Santa Catarina, a coastal state in Brazil (area 36,435 sq. mi., pop. 1,578,159 in 1959; 5,098,448 in 2006), lying between Parana on the north and Rio Grande do Sul on the south, in 1930 became the home of two colonies settled by Mennonite refugees from Russia, Krauel, called Witmarsum, and Auhagen on the Stoltz Plateau. Both colonies were sponsored by the German government and settled on land purchased from the Hanseatische Kolonisations-Gesellschaft. The Auhagen Colony was abandoned in 1934, the settlers moving to Curitiba. The Krauel Colony was dissolved in 1952, and most of the families have moved away, some earlier to Curitiba, others at the very end to Bage in Rio Grande do Sul. Heinrich Martens, the original leader of the colony, early settled in Blumenau, the capital of the state, where he remains as one of the few Mennonites left in Santa Catarina.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 417. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

To cite this page: