São Pedro do Butiá is a municipality in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 2,949.

Minority language

Like many towns in the state which were first settled by

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

Brazilians from the ''Altkolonie'' or the old colonies in the East, the regional German language is still present in daily family and community life, if not as much in the public sphere since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

due to language repression public policies implemented by the State (i.e. Getúlio Vargas' aggressive nationalization campaign). Among other informal names (and often pejorative descriptions), the local dialect is gaining recognition by its formal name,

Riograndenser Hunsrückisch Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. T ...

(international language code: ISO 639-3 hrx), a reference to the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

region of southwest Germany, where the language has strong linguistic roots (see:

West Middle German West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. Its dialects are Franconian and comprise the parts of the Rhinelandic continuum located south of the Benrath line isogloss, including ...

dialects). In 2012 the state chamber of deputies voted unanimously in favor of recognizing this Germanic dialect an official historical intangible culture good to be preserved. Later, in 2014, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN in Portuguese), under the overview of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil, officially announced of a project of recognition, survey and support to the maintenance of the local language.

Pioneer park

São Pedro do Butiá, also known simplesmente as ''Butiá'' in Portuguese or ''Butioo'' in German, has a popular pioneer village park called ''Centro Germânico Missioneiro'' (here ''missioneiro'' is a reference to the old

Jesuit Missions The phrase Jesuit missions usually refers to a Jesuit missionary enterprise in a particular area, involving a large number of Jesuit priests and brothers, and lasting over a long period of time. List of some Jesuit missions * Circular Mission ...

, established in the general area during colonial times, around three hundred years before the more modern settlement of the area). The village has many different structures, like a general store, a country school, and some relocated old homes which are all set around a large statue of

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, the patron saint of this mostly catholic municipality. According to official information, the 30 meters tall statue of St. Peter is the same size as the world-famous statue of Christ the Redeemer, found at the top of the Sugarloaf Mountain in the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Neo-gothic architecture

The church of São Pedro Apóstolo (St. Peter Apostle) of São Pedro do Butiá is a very good example of the neo-gothic architecture which prevailed and characterizes most of the earlier larger religious structures in the Germanic regions in the Northwest of the state. Even more impressive is its parish church: The main church Paróquia Sagrada Família de Narazé (Sacred Family of Nazareth Church) is a much larger and a two-towered neo-gothic construction. Located 15 kilometers away from São Pedro do Butiá, the Igreja Matriz, as it is known, was built between 1913 and 1921 and in the same general revival style.

References

German-Brazilian culture Languages of Brazil Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul {{RioGrandedoSul-geo-stub

Minority language

Pioneer park

Neo-gothic architecture

See also

References