Germanism in Rio Grande Do Sul
The term Germanism is used to designate an ideology with an ethnocentric and conservationist tone that focused on the construction and consolidation of the German identity and on the discussion about the position of German immigrants and their descendants in Brazilian society.
It was a reaction to discourses among nationalist Brazilian intellectuals and politicians who demanded that immigrants and their descendants should fully integrate into Brazilian society and culture. The construction of a Brazilian national identity went hand in hand with the sudden appearance of the perigo ale mao (German scare). These discussions culminated in the attempt to “nationalize” all groups of “foreign” origin. In such an attempt, Getulio Vargas closed German schools and banned German-language papers and German associations after he proclaimed the creation of the Estado Novo (1937—1945). The cultural categories chosen to identify and distinguish Germans from others included language, literature, virtues, customs and habits, festivities, and “blood.” Germanism formed the theoretical basis for and shaped the practices of Deutschtumspflege (cultivation of Germanity), which began in Rio Grande do Sul under the influence of the journalist Karl von Koseritz during the 1860s. This movement gained momentum in the last two decades of the nineteenth century and peaked in the 1920s and 1930s. Its mentors were mainly university- educated men who had come to Brazil before 1880. Among them were journalists (Arno Phillipp, Karl von Koseritz, Martin Fischer), physicians (Bruno Kunne, Josef Steidle), pastors (Emil Gans, Erich Knap- per, Hermann Gottlieb Dohms, Karl Heinrich Oberacker, Rudolf Becker, Wilhelm Rotermund), and directors of community associations (Jakob Aloys Friedrichs). Most of them resided in Porto Alegre and Sao Leopoldo. In general, the Germanists occupied leadership positions within the German community and formed an intellectual group that used the German press to advertise their concepts of German identity.In short, Germanism had as its main objective the awakening and strengthening of an ethnic identity. Its aim was the promotion of an “authentic German” identity and the creation of a cohesive, homogeneous, and visible German ethnic group in Brazil. This group, it was hoped, would resist any attempt of Verwelschung (deGermanization) and absorption into Brazilian society. Germanists fought against interethnic marriages, the frequent use of the Portuguese language, the schooling of German children in public schools, the migration to urban centers, the mercantilist conception of life, and the lack of interest in one’s origins. Proponents of this Germanism considered Germans to be culturally and socially superior. From the 1920s onward, they promoted the concept of the Volksgemeinschaft (ethnic community), which was to be constituted by all German descendants living inside and outside Germany proper.
Germanism had as its basis the romantic-nationalist concept of the people, conceived as an organic unity based upon the principle of descent and united by cultural ties that transcended the political borders of Germany. Thus Germans abroad were considered part of the German people. In such an interpretation, people (nations) were not defined by social and political but by cultural and emotional categories. Using these romantic-nationalist notions of national character, the Germanists advocated the idea that the immigrants and their descendants carried a collective national ethnic identity that was considered a product of their origin, “blood,” and destiny and could best be subsumed in the concept of Germanity. Since the German people were not defined by geographical and political borders, the German language and songs became an integral part of the definition of Germanness. Germanists believed that the language and songs embodied and reflected the essence of German culture and tradition. Patriotic songs (Vaterlandslieder) and folksongs (Heimatlieder) were published in songbooks (Liederbucher), almanacs, didactic books, and memorial brochures and were sung in choirs.
German songs were part of parties and celebrations, which started to be regularly organized by the end of the nineteenth century with the purpose of stimulating Germanity. Among the most famous are the Kaiserfeier (celebration of the emperor), the Deutscher Tag (German Day), the Sangerfest (singing competition), the Turnfest (gymnasts’ competition), and the Schutzenfest (marksmen’s competition).Furthermore, Germanists attributed certain characteristics, such as diligence, frankness, seriousness, loyalty, perseverance, braveness, and simplicity, to the German people. Among these virtues, loyalty was the one most frequently used to describe the German national character, understood as their trademark, as well as the very basis of their moral constitution and social action.
The German Protestant Church in Rio Grande do Sul championed a close relationship between Deutschtum (German- ity) and religion. In 1929, it even entered into an affiliation with the German Federation of Protestant Churches, which became part of the German Protestant Church in 1933. Allegiance to German culture, however, also resulted in the creation of a market for German goods in Brazil—German-language papers, almanacs, and didactic books (produced in Brazil), as well as products imported from Germany by merchants and industrialists in Porto Alegre. This economic aspect coincided with the imperialist and colonialist interests of Wilhelm II, who, in the last decades of the nineteenth century, paid more attention to Germans living abroad. For Germany, these groups became a welcome basis for commercial expansion.
From the 1880s onward, the German- language press was the place for the discourse on the purpose and image of Germanism. The press was not only the main instrument for discussing the German identity but also the mechanism used by the Germanists to influence the identity formation of immigrants and their descendants. In this endeavor the following newspapers stood out: Deutsche Zeitung (German Newspaper, 1861—1917) and Koseritz' deutsche Zeitung, later renamed Neue deutsche Zeitung (New German Newspaper, 1881-1917; 1919-1941), both printed in Porto Alegre; and Deutsche Post (German Mail, 1880-1917; 1919-1928), published in Sao Leopoldo.
Specialized papers and magazines also participated, among them Allgemeine Lehrerzeitung fur Rio Grande do Sul (General Teachers’ Newspaper for Rio Grande do Sul, 1902-1917; 1919-1938) and the Deutsche Evangelische Blatter fur Brasilien (German Evangelical News for Brazil, 1919-1938). The advertising and consolidation of Germanism’s representations also ran through the almanacs (calendars), especially Koseritz' deutscher Volks- kalender fur Brasilien (Koseritz German People’s Calendar for Brazil, 1874-1918; 1921-1938), Kalender fur die Deutschen in Brasilien (Calendar for Germans in Brazil, 1881-1918; 1920-1941), and Muster- reiter's neuer historischer Kalender (Muster- reiter’s New Historical Calendar, 18851887; 1901-1918).Imgart Grutzmann
See also Brazil; Dohms, Hermann Gottlieb; German Almanacs in Rio Grande do Sul; German Scare; Koseritz, Karl von; Rotermund, Wilhelm
References and Further Reading
Dreher, Martin Norberto. Igreja e germanidade. Sao Leopoldo: Sinodal, 2003.
Gans, Magda. Presenςa teuta em Porto Alegre no seculo XIX(1850-1889). Porto Alegre: UFRGS; ANPUH/RS, 2004.
Gertz, Rene Ernaini. O perigo alemao. Porto Alegre: UFRGS, 1991.
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, unpublished doctoral thesis, 1999.
------. “Do que tu herdaste dos teus antepassados, deves apropriar-te, a fm de possui-lo ”: O germanismo e suas especificidades. Relatorio de pesquisa recem- doutor apresentado ⅛ FAPERGS. Porto Alegre, maio de 2001.
------. “O carvalho entre palmeiras: representaςδes e estrategias identitarias no germanismo.” Historia-Unisinos 7, no. 8 (2003): 115-169.
Meyer, Dagmar E. Estermann. Identidades traduzidas: cultura e docencia teuto- brasileira-evangelica no Rio Grande do Sul. Santa Cruz do Sul: Edunisc; Sao Leopoldo: Sinodal, 2000.
Seyferth, Giralda. “A Liga Pangermanica e o perigo alemao no Brasil: analise sobre dois discursos etnicos irredutiveis.” Historia: questoes e debates. Curitiba 10, nos. 18-19 (1989): 113-155.