Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Halfeld

Painting by Halfeld

Grave in the municipal cemetery of Juiz de Fora

Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Halfeld , Portuguese Henrique Guilherme Fernando Halfeld , (born February 23, 1797 in Clausthal , Kingdom of Hanover , † November 22, 1873 in Juiz de Fora , Brazil ) was a German engineer . He was instrumental in the development of the hinterland of the province of Minas Gerais , especially the city of Juiz de Fora.

Life

As the son of Carl August Gottlieb Halfeld and Dorothea Antonietta Elster, Heinrich Halfeld joined the Prussian army at the age of eighteen and fought for the withdrawal of French troops from Germany, later in the battle of Waterloo . He then studied at the Clausthal Mining Academy and worked in the Upper Harz mining industry . On April 10, 1824, he married Dorothea Augusta Filipina.

In 1825 he emigrated to Brazil. He came with the ship "Doris" to join the Imperial Corps of Foreigners (Corpo de Estrangeiros). His first child, Pedro Maria, was born shortly after the ship's arrival. After his contract as a mercenary expired, he worked for the British gold mining company Saint John d'El Rey Mining Company and then in the mines of the mining town of Barão de Cocais .

In 1834 he bought a sesmaria on the banks of the Rio Piracicaba , and in 1836 he was appointed "Engineer of the Minas Gerais Province". At that time he moved to Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto ). He was commissioned to build a road between Vila Rica, then the capital of Minas Gerais, and the province of Rio de Janeiro . Since it was the only road open to cars all year round at the time, the new country road was of great importance for the infrastructure between Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro and for the development of the city of Juiz de Fora . The first foundations of this city were planned by Halfeld.

His first wife died on May 13, 1839 in Ouro Preto. He married a second time on January 8, 1840: Cândida Maria Carlota, the daughter of his host Lieutenant Antônio Dias Tostes. In 1842 he took part as an engineer captain in the victory of the loyal imperial troops in the battle of Santa Luzia . For this he was awarded the Order of the Rose .

In 1852 he was commissioned to undertake a voyage of discovery to the Rio São Francisco . He traveled over 2000 kilometers from Pirapora to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and explored the river and its tributaries. His report is still very important today. In 1866 he was widowed again, and in the following year he married for the third time: Maria Luiza da Cunha Pinto Coelho. A total of 16 children were born from his three marriages.

Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Halfeld died on November 22nd, 1873 from a bullet that accidentally came off while cleaning his weapon. His work made him one of the most important historical figures of the city of Juiz de Fora, and he is considered to be the founder.

Every year at the festivities of the city's birthday, the Order Mérito Comendador Henrique Guilherme Fernando Halfeld is awarded to people who have made a contribution to the city.

Writings, maps

• Relatorio concernente a exploração do rio de S. Francisco desde a cachoeira de Pirapora até o oceano Atlântico durante os anos de 1852, 1853 e 1854 pelo englheiro ... Typographia Moderna de Georges Bertrand, Rio de Janeiro [1858].
• Atlas e relatorio concernente a exploração do Rio de S. Francisco desde a Cachoeira da Pirapóra até ao Oceano Atlantico. Levantado por Ordem do Governo de SMI O Senhor Dom Pedro II. Eduardo Rensburg, Rio de Janeiro 1860. ( Online in the Biblioteca Digital, Portal O Senado ). (PDF; 49.18 MB)
• Map Minas Gerais in: The Brazilian province of Minas Geraes. Original map based on the official photographs of the civil engineer HGF Halfeld, 1836–1855, using older measurements and maps drawn by Friedrich Wagner. Descriptive text by JJ von Tschudi . Perthes, Gotha 1862. (Supplementary booklet No. 9 to Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen ). ( Online in the German Digital Library ).

literature

• Geraldo Halfeld: Henrique Guilherme Fernando Halfeld, fundador da cidade de Juiz de Fora. Academia Municipalista de Letras de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 1970.
• Wilson de Lima Bastos: O Engheiro Henrique Guilherme Fernando Halfeld. Sua vida, sua obra, sua descendência. Ed. Paraibuna, Juiz de Fora 1975.
• Roland Spliesgart: “Brazilianization” and Acculturation: German Protestants in the Brazilian Empire using the example of the parishes in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais (1822–1889) . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2006, p. 148f ( digitized from Google Books )

Literary romance topic in:

• Maria de Lourdes Abreu de Oliveira: Bravo Brasil! Entre amores e armas, a saga de um visionário. Fundamento, São Paulo 2005, ISBN 85-7676-016-9 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Halfeld in the bibliographic database WorldCat