Festivities, German Brazilian
During the second half of the nineteenth century, German immigrants in Rio Grande do Sul created a system of celebrations rooted in German tradition. In 1863, the first Sdngerfest (choir competition) was hosted by the Sociedade Orpheu in Sao Leopoldo.
During the 1870s, the Kaiser- feier, which was dedicated to Emperor Wilhelm I, was added to the German calendar of festivities. Beginning in the 1890s, several associations, such as the Verband deutscher Vereine (Association of German Societies, created in 1886), the Turner- schaft von Rio Grande do Sul (Turner Societies of Rio Grande do Sul, originated in 1895) and the Deutscher Sangerbund Rio Grande do Sul (German Singing Association, founded in 1896) organized festivities on a regular, mostly annual, basis. Cities such as Porto Alegre hosted these events, which followed carefully detailed programs. Their formal, hierarchical character became obvious in the production of Festschrften (commemorative books on the occasion of an anniversary of an organization), which prescribed, regulated, and settled the organization of the festivities. From 1890 to 1941, the main celebrations were dedicated to Emperor Wilhelm II, Otto von Bismarck, and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who founded the Turnerbewegung (Gymnasts Movement). They included choir performances, shooting practice, and gymnastics and celebrated historical events concerning both Germany and the German immigration to Brazil, among them January 18 and July 25.On March 22, 1872, the birthday of Wilhelm I, the first Kaiserfeier was organized in Porto Alegre. This celebration was dedicated to the German emperor and the unification of Germany in 1871. It was intended to create an emotional bond between German Brazilians and the newly formed German nation. This Kaiserfeier was held, with few interruptions, every March 22 from 1872 to 1887.
It included popular parties (Volksfeste) on the Wil- helmshohe, a small countryside property that belonged to the Hilfsverein (Aid Association), and dinner parties in hotels and other establishments owned by Germans. The climax of the Kaiserfeier came in 1887 with the celebration of the emperor’s ninetieth birthday. This event began with the sending of a congratulatory telegram to the monarch on behalf of Porto Alegre’s Germans, followed by a Protestant church service and a mass in the Catholic Church. Afterward, a festive procession brought the participants to the Wilhelmshohe, where a concert was given, speeches in honor of the emperor were made, and patriotic songs, such as “Heil Dir im Siegeskranz” (Salute Dear Victory), “Wacht am Rhein” (Guard on the Rhine River), and “Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?” (What Is the German’s Fatherland?), were sung. The celebration ended with the return of the procession and dinner parties in various societies, such as Gesellschaft Germania (Society Germania), Leopoldina, and Gemein- nutziger Verein (Mutual Help Society).After Wilhelm II was crowned emperor in 1888, the Kaiserfeier in Porto Alegre continued from 1889 to 1917. The celebration, dedicated to Wilhelm II, occurred annually on January 27, Wilhelm II’s birthday. It consisted of concerts, dinner, and/or breakfast parties at the Salon Preussler. Many German societies, including the Germania, Gemeinnutziger Verein (Association for Mutual Benefit) and Deutscher Krieger-Verein (German Veterans Association), held parties to honor the emperor. As of 1900, the Verband Deutscher Vereine was in charge of organizing the Kaiserfeier according to the Fest- Commers (a guidebook that contains the rituals for these festivities) manner. These celebrations offered only men a chance to socialize. Women were invited to participate for the first time in 1916.
The Fest-Commers followed a set agenda throughout the annual celebrations. It always started with a musical opening, a moment of saluting the guests, toasts (Trinkspruche) to the emperor, festive speeches to the person being honored and to Brazil, declamation of German patriotic poems, instrumental music and choir presentations, the singing of the Brazilian National Anthem, and the sending of a congratulatory telegram to Wilhelm II.
