Christian Mathias Schroeder

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Christian Mathias Schroeder was a German senator from the city of Hamburg, Germany.

Christian Mathias Schroeder made history as the main member and stock holder the "Society for the Protection of the Immigrant in Southern Brazil" (in Portuguese: "Sociedade de Proteção ao Imigrantes no sul do Brasil") which was established in 1842. Therefore, because of such activities his name has become permanently linked to the history of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Among other financial colonization activities, Mr. Schroeder sent his son Eduard Schroeder to become the first manager of the Dona Francisca colony (the city of Joinville of today). After a period of time as the administrator of the colony his son returned to his native land permanently.

The municipality of Schroeder, a town located near Joinville, got its name from the Hansean investor Christian Mathias Schroeder.

One of the interesting personal details about Christian Mathias Schroeder is that he was a Lutheran Pomeranian and a speaker of Low Saxon (Low German), a minority language which also became part of southern Brazil’s regional linguistic tradition.

Low Saxon, just like many other Brazilian minority languages (such as Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, Talian (Italian) and Japanese) is still spoken by some in the old colonial zones. However, like most minority languages throughout the country, it too is facing a fast decline and imminent extinction. This is largely the result of the cultural repressive totalitarian linguistic policies of Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas brought forth during the World War II era.

[edit] External links

• The History of Joinville - Colônia Dona Francisca (in Portuguese). Accessed on October 24, 2005.
• History of the Municipality of Schroeder. Accessed on October 24, 2005.
• Map depicting the regions of northern Europe where Low Saxon was traditionally and still is spoken today (in German). Accessed on October 24, 2005.