Emil Odebrecht

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Emil Odebrecht

Emil Odebrecht (born March 29, 1835 in Jacobshagen , Pomerania ; † January 6, 1912 in Blumenau , Brazil ) was a German geodetic engineer and cartographer .

Life

In 1856, the young student at Greifswald University, Emil Odebrecht , emigrated to Brazil with his college friends Heinrich Kreplin and Gustav Mellenthin . He settled in the German colony of Blumenau in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina , south of São Paulo . There he met the pharmacist Hermann Blumenau , who came from Hesse . He was the founder of the German colonization in Santa Catarina and advised Emil Odebrecht to return to Greifswald to complete his studies. After his “return” to South America, he became a pioneer of German immigration in Santa Catarina and Paraná . Emil Odebrecht became famous throughout Brazil as the ancestor of the Brazilian company founder Norberto Odebrecht , who was to found one of the largest construction companies in the world in Salvador da Bahia almost a hundred years later, in 1944 .

Initially, he worked in road construction and in the definition of land in the Itajaí Valley . In 1883 Emil Odebrecht “discovered” the Iguazú waterfalls in the border triangle of Paraguay , Argentina and Brazil. The gigantic waterfalls play an important role in Brazil's electricity generation today. He played a key role in creating the railway connection from Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre , as well as in setting up telegraph lines in Santa Catarina and Paraná.

family

Grave site, Evangelical Center Cemetery in Blumenau

Emil Odebrecht was a son of the Anklam District Court Judge August Odebrecht (1803–1877). On February 10, 1864, he married Bertha Bichels and they had 15 children together. From this progeny there are over 1300 people of the same name in Brazil today. Even today there are regular clan meetings of the Odebrechts. Many of these descendants continue to play an important role in the Brazilian economy today.

Economic success of the descendants and foundation of the Odebrecht group of companies

Decisive for the economic success of the Odebrechts was their move in 1918 from Blumenau to the underdeveloped northeast to Salvador da Bahia , the former colonial capital. Here Emílio Odebrecht jr. (1894–1962), a grandson of Emil Odebrecht of the emigrant, started a construction company and introduced reinforced concrete technology - a decisive step for the advancement of Brazil in modern bridge, city and residential construction.

A son of the company's founder Emílio and great-grandson of pioneer Emil Odebrecht, Norberto Odebrecht (1920–2014), founded the current Odebrecht group of companies in 1944, based in Salvador da Bahia.

literature

  • Moacir Werneck de Castro : Missão na selva. A aventura brasileira de Emil Odebrecht. 2nd Edition. Versal, Rio de Janeiro 2003, ISBN 85-89309-03-7 . (1st edition: Missão na selva. Emil Odebrecht (1835–1912), um prussiano no Brasil , 1994).
  • Rolf Odebrecht, Renate Sybille Odebrecht: Cartas de família. Ensaio biográfico de Emil Odebrecht. [Self-published], Blumenau 2006, ISBN 85-906673-0-8 .

Web links

Commons : Emil Odebrecht  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Geneall.net: Family data, children
  2. ↑ Bodo Bost: From Western Pomerania to Brazil and into the world . In: Tópicos , ISSN  0949-541X , vol. 49 (2010), issue 3, pp. 26-27, here p. 26.
  3. ↑ From Pomerania via Brazil to the World , Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung of September 25, 2010, accessed on July 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Geneall.net: Descendants of the Family
personal data
SURNAME Odebrecht, Emil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geodetic engineer and cartographer
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Dobrzany
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1912
Place of death Blumenau