German Brazilian - Urban Germans in Brazil

Urban Germans in Brazil

Not all Germans who settled in Brazil became farmers. In the early 20th century, very few rural areas of Southern Brazil were empty. Most of them had been settled by German, Italian and Polish immigrants during the 19th century. Given this situation, most Germans who immigrated to Brazil during the 20th century settled in big towns, although many of them also settled in the old rural German colonies. German immigration to Brazil peaked during the 1920s, after World War I. These Germans were mostly middle-class laborers from urban areas of Germany, different from the poor peasants who had settled in the colonies of Brazil during the 19th century.

In 1858, Germans were 15% of Porto Alegre´s population, 10% of São Paulo´s population for 1860 and 60% of immigrants living in Curitiba by the end of 19th century. In Rio de Janeiro, by 1830 there were 20 businesses owned by Germans. Twenty years later the number reached 50.

People of German descent actively participated in the industrialization and development of big cities in Brazil, such as Curitiba and Porto Alegre.

In São Paulo, Germans founded their first colony in 1829. The city attracted Germans immigrants until the 1950s. Today, there are 400.000 German Brazilians living within Greater São Paulo.