Pomerode


Pomerode is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, in Southern Brazil. It is located in the valley of the Itajaí-Açu river, not very far from the city of Blumenau, one of the largest cities in the state.
Pomerode is known as the most German city in Brazil, because the vast majority of its inhabitants are of German descent and are bilingual in German and Portuguese. The East Pomeranian dialect of Low German is also used by the community.
WWW Official Site

History and the local language

Pomerode was founded by Pomeranians in 1861 and is considered the "most typically German of all German towns of southern Brazil".
There is a group of people in the community who speak the East Pomeranian dialect of Low German.

Ethnic composition

Race/Skin color PercentageNumber
White92.01%25,542
Pardo 7.19%1,996
Black0.61%169
Asian0.14%38
Amerindian0.05%13

''Source: IBGE 2010. ''

Religion

Religion PercentageNumber
Catholics31.17%6,896
Protestants66.39%14,690
No religion0.98%217
Kardecists0.13%29

Source: IBGE 2010.
Lutherans are 63.76% of the population, as German Pomerania was traditionally overwhelmingly Lutheran. Over time, some of the Pomeranians converted to Catholicism, and Catholics from the rest of Brazil moved into the town.

Tourism and economy

Pomerode has a long history developing its manufacturing industry like other cities in the region. It is also located in a very rich agricultural valley. Additionally, in the last few decades the creation and development of the tourist industry has become a priority. To accomplish that, great efforts are being made to reinforce and celebrate the pioneering roots of the local inhabitants.
The tourist industry of nearby Blumenau is very well developed attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to its festivals such as Oktoberfest of Blumenau, the largest one in the world after the original festival in Munich. Naturally, this has generated a very positive impact on the tourist industry of much smaller Pomerode.
In addition to tourism the economy is dependent on industry, which includes knitted clothing, plastic articles, state of the art metal and mechanical industries, garments and cloth, and furniture.

Notable people