Ottokar Dörffel

Ottokar Dörffel (born March 24, 1818 in Waldenburg (Saxony) ; † November 18, 1906 in Joinville , Brazil ) was a German-Brazilian lawyer, mayor of Glauchau in Saxony, mayor of Joinville, Brazil; Editor and publisher.

Life

Ottokar Dörffel was born on March 24, 1818 in Waldenburg in Saxony, where his father was employed as the princely Schönburg chamber registrar. After attending the city school in Waldenburg and the grammar school in Altenburg, he began studying law and camera science at the University of Leipzig in 1839, which he successfully completed in 1842. He then worked as a lawyer at the courts in Wolkenburg, Kaufungen, Niederfrohna, and the Duke-Altenburg court in Wolperndorf . In 1844 he went to Rochlitz to lead a law firm there. In 1847 he was given the second actuarial position in the justice office in Vorderglauchau. On May 1, 1849 he took over the office of mayor of Glauchau in Saxony. The revolutionary movements and uprisings in the states of the German Confederation had also reached the Kingdom of Saxony in 1849. So two free marches formed in Glauchau to march to Dresden and support the rebels there. Dörffel, although liberal but not revolutionary, could not or would not prevent this march. After the uprisings were put down, he was sentenced to death for alleged high treason. A little later this sentence was then converted into a twelve-year prison sentence. After lengthy trials in which he defended himself, he finally managed to prove his innocence. He was acquitted. Dörffel established himself as a lawyer in Glauchau, but was exposed to such great difficulties that in 1854 he and his wife Ida nee. Günther emigrated to Brazil. They were en route by ship for two months before arriving in Brazil on November 20, 1854.

In Colonia Dona Francisca arrived today Joinville in the state of Santa Catarina has been working together with the other immigrants as a simple settler with saber, ax and hoe to create the basic conditions for a life and housing at in the swampy and inaccessible area . He then worked as a journalist, chronicler and mathematician. From 1858 he held the office of treasurer, later that of the city council and, from 1874 to 1877, that of the mayor of Joinville in Santa Catarina. Joinville is now the largest city in the state of Santa Catarina with a population of 500,000. In addition, as mayor, Dörffel had a great influence on the establishment of the agricultural colony, the Colônia Agrícola of São Bento do Sul. Dörffel died on November 18, 1906 in Joinville SC at the age of 88. Dörffels Villa now houses the Joinville Art Museum.

Services

Dörffel is one of the most important mediators and promoters of the German way of life and culture in southern Brazil. He was a founding member of the Lodge German Friendship to the Cross of the South and an honorary member of many associations in Joinville. His political influence as a city councilor and later as mayor of Colônia Dona Francisca , later Joinville , he used for the benefit of the settlers and colonists. His greatest achievement as a journalist was the publication of the Colonie-Zeitung , the longest-running German-language newspaper in southern Brazil, which was published for almost eighty years from 1862. Dörffel was an editor and publisher in one person. In his editorial work he campaigned for social tolerance as well as for freedom of belief and religion. He published various writings on the history of the colony and agriculture in southern Brazil.

Honors

From 1859 on, Dörffel was Hamburg Consul in the Colonia Dona Francisca, then Royal Prussian Consul, then Consul of the North German Confederation. In 1872 he was appointed consul of the German Empire.

Publications (selection)

• The South Brazilian Farmer. A Guide for Settlers in Brazil's Southern Provinces of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina Dona Francisca, s / ed, 1865
• The colony of Dona Francisca in the southern Brazilian province of Santa Catharina , Leipzig 1882
• Statistics of the Dona Francisca colony from 1867

literature

• O. Stein: From the letters of the "forty-eight" Dr. Ottokar Dörffel from Joinville. In: The German Abroad . 14th year, pp. 285–287, Stuttgart 1931
• J. Reichelt: Dr. Ottokar Dörffel - From the life and letters of a German pioneer in Brazil Verlag Gebr. Paetel, Berlin 1911
• Judith Matzke (Red.): From Glauchau to Brazil - Emigration letters from Ida and Ottokar Dörffel (1854–1906) , mdv 2018 ISBN 978-3-96311-108-2

Web links

• Links to Ottokar Dörffel (Portuguese)
• All Mayors of Joinville SC to date with picture