I drove up to Pomerode, Santa Catarina on Saturday, January 15th, 2011. Located in the Valley of Itajaí (a.k.a. the European Valley), the city has a population of about 25,000. Pomerode boasts being “the most German city in Southern Brazil”. It was settled in 1861 by Germanic immigrants. I use the term Germanic, rather than German, because this was 10 years before the inception of the German Empire in 1871. These immigrants came from an area that is divided between modern Germany and Poland.
I had a nice conversation with these three ladies from Pomerode about the language and origin of the original settlers of Pomerode. Most everyone who lives in Pomerode speaks Portuguese, but the majority also speak German. In the city itself there are many who speak High German, but in the interior most speak Pomerisch. Some people see Pomerisch as a form of Platt Deutsch, or Low German. It is, in fact, not a dialect of German, but a Germanic Language. In efforts to preserve their language, there is a Pomeranian-Portuguese dictionary. The Pomerisch – Portugíísisch Wöirbauk contains around 15,000 entries. It is estimated that there are between 250,000 and 600,000 Pomerisch speakers in Brazil today.
The 28th Festa Pomerana took place on the 14th through the 23rd of January as part of the celebration of the founding of Pomerode. They are expecting 50,000 visitors during the 10 days of the festival. The festival itself is about all things German – music, dance, food, arts and crafts, cultural presentations, target shooting and other traditional competitions, and, of course, beer.
I chose to visit the festival on Saturday because that is the day of the Gathering of Folklore Groups. Twenty-five groups came from about 18 cities. One group came from Maringá, Paraná (about 800 kilometers away). Another group came from the oldest German settlement in Santa Catarina, São Pedro de Alcântara, which was founded in 1829, just 5 years after the first Germanic immigrants settled in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul (both of these cities were founded by Hunsrik speakers). All of these folklore groups are preserving traditional clothing, traditional music and traditional dance for future generations. It was quite a joy to see the kids dance groups right alongside the adults.
Here are some more pictures from the Festa Pomerana of 2011.
The parade of folk dance groups:
Traditional Attire from the Black Forest region
Traditional Attire
The Brass for Traditional German Music
Fathers and Daughters - Family ranks high on the priority scale
A Children's Dance Group
After the parade – a time to dance:
All the Dance Groups waiting to dance in the pavilion
Dancers in Traditional Dresses
Dancer in Traditional Attire
Spectator
Between dances she danced
And they danced
The boys dancing the woodsman dance
The group from Maringá came 800 kilometers to dance
And they danced
A group from Joinville
Dancer in Traditional Attire
Dancers in Traditional Attire
An Italian Folk Dance Group also participated:
Italian Dance Group
Traditional Italian Attire
Italian Dancers in Traditional Attire
The Italian girls danced while their parents danced
I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse of German and Italian descendants in Brazil.
All images copyright 2011 and may not be used without written permission.
Fascinating. Would love to come visit you sometime!