The Journey

Context of the account

During the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the first Austrians in the former Colônia de Ijuí, on 24 February 1893, festively commemorated on 5 March 1933, the immigrant Ludwig Streicher left an important historical account, published at the time in a commemorative booklet.

On the basis of this testimony, it became possible to reconstruct the odyssey experienced by those pioneers, from their departure in Europe to their arrival in Ijuí. The journalistic article is attributed to Lothar Friedrich.

Austria and the Austrian immigrants in southern Brazil

Austria, Österreich, owes its name to the Ostmark, the Eastern March incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne. Later, as early as 996, it received the name Ostarichi. The word Richi, from archaic German, is equivalent to Reich and means empire, kingdom or state. It derives from the Gothic term Reiks, meaning sovereign lord or king, possibly influenced by the Latin Rex.

Under Habsburg rule, Austria became the greatest power of the German Confederation. It lost this position only after its defeat in the war against Prussia in 1866. The following year, together with Hungary, it formed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which would collapse at the end of the First World War, with the separation of Hungary and the establishment of the republican regime.

Numerous Austrians lived in southern Brazil, many of them having immigrated individually and at their own expense. One group of families from the Alpine region, however, came in a more or less organised way. These families remained united not only during the journey, but also after settling in Rio Grande do Sul.

In particular, the families whose destiny brought them to the promising Colônia de Ijuí left examples of community spirit, dedication and perseverance. Whenever high authorities or representatives of foreign governments visited the municipality, they were invited to meet the “Austrians”, regarded by the director, Dr Augusto Pestana, as a progressive leaven amid the multi-coloured ethnic variety of Ijuí’s population.

Social crisis and emigration to Brazil

At the end of the nineteenth century, the metallurgical industries, especially the arms factories, entered a serious crisis. An arms factory in Steyr, Austria, which at its peak had 10,000 employees, dismissed about 7,000 workers in 1892 because of a lack of orders.

The effects of this shutdown, with unemployment levels then unprecedented, led many heads of families, concerned about the future of their dependants, to try their luck overseas, in the lands of America.

At the same time, shortly after the definitive abolition of slavery, Brazil faced an acute shortage of rural labour. The Brazilian government maintained recruiting agents in Europe to attract people interested in working on the coffee plantations in São Paulo.

Drawn by promises of prosperity in a country whose first empress had been Dona Maria Leopoldina, daughter of Emperor Francis II of Austria, many of those unemployed workers decided to emigrate to Brazil. After gathering information on living and working conditions, however, they agreed to leave their country only when the Brazilian diplomat resident in Vienna assured them that they would be settled in Rio Grande do Sul.

In the south, in a temperate climate zone, they would obtain grants of rural properties and would not be assigned to work on plantations belonging to others.

From Austria to Genoa

On 15 December 1892, 93 families, totalling about 300 people, decided to come to Brazil. They boarded a train that took them to the Austro-Italian border at Pontafel-Fontebba. There they changed trains, heading for the port of Genoa.

Along the way, in the small town of Udine, another 100 immigrants joined the group. They too had been recruited by agents and came from Styria, likewise prepared to leave the old continent.

The travel expenses as far as Genoa, in Italy, were paid by the emigrants themselves. In that port, they were embarked on the Italian steamer Arno, as guests of the Brazilian government, which assumed all expenses until the end of the journey.

Before boarding the vessel that would take them away from their homeland forever, they received a detailed letter from the Municipality of Linz, Austria, with further recommendations that they should refuse work on coffee plantations. Thus they took leave of the old world and of everything that was dear and familiar to them, with the assurance that their homeland would assist them in the distant land they sought.

The crossing aboard the steamer Arno

Travel was far from comfortable at that time. Ships were small and offered little comfort. For those brave people, however, giving up for a few weeks the comforts of civilisation meant little compared with the prospect of liberation from the lack of opportunities and the poverty prevailing in the old homeland.

The lack of assistance for the many small children and the shortage of fresh milk represented almost unbearable difficulties. Preserved milk was very expensive, and buying it forced the immigrants to sacrifice their last monetary reserves. Fortunately, they had acquired tools and clothing, the only reserves they possessed when they set foot on the soil of the new homeland.

On 20 December 1892, the Arno put to sea. On Christmas Eve, 24 December, it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. On the second day of Christmas, the Canary Islands were sighted. On 7 January 1893, the vessel entered Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro. Only on the 10th, however, were the passengers able to disembark on Ilha das Flores.

