A German community in Brazil from the 19th until the 20th century

 Combining demographic analysis with family history can lead to a better understanding of the set of social relationships that develop in communities. Drawing on the resources of historical demography, Alain Bideau and Sergio Odilon Nadalin, authors of Une communauté allemande au Brésil: De l’immigration aux contacts culturels, XIXè-XX siècle [A German community in Brazil: from immigration to cultural contact, 19th-20th century] present and analyse the unfolding of a particular process of integration and immigration.

Brazil and Paranà State

The main source for their book, based on more than 10,000 family information files, is accounts of how families of German origin came to settle in the Brazilian province of Paraná and its capital, Curitiba. The book shows the process by which these German immigrants and their descendants, organized around the Lutheran faith and their parish, gradually became “Brazilians.”

The story unfolds over two main periods, both of which involved considerable geopolitical agitation.

  • The first, 1866-1945, saw the forming of a “Germanic Brazilian” group distinct from both German immigrants and Brazilians; 
  • The second, from 1945 to the present, is defined by the Second World War and the fundamental changes it brought about.

One task was to determine the principles on which a mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil might be founded, to develop a theology that might be independent of the particular immigrant origin. This undertaking has its origins in the traumatic experience of the 1930-1945 period.

The theoretical framework of this study encompasses components of migration history, urbanization history, political history and institutional history. The fact that four historical perspectives are relevant for interpreting this development reflects the complexity of the cultural and institutional context underlying contacts between this group and its settlement society.

Three theoretical and methodological approaches were enlisted:

  • first, classic fertility analysis;
  • second, relating fertility to marital and sexual behaviour; here, the family reconstitution method widely used in historical demography brought to light indicators that in turn made it possible to analyse the phenomenon of illegitimacy;
  • third, an approach in terms of culture mix, itself developing through urbanization processes. It was in an urbanizing environment that social relations developed among the individuals making up the community. The intensification of interactions characteristic of the modern, urban world is what brought ethnic identities into relief. This analysis of a continuous, long-term migration process also shows how these rural “Germans” became active participants in the urbanization process in Brazil.

The study shows that since the behaviours of the Germans differ from that of the Brazilian population at large while persisting and retaining their originality within it—most of these people still have European last names and speak a highly characteristic German—this group may be said to have experienced a specific type of integration.

Source : Odilon Nadalin Sergio, Bideau Alain, 2011, Une communauté allemande au Brésil, Ined, Études et enquêtes historiques, 200 pages [FR]

Online: March 2012