Imigrantes de língua alem e as vis es do paraíso da elite capixaba (1847-1862)

The article explores elitediscourses on early German immigrationinto the province of Espírito Santo, Brazil.It shows the intimate relationship betweenan imagined geography of the capixabainterior as an emporium of future wealthand state-supported colonizationschemes. Drawing on both Brazilian andforeign sources, it considers therepresentation of the Doce