–1914) Period Total emigrants United States Canada Brazil Argentina Australia 1847–1850 145 300 129 400 (89.1%) 9 600 (6.6%) 1 100 (0.8%) – 4 800 (3.3%) 1851–1855 403 100 322 400 (80.0%) 16 400 (4.1%) 8 100 (2.0%) – 11 700 (2.9%) 1856–1860 268 500 227 300 (84.7%) 10 200 (3.8%) 9 900 (3.7%) – 7 000 (2.6%) 1861–1865 249 400 208 400 (83.6%) 10 800 (4.3%) 3 900 (1.6%) – 7 000 (2.9%) 1866–1870 530 200 474 200 (89.4%) 14 800 (2.8%) 9 600 (1.8%) – 2 200 (0.4%) 1871–1875 394 700 365 100 (92.5%) 900 (0.2%) 11 600 (2.9%) 700 (0.2%) 5 200 (1.3%) 1876–1880 228 100 195 300 (85.6%) 400 (0.2%) 9 300 (4.1%) 800 (0.4%) 4 700 (2.1%) 1881–1885 857 300 797 000 (93.0%) 2 700 (0.3%) 7 900 (0.9%) 3 000 (0.3%) 5 400 (0.6%) 1886–1890 485 200 440 100 (90.7%) 1 200 (0.2%) 10 900 (2.2%) 5 300 (1.1%) 2 500 (0.5%) 1891–1895 402 600 371 500 (92.3%) 11 300 (2.8%) 8 400 (2.1%) 3 600 (0.9%) 1 500 (0.4%) 1896–1900 127 200 107 400 (84.4%) 1 700 (1.3%) 4 000 (3.1%) 2 800 (2.2%) 1 000 (0.8%) 1901–1905 146 600 134 900 (92.0%) 1 200 (0.8%) 2 600 (1.8%) 1 800 (1.2%) 800 (0.5%) 1906–1910 133 100 120 300 (90.4%) 2 000 (1.5%) 1 400 (1.1%) 2 800 (2.1%) 700 (0.5%) 1911–1914 78 800 61 300 (77.8%) 3 300 (4.2%) 800 (1.0%) 3 600 (4.6%) 1 200 (1.5%) Total (1847–1914) 4,450,100 3 774 600 (84.8%) 86 500 (1.9%) 89 500 (2.0%) 24 400 (0.5%) 55 700 (1.3%)
The choice of migratory destination among 19th-century Germans was influenced by recruitment campaigns that offered different life prospects. While the United States was promoted as the "Land of Political Freedom" and of quick enrichment, Brazil was presented as the "Paradise of Property", focusing on peasants who sought autonomy and patrimonial stability that Europe no longer allowed.
Different from the migratory flow to North America, which aimed at rapid economic and political integration, many intellectuals and community leaders in Germany defended Brazil as a destination that would allow the preservation of the "German essence". The geographic isolation of the colonies in southern Brazil was seen not as an obstacle, but as an asset to avoid acculturation.
The disparity in immigration volume between the two countries was consolidated through their land legislation, which defined who could become a landowner. In Brazil, during the initial phase of immigration (1824–1848), the imperial government used the system of lot donations to attract German settlers, offering free land and subsidies for tools and seeds. However, this model was abolished with the Land Law of 1850, which instituted cash purchase as the only form of access to land. With high prices and complex bureaucracy, the law aimed to force immigrants to work on large coffee farms before acquiring their own land, limiting land ownership to a minority or to specific colonial nuclei.COSTA, Emília Viotti da. Da senzala à colônia. São Paulo: UNESP, 1998. Although this law ended free donations, German immigrants continued to form small property nuclei through mechanisms of purchase and directed colonization. Access to land began to occur mostly through private colonization companies or provincial programs that sold lots on credit. In turn, in the United States, the Homestead Act of 1862 went in the opposite direction: the American government granted 160 acres (64 hectares) free of charge to any immigrant who cultivated the land for five years. This policy democratized property and attracted millions of people, creating a vast rural middle class.FAUSTO, Boris (Org.). Fazer a América: a imigração em massa para a América Latina. São Paulo: Edusp, 1999.
The economic trajectory of German immigrants diverged significantly between destinations in the United States and Brazil due to different market structures and access to capital. In the United States, the migratory flow was marked by rapid enrichment and social mobility; the dynamic economy, supported by an accessible banking credit network and demand from expanding industrial cities, allowed production surpluses to be quickly converted into capital. In this context, immigrant success was measured by financial accumulation and the mechanization of farming. In contrast, in Brazil, success was guided by autonomy and the formation of landed patrimony. Although in Brazil the lack of infrastructure and nearby consumer markets hindered the accumulation of large monetary fortunes in the first generations, settlers achieved material stability superior to that which they had possessed in Europe, characterized by a solid house of their own, food security, and the guarantee of inheritance for descendants.ROCHE, Jean. A Colonização Alemã e o Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre: Globo, 1969.
The table below presents the main institutional differences between Brazil and the United States and their effects on the volume and characteristics of German immigration throughout the 19th century.