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'Blumenau' is a city in Santa Catarina state in southern Brazil. It was founded on September 2, 1850 by Dr. Otto Hermann Blumenau along with 17 German immigrants. A few years later Fritz Müller migrated to Blumenau as well.

Contents

Demographics

Geography and environment

Economy

Divisions

Trivia

History

Famous inhabitants

See also

External links

Demographics

As of 2006, Blumenau had an estimated population of approximately 300,000 people, with an area of 510 km². The main ethnic groups of the city are Germans and Italians. The city itself retains many historical and cultural reminders of its past, such as houses and other buildings built in a German style, statues and memorials.
Blumenau has a high standard of living, with an HDI of 0.856 as of 2004. The crime rate is very low and the illiteracy rate is under 2.85%.

Geography and environment

The city is located in a valley, surrounded by hills with forests and bisected by the Itajaí-Açu River. There are towers and tall buildings in the city center. The residential areas spread into the nearby hills and plains, and the lower areas, including the downtown, constantly suffer from the threat of floods. Blumenau's first recorded flood took place in the dawn of September 23rd, 1880. The worst took place in 1983 and 1984, when the city was completely isolated for weeks. Today, Blumenau is well-prepared against such threats, but many citizens prefer to live in higher areas to avoid major flooding-related losses.

Economy

The municipality's economy is based on tourism, commerce and industry, particularly textiles, as the city is a major textile center of Brazil. The headquarters of Hering and Karsten are located in the city. Recently, Blumenau has also become important in software development, with Senior Sistemas, WK Sistemas and Benner as its main software employers. Another recent economic development in Blumenau is beer production, with the micro-brewery Eisenbahn.


Commerce is also important in the city's economy. The principal commercial streets are found in the central area, with XV de Novembro being the most important thoroughfare. Blumenau also has many shopping centers, with Neumarkt being the biggest, with its tower easily visible against the city's skyline.
The most significant period for tourism is during Oktoberfest, a traditional Bavarian beer festival, which sold 365,288 tickets at its pavilions in 2005—at which 266,811 liters of beer were drunk. The record for public attendance was set in 1992, when over 1 million tickets were sold. Oktoberfest was created in 1984 after the second major flood, in an attempt to celebrate the resilience to its people, victims of many other floods during preceding century.

Divisions

Blumenau has 1 district, 1 administrative region and 33 neighbourhoods:

★ Vila Itoupava (District) ★ Itoupava Central ★ Itoupavazinha ★ Testo Salto ★ Badenfurt ★ Salto do Norte ★ Bairro do Salto ★ Fidélis ★ Fortaleza Alta ★ Salto Waissbach ★ Fortaleza

★ Tribess ★ Nova Esperança ★ Itoupava Norte ★ Boa Vista ★ Itoupava Seca ★ Escola Agrícola ★ Passo Manso ★ Água Verde ★ Bairro da Velha ★ Velha Central ★ Velha Grande ★ Vila Nova

★ Victor Konder ★ Ponta Aguda ★ Vorstadt ★ Centro (Downtown) ★ Bom Retiro ★ Vila Formosa ★ Jardim Blumenau ★ Ribeirão Fresco ★ Garcia (Admin. region) ★ Glória ★ Valparaíso ★ Progresso

Trivia

★ The city was owned by its founder for 32 years until it was emancipated in March 18th, 1882.

★ Blumenau was Brazil's first city to have public electrical lights in the streets. They started working in February 19th, 1909.

★ The city was divided into five in 1934. Four new towns were created: Gaspar, Indaial, Timbó and Dalbérgia (later renamed Ibirama).

★ The radio appeared in Blumenau in 1935, and television in 1969. Cinema began in 1900.

★ Teatro Carlos Gomes, the city's main theatre, was opened to the public in 1939.

★ In 1956 the city's first major church opened. It was later rebuilt in 1963, with the addition of a bell tower.

★ The city's most famous landmark was inaugurated in 1978. Moellman's Castle is a replica of the city hall of the German city Michelstadt.

★ The city's new city hall was inaugurated in 1982. Blumenau's first shopping center opened in 1994.

History

★ Population:

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★ 1860: 947

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★ 1880: about 15,000

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★ 1990: about 230,000

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★ 2004: about 280,000

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★ 2006: about 300,000

Famous inhabitants

★ Theo Balden, sculptor and writer;

★ Fritz Müller, biologist;

★ Vera Fischer, actress;

★ Mariana Weickert, model;

★ Ana Moser, volleyball player.

★ Rafael Schmitz, Lille OSC football player.

★ Tiago Splitter, Professional basketball player (San Antonio Spurs contracted)

★ Emílio Henrique Baumgart

★ Hermann Blumenau

★ Evandro Goebel, soccer player

★ Christian Maicon Hening, soccer player

★ Urda Alice Klueger, writer

★ João Geraldo Kuhlmann, botanist

★ Jean Carlo Witte, soccer player

See also

★ Villa General Belgrano

External links

★ City hall site

★ Informational site for tourism and business people

★ FURB - Universidade Regional de Blumenau, local university

★ Oktoberfest/Blumenau (in Portuguese)

★ German Genealogy: Brazil

★ BlumenauOnline 'many photos', ''interactive maps'', ''timeline'' etc.