The Kaiserfeier focused on the celebration and exultation of Emperor Wilhelm II, who was deemed the personification of German national unity. The speakers glorified Wilhelm II’s achievements in politics, economy, and foreign policy. The commemoration served to strengthen the ties of German Brazilians with Germany proper. To this end, Wilhelm II made donations for German schools in Brazil and stated that he considered Germans living abroad the pioneers of German commerce and culture. Between 1889 and 1917, Kaiser- feiern were held in Porto Alegre, Sao Leopoldo, Pelotas, and Rio Grande. From 1920 to 1922, the Kaiserfeier was organized as a festive commemoration by the Deutscher Krieger-Verein in Porto Alegre and again restricted to men. Its objective was to show loyalty to the abdicated emperor and to protest the Treaty of Versailles.The second most important event, held in Porto Alegre and Sao Leopoldo, was the Turnfest. Dedicated to gymnastics, this celebration was organized by the Tur- nerschaft of Rio Grande do Sul in the years 1896, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1907, 1921, 1929, and 1935. The 1935 Turnfest was integrated into the Turnerschaft’s fortieth anniversary celebration and into the festivities related to the Farroupilha Revolution centennial. The celebrations dedicated to gymnastics had as a central objective to revere a cultural practice that was considered an instrument for the formation of the German character and the maintenance of German- ity (Deutschtum). Gymnastics was believed to have a moral content: it was seen as reflecting seriousness and a sense of duty, two of the virtues that were part of the German identity. The organizers intended to promote solidarity among Germans and to tighten the ties with Germany through gymnastics. The creation and organization of the Turnfest was related to the role gymnastics societies and Turnvater (the father of gymnastics) Jahn played in the process of German unification. During the Napoleonic occupation of all of Germany, Jahn had revitalized gymnastics with the objective of strengthening the national conscience, thus preparing the youth to fight for Germany’s unification.
The Turnfest usually started on a Friday and ended on a Monday. The protocol included the reception for the participating teams; the Fest-Commers; the sportive competition in different disciplines, among them floor and apparatus exercises, high jump and triple jump, rhythmic gymnastics, and fencing; and a dancing ball on Sunday, which included an awards ceremony and was followed by a Katerfruhstuck (hangover breakfast). The Fest-Commers, which was usually scheduled for the Saturday, followed an official program determined by the organizing committee of the Turnfest and included a musical opening, a salute to the participants, festive speeches on behalf of Brazil and Germany, gymnastics and fencing performances, male choir presentations, and the performance German songs and poems. Even though women participated in the sportive competitions, the Fest-Commers was a strictly male event.
Another kind of periodic celebration was the Sangerfest, organized by the Deutscher Sangerbund Rio Grande do Sul. This event took place in Porto Alegre in 1898; in Sao Joao do Montenegro in 1901; in Hamburgerberg (present-day Hamburgo Velho) in 1905 and 1909; in Sao Joao do Montenegro in 1912; in Hamburgerberg in 1916; in Porto Alegre in 1924, on the occasion of the festivities to celebrate the German immigration centennial; and in Novo Hamburgo in 1935. The Sangerfeste were established to celebrate and cultivate the tradition of choir singing and German folksongs. The Sangerfest lasted for two days, usually Saturday and Sunday, and its program centered on the competition among choirs. In general, the event began with the reception of the contestants, followed by a festive evening. Sunday was dedicated to the morning practice of the choirs, the fraternization lunch, the party opening, the festive speech, and the presentation and competition of the choirs. In the evening there was the announcement of the winners and the award ceremony.
In the 1920s the celebration of the Deutscher Tag (German Day) in Porto Alegre on January 18 became a permanent event of the festivities calendar.
Its celebration occurred continuously from 1923 to 1937. The Verband deutscher Vereine was in charge of organizing this event, which was always held during the evening in the Turnerbund premises in Porto Alegre. The Deutscher Tag commemorated German unification and the foundation of the German Empire on January 18, 1871. It showed solidarity with Weimar Germany, which had been humiliated by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.The Deutscher Tag was celebrated according to the Fest-Commers. It began with a musical opening, normally a piece performed by an orchestra or sung by a choir; salutation to the guests; declamation of patriotic poems; the singing of the Brazilian and the German national anthems and, from 1934 on, the “Horst-Wessel-Lied” (Horst-Wessel Song); performance of the choirs from the singing societies; living pictures portraying German history (Germania, Otto von Bismarck, Friedrich II, Barbarossa, Hermann der Cherusker, and the river Rhine); festive speeches dedicated to Brazil and Germany; and gymnastics exercises on the bars and rhythmic dances. The past was explored in search of events and experiences that could be locally represented and used as identity traces and reference points of a common memory. The purpose of the Deutscher Tag was highlighted in the festive speeches, which focused on the desire to form a great German Empire based on German Volk (folk) and German blood. The belief in Germany’s rebirth and in the emergence of a fuhrer (leader) who could lead the German people to their destiny was defended. During the 1930s, Adolf Hitler was glorified as a guide for both the people and German youth.
