The history of Blumenau begins long before the arrival of the first colonizers to the Itajai valley. The whole region was inhabited by natives of the kaigang, xokleng and botocudo tribes, which, for years, confronted the white people fighting against the progression of the colonization. Even before the colony of Blumenau was founded, there were already colonizers established in the region of Belchior, on the banks of the Garcia creek and left bank of the river Itajaí-Açu.

In 1850, the German physician-pharmacist and philosopher Dr. Hermann Bruno Otto Blumenau, received from the Provincial government an area of land in order to establish an agricultural colony, with European immigrants.

That same year, on September 2, the first 17 immigrants arrived, leaded by Dr. Blumenau. That is the city's official foundation date. After the first immigrants, other groups crossed the Atlantic in private companies' vessels and came to increase the number of agriculture workers and growers. They settled along the rivers and creeks of the conceded territory.

In the beginning, the colony was maintained as a private property belonging to its founder. However, under financial difficulties, he managed to pass his project to the government. Dr. Blumenau was kept as the manager of the colony, even when it became a city in 1880.

A heritage of that history, due to a unique colonization characteristic, the micro-region of Blumenau has similar habits and traditions. Initially colonized by Germans, followed by Italian and Polish immigrants, with a recent flow of migrants from the river Tijucas valley, the cultures that have been incorporated mostly are the Italian and German.

The former territory of the city of Blumenau which in 1934 covered an area of 10,610 square kilometers has been reduced to the present 531 square kilometers. Out of those divisions, 31 new cities were born.

Strength and a lot of work are the characteristics of a city that, from the very beginning, has called the attention of the community. Visitors may still find fragments of the German language, typical clothing and dances that lie in museums in Europe but remain alive and are part of the culture manifestations of the people of Blumenau.

Translation: Maria Cecília Pastorelli.
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