Pomerode - A
Hidden Germany inside Brazil
- by Andrea Testoni
Attracted by
the temperate climate and typically European vegetation, a group of Germans
put down roots in the North of Santa Catarina, a Southern State of Brazil,
and founded Pomerode. The city was first created as a settlement by German
immigrants in 1861 and even today, there are still people who can barely speak
the native Portuguese despite fourth generations of living in Brazil. The
mountainous landscapes, timber framed houses, traditionally European-looking
clothes and light skinned people makes you think you are in Germany. In this
little town of some 25 thousand inhabitants, the customs, and above all, the
language of Germany form a daily part of these Brazilian’s lives.
The majority
of Pomeranos that don’t speak Portuguese are settlers who wake up at
the crack of down to work in the fields, ploughing and herding animals. On
weekends they put on their traditional garb and meet up at clubs to dance
to folk music, drink German beer eat typical dishes such as duck filled with
purple cabbage. They celebrate their Germanic inheritance regardless the fact
that most of them only know their ancestors’ native land from their
unforgotten tales.