On the same day, they took a coastal vessel bound for Rio Grande do Sul, where they arrived on 13 January 1893.

Lodging and the police incident in Porto Alegre

The period in which the Austrian emigrants came to Rio Grande do Sul was politically turbulent. In 1892, the Federalist Revolution had broken out. With varying success, the supporters of Silveira Martins, the Federalists, were engaged in a fratricidal struggle with the followers of Júlio de Castilhos, the Republicans, which would only end in 1895.

On 20 January, the Austrians arrived in Porto Alegre and were received at the Immigrants’ House in Cristal, on the bank of the Guaíba, at that time a few kilometres outside the capital.

A few days later, some members of the group became involved in boasts at the Becker Hotel, on Caminho Novo, even displaying weapons received from the factory where they had worked in Austria. Although harmless, such behaviour was reported to the authorities as a threat to public order.

That same night, a small boat took the Chief of Police and soldiers to investigate the incident. Mr Becker and the Germans Bins and Friedrich also took part in the expedition, seeking to assist their compatriots with advice. At the Immigrants’ House there was great commotion. Everyone had to get out of bed, and the five members of the immigrants’ representative committee — Samrsla, Feldmeier, Haiske, Katzenschlaeger and Streicher — were subjected to a lengthy interrogation and detained by the police.

Thanks to the efforts of the Germans mentioned and of the German and Austrian diplomatic authorities, they were released again, but they had to pay a fee of 3,000 réis. Since they had only 12,000 réis, one of them had to return to prison. Fortunately, an Italian from South Tyrol intervened on behalf of the detainee and, with 3,000 réis, managed to secure his release.

During the visit to the Immigrants’ Hostel, the police seized all the weapons the immigrants had brought with them. Hunting weapons were returned, but revolvers and pistols were considered unnecessary.

Towards the interior of the state

Among the colonies offered to the immigrants, 55 families chose Ijuí, while others went to Jaguari. The remaining families found employment in a glass factory or were held back for health reasons.

Before departure, some visited the editor of the Deutsches Volksblatt, Clemens Wallau, and Father Brinkmann, S.J., who baptised their children. Both gave them good advice and left them with the admonition: “Those who persevere will succeed”. These recommendations helped the group to regain courage in difficult moments.

On 4 February, they continued their journey inland. The stretch as far as the bank of the Taquari River was made by steamer. From there, they went by train to Santa Maria, where they remained from 8 to 12 February. Afterwards, they organised a convoy of 24 ox carts, on which they loaded their belongings, the women and the children. The men and some of the women continued on foot.

The caravan took 12 days to reach Ijuí, where the immigrants were lodged in three barracks.

The first years in Ijuí

Until that moment, everyone had been maintained by the federal government. In Ijuí, they received vouchers: 400 réis for adults and 200 réis for each child. With this money, they could make purchases in the three commercial houses existing in the settlement: Kopf, Barros and Berenhauser.

Wishing to remain together, the immigrants chose their colonies on Lines 5 to 8 East, with their centre on Line 6 East. Each head of family received an axe, a sickle, a machete, two packets of nails and a door lock. For every four families, a grindstone and a crosscut saw were provided.

The beginning in the virgin forest demanded great perseverance and renunciation. The first provisional huts were covered with palm leaves and grass. The first houses, roofed with small boards and inhabited by several families together, represented the next stage of progress.

Only after the most urgent tasks had been completed were new houses built, so that by winter each family already had its own home. The walls were made of bamboo and, in a short time, were reduced to dust by termites. The problem was solved by the idea of building walls and ceilings with woven bamboo mats.

With the arrival of spring, areas were cleared for planting maize. The climate was favourable and brought good harvests. Unfortunately, the periodic flowering of the bamboo attracted thousands of rats, and almost the entire grain production was devoured by the rodents.

After the supply of vouchers was suspended, the immigrants came to depend on income from road work, paid by the colonial administration at daily rates of 3,500 to 4,000 réis, paid in vouchers. As these resources did not meet minimum needs, they decided to sacrifice Sunday clothes and objects brought from Europe, exchanging them for essential animals: cows, horses and pigs.

Ludwig Streicher recounted that he exchanged his silver watch, with chain, for a horse; his best suit for a pig; and his wife’s gala dress for a cow. Even so, the financial problem was not solved.

Construction of the Santa Maria–Cruz Alta railway

Necessity forced the Austrians to seek work in distant places. Some went to Porto Alegre, others to Santa Maria, in search of employment. About 70 men walked to Vila Rica, today Júlio de Castilhos, to work on the construction of the Santa Maria–Cruz Alta railway.

Wages ranged between 2,000 and 3,500 réis per day. After saving some money, six workers decided to return to Ijuí, receiving together a 100,000-réis note. When they tried to exchange it, they discovered that it was money already withdrawn from circulation, usable only at a discount.

On the march to Cruz Alta, they had to pass through lines of revolutionary troops that were devastating the region. They managed to get through thanks to the passports they carried and to the assistance of an officer who spoke German.

In Cruz Alta, they bought provisions at a bakery, whose owner refused the 100,000-réis note and sent them away without requiring payment. Only in Ijuí were they able to exchange the money, with a 20% discount. During their absence, their families suffered hardship and fed on maize flour and beans, without lard. Upon returning, they went back to work on the roads.

Dealing with revolutionary forces

Shortly afterwards, revolutionary troops appeared in Ijuí, with a force of 800 to 1,000 men, commanded by Gumercindo Saraiva. The losses suffered by the colony were limited mainly to the exchange of good horses for tired animals from the rebel column. Two residents were murdered, perhaps more by mistake than by malice.

Precarious transport conditions

Transport conditions were very poor. Colonists had to cross the Rio da Ponte on horseback, a dangerous task during floods. It was not uncommon for the waters to carry away horses, loads and all. Even human lives were lost in the turbulent currents.

A bridge built in 1896 by colonists and merchants cost 4 contos de réis, but did not survive the flood of 1898. The then head of the colony, Dr Augusto Pestana, to whom the immigrants owed much, immediately ordered the construction of a provisional floating bridge, which withstood the floods well.

Religious assistance, education and culture

The Austrian pioneers found in Father Anton Cuber, the first pastor of souls in Ijuí from 1896, a valued friend. Although Polish, he spoke German very well. From him they received great support and broad religious assistance.

As there was no public school, the Austrian immigrants, once their colonies had been organised, were able to devote themselves to the education of their numerous children. They resolved to build a literacy school. Each contributed timber, sawn boards, labour, produce and money. Beside the school, a place was reserved for a social centre and cemetery.

The area was given to them by the director of the colony, pleased with the spirit of progress and solidarity of his “Austrians”. On Sundays and holidays, gathered at the school, they listened to the melodies of violins and flutes, accompanying songs from their homeland.

The example of the “Austrians” was followed by the entire population of the colony, impressed by their material and cultural progress, by their determination, dedication and community spirit.

“What you have inherited from your fathers, acquire it, in order to possess it.”

Goethe

The Prauchner family

Based on Ludwig Streicher’s historical account and supported by existing documents, Nelson Prauchner, great-grandson of the patriarch Johann, concluded that the Prauchner family, although originating in the region of Amstetten, in Lower Austria, formed part of the group that came from Styria, in the east of the Austrian Empire, an area affected by the territorial transformations following the First World War and today associated with present-day Slovenia.

According to this interpretation, the family joined the group coming from Steyr or Tyrol in the city of Udine, Italy, departing from there for the port of Genoa.

The Prauchner family on this journey consisted of the couple Johann, aged 50, and Theresia, aged 45, together with their children Friedrich, 19; Ferdinand, 17; Maria, 14; Franz, 13; Alois, 10; and Wilhelm, 4. The eldest son, also called Johann, aged 22, was performing military service and came to Brazil years later.

The patriarch Johann worked in the workshops of the K.K. Priv. Südbahn-Gesellschaft, in Marburg an der Drau, today Maribor, Slovenia, as a master sawyer until 10 December 1892. Ten days later, he was aboard the ship Arno, with his family, bound for Brazil.

In Brazil, the Prauchner family was settled in Linha 6 Leste, in the municipality of Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul. Like the other immigrant families, they had a hard beginning in a region of dense forest. Being urban people, they were forced to learn agricultural work.

The dream of one day returning to Austria gradually faded, transformed into a feeling of gratitude towards the new homeland, which had provided them with survival and a future for their descendants.

Today, the Prauchner clan, descended from this pioneer couple, already exceeds 500 members, spread across much of Brazilian territory.

October 2010.