Diary Entry
It was a good night in Apiúna, deep in the rainforest of the Rio ItajaÃ-Açu. We continued to follow the river in the rain for a while until we climbed higher and the clouds became less dense.
The landscape reminds me a lot of Europe, and it could easily be the Bergisches Land, the Eifel, or the Sauerland. But if you look closely, you can see the exotic trees.
Finally, we leave the main road and come to a gravel road. On the map, I saw the name of a town that made me wonder: Fraiburgo! That can’t be true.
Is this a Brazilian copy of my hometown Freiburg?
This part of Brazil is teeming with German emigrants, as I have already seen in the colony of Wilmarsum and the cities of Joinville and Blumenau.
Could it be that emigrants actually built a small Freiburg in the rainforest? I want to see that!
And then we reach Fraiburgo! The town actually exists! There’s even an impressive city gate, just like the original.
Of course, I have to pose in front of it and share the evidence with my friends.
About Fraiburgo
Located in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil, Fraiburgo has been heavily influenced by European immigrants, particularly Germans and Italians. The city was founded in the 1930s by brothers Arnoldo and Rene Frey, who came from Alsace—a region that historically belonged to both Germany and France.
The name Fraiburgo was deliberately chosen as a tribute to the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The founders wanted to express their origins and cultural roots. The spelling was slightly adjusted to adapt to the Portuguese language—”Freiburg” became “Fraiburgo.”
Source: Wikipedia
The city center of Freiburg is, however, rather unspectacular. Apparently, the city is famous for its delicious apples. After all, hardly anyone at home knows about Freiburg either.
We only linger briefly, as there’s little to see and one rain shower follows another. But not far from here we find another sensation: Little Austria!