Der 25. Juli: Unser Tag (The Twentyfifth of July: Our Day) was one of the annual festivities with the greatest geographical and public reach. Celebrated for the first time in 1924, it commemorated the arrival of the first German immigrants in Sao Leopoldo in 1824. It glorified German culture and German contributions to Brazilian economic development.
In 1934, General Flores da Cunha decreed July 25 a state holiday in Rio Grande do Sul. From 1934 to 1941 the commemoration occurred in practically all places where German immigrants and their descendants had settled, among them Feliz, Novo Ham- burgo, Panambi, Passo Fundo, Pelotas, Porto Alegre, Sao Leopoldo, Sapiranga, and Taquara. Die Kommission pro 25. Juli (The Committee for July 25), formed by the main German leagues and societies, such as Verband Deutscher Vereine, Ri- ograndenser Synode (Organization of German Associations, Synod of Rio Grande do Sul), and Volksverein fur die deutschen Katholiken in Rio Grande do Sul (Association for German Catholics), centralized the planning and organization of the celebration. According to the organizing committee, July 25 was to begin with a morning awakening with drums, songs, or bells; a festive church service; a fraternization lunch; a procession from the main street to the place of the event, which should be a wide open place; a march including the schools, the societies, and the gymnasts in order to hoist the flags; a salutation; gymnastics presentations, choir performances, and several games; and an evening party at the ballroom with musical performances, choirs, declamation of poetry, festive speeches, plays, and/or movies. The pieces to be presented were to reflect the immigrants’ way of life and to awaken the participants’ curiosity about their origin. The program included plays, such as Deutsche Wandern nach Brasilien (Germans Emigrating to Brazil) by Clara Sauer, which tells the story of a German immigrant family from a rural area and their life in Brazil.All these events and commemorations contributed to the identification process of German immigrants and their descendants in Rio Grande do Sul. The celebrations were based on a unifying structure that congregated the participants around an assembly of symbolic forms and rites. For the celebrating community, the festival’s primary function was to remind them of their ethnic origin and heritage, thus ensuring and strengthening their feeling of ethnic belonging. Organizing events, singing, practicing gymnastics, and recollecting dates and personalities were not only a way to activate the memory and the culture but also a kind of representation and differentiation of the celebrating group from Brazilian society.
Imgart Grutzmann
See also Brazil; German Unification (1871);
Treaty of Versailles
References and Further Reading
Grutzmann, Imgart. A mdgica flor azul: A canςao em lingua alema e o germanismo no Rio Grande do Sul. Doutorado em Letras, Faculdade de Letras, PUCRS, 1999.
------. “Do que tu herdaste dos teus antepassados, deves apropriar-te, a fim de possui-lo”: O germanismo e suas especificidades.” Relatorio de pesquisa recem-doutor agreseniado d FAPERGS. Porto Alegre, Maio de 2001.
Rambo, Arthur B. Reconstructing the Fatherland: German Turnen in Southern Brazil. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2001.
Ramos, Eloιsa Capovilla da Luz. O teatro da sociabilidade: Um estudo dos clubes sociais como espaςos de representaςao das elites urbanas alemas e teuto-brasileiras: Sao Leopoldo, 1850/1930. Doutorado em Historia, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas, UFRGS, 2000.
Silva, Haike Kleber da Silva. SOGIPA: Uma trajetoria de 130 anos. Porto Alegre: Palotti, 1997.
Tesche, Leomar. A prdtica do Turnen entre os imigrantes alemaes e seus descendentes no Rio Grande do Sul: 1867—1942. Ijui: Unijuι, 1996.
Weber, Roswitha. As comemoraςoes da imigraςao alema no Rio Grande do Sul: O 25 de Julho em Sao Leopoldo 1924/1949. Mestrado em Historia, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas, UFRGS, 2000.
Wieser, Lothar. Deutsches Turnen in Brasilien: Deutsche Auswanderung und die Entwicklung des Deutsch-Brasilianischen Turnwesens bis zum Jahre 1917. London: Arena, 1990.