Around 300 Luxembourgish families left Luxembourg with the aim of travelling towards Brazil in the 19th century. Many never actually made it to South America. Today, an estimated 30,000-50,000 individuals with Luxembourgish roots are living in Brazil.
As up until end of December 2018 it was possible for anyone with Luxembourgish ancestors alive in 1900 to claim Luxembourgish citizenship, loads of Brazilian families did some research and found out they actually had Luxembourgish family ancestors.
Just a few years ago, many families found that they had Luxembourgish roots, as opposed to German ones, which they had originally believed was the case.
A large number of Brazilians fulfilled their dream of acquiring a European passport in recent years. In Rtl.lu's third and last part of their Brazil series, they went and met with families who were able to get Luxembourgish citizenship, and young people eager to discover their new identities.
In part two of the series, Rtl.lu visited Santa Catarina, in the south of Brazil to speak to families about how they feel about their Luxembourgish roots. Part one looks into families living in Luis Alves, also in the south of the country.
Hearing the Luxembourgish national anthem in that part of Brazil is a rather common occurrence. The family of the mayor of Luis Alves moved to Brazil from Luxembourg in the first half of the 19. century. Interestingly, the previous three mayors also had Luxembourgish roots.
Following Brazil's independence in 1822, the country actively looked for immigrants with the aim of boosting its agricultural economy. According to official records, Mathias Mombach from Echternach was the first Luxembourger to emigrate to Brazil. Many families moved to Brazil in the search for better conditions and, unsurprisingly, nicer weather.
Argentina fever - Luxembourgers in the mass migration wave to Argentina
'Brasilienfahrer' - the three failed Luxembourgish migration expeditions to South America
