Fancy going to Oktoberfest in the middle of Brazil? No problem.
You can do that in the town of Blumenau, which was founded there in 1850 by the German immigrant Dr. Hermann Otto Blumenau.
With its old German half-timbered houses, the quaint beer garden with its own brewery
and the many cafés with Black Forest cake, it seems a little amusing in the otherwise tropical Brazil.
And this is exactly where people celebrate.
After the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Oktoberfest in Blumenau is the second largest festival in Brazil
and the second largest Oktoberfest in the world with over 700,000 visitors annually.
Unbridled rivers, animals that seem to come from primeval times.
This is everyday life in the deep south of Brazil. But exoticism looks different here.
Exoticism is German here. Oktoberfest in Blumenau - when it's over in Munich, it really gets going here.
For over two weeks up to 1 million people celebrate.
With local beer brewed according to German tradition, Lederhosen and German bands.
Invited by the Blumenau organisers to make their Oktoberfest as authentic as possible.
With them: the "Original Haderlumpen" from Aschaffenburg. They know the original in Munich and are delighted with the copy.
All our band members are completely enthusiastic.
In the beginning, some of them might have been a bit upset
because the German doesn't quite understand the lightness, the mentality of the Brazilian.
When the bus comes ten minutes or a quarter of an hour later, it comes like this.
Yes, but then that's Brazil. One lives easily.
In Brazil and its neighbouring countries Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay there are some German settlements.
But Blumenau is probably the best known. Famous for its Oktoberfest, rich through its textile industry.
Skilled workers from Blumenau are sought after throughout Brazil.
Portuguese is spoken here, but in Blumenau they also teach German.
And so one is all the happier about the guests from Germany.
Great. And the bands that come from Germany are also great.
I think this is a very good way to celebrate German culture.
We are from a folk dance group and we dance and like the German culture.
Yes I always come here, every year. It is quite nice.
It's a big celebration for the mummy, for the daddy, for the little ones, for everybody. For the whole family.
The only bigger thing in Brazil is the carnival.
The Oktoberfest has been held here for 26 years.
But its origin has only partly to do with the German history of the place.
Blumenau was founded in 1850 by emigrants from Germany.
They have preserved the customs and language of their homeland.
But they only thought of their own Oktoberfest when a natural catastrophe almost destroyed the town.
It was here in 1984 after a great flood.
And they tried to give the population or the citizens here courage
to continue working here directly and to restore the town.
Created out of necessity as an encouragement for all the locals,
the Oktoberfest is now a point of attraction for all of Latin America.
Tourists from Europe are rather rare.
The Brazilians can't care about that. Nowhere else on the continent is celebrated more German than here.
For the 300,000 inhabitants of Blumenau, the spectacle on the edge of the jungle has become an economic factor.
People from all parts of Brazil come here. Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador.
Many people in Brazil know the Oktoberfest in Blumenau and are there every year.
It is almost like a carnival, but of course the carnival is better known all over the world.
70 percent of Blumenauer have German roots. Their ancestors once came from southern Germany and Pomerania.
Today, however, most people only know the original in Munich from the stories of the old people.
I have always heard that the Oktoberfest in Munich is the best festival in Germany and in the world.
But I can't go to Germany now, that's why I'm here.
The Blumenauers, who have already been to Germany, naturally notice differences.
I have already experienced this in Germany.
There you sit at the regulars' table and move to the left and to the right
and drink the large measure of beer. And in Brazil people turn and dance.
The more dancing and less drinking has effects, which have not escaped the German bands.
So you can really say that the celebrations are much more exuberant, much more extreme.
At the Oktoberfest in Munich, which is typically German, they say that it ends at 1:00 in the evening.
Here, the partying continues until 5:00 a.m. It starts at noon at 3:00 o'clock.
And everyone is happy, everyone is relaxed. There are no quarrels. Here is just fun, here is partying.
When the Oktoberfest is over, even at the edge of the jungle peace and quiet returns.
And everyone is looking forward to the Brazilian Oktoberfest next year.
Well, there it was - the „Windrose“ for today. We'll be back in 14 days, if you like.
Have a wonderful day and see you soon.