German-Speaking Entrepreneurs : Builders of Business in Brazil

German-speaking immigrants who left Europe between 1890 and 1975 for Brazil's southern states - Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Parana - contributed far out of proportion to their percentage in the population to development and modernization of Brazil's agriculture, business and small-scale industry. They functioned as agents of change, as entrepreneurs willing to assume great risks, thus becoming a decisive factor in Brazil's industrial development.