Brazil and Austria after more than a century
Brazil/Austria: The Prauchner Reunion
The contemporary reunion between the Brazilian and Austrian branches of the family.
The curiosity I had always felt about our family, about its origins in Austria and about how and why the emigration to Brazil occurred, led me to research the existence of relatives in Europe.
The few references found on the internet centred on one name: Christian Prauchner, a businessman located in the town of Gresten, not far from Amstetten and Wallsee.
I made the first contact by e-mail in 2006 and received a prompt and kind reply. With the certainty of our kinship, I decided that, as soon as possible, I would visit him.
I arranged to meet Christian during a leisure trip through Italy and Austria that we made: Nelson and Flávia, Reny and Nelcy.
When we arrived at the meeting place, in our suites in the town of Neuhofen an der Ybbs, welcome cards and gift baskets were waiting for us.
At the appointed time, 7 p.m., at the corner of Neuhofner Strasser and Feldpichel, the long-awaited meeting with the Austrian Prauchners took place.
There were Friedrich and Christine, the patriarchs; Christian and Cláudia; Thomas and Edith; and the children Sarah, Stefanie, Patrick, Lisa-Marie and Nicole.
It was a magical moment, full of emotion and joy at the same time. The difficulties of communication, caused by our limited German, were overcome by the kindly patience of our amiable Austrian relatives.
It was Sunday, 31 May 2009. From then on, there followed three days of celebrations, lunches, dinners and outings under the command and full sponsorship of Christian, who spared no effort to please us.
Unforgettable.
Since then, we have awaited their promised visit to Brazil, when we hope to repay, in equal measure, the welcome they gave us in Austria and to introduce them to as many Brazilian relatives as possible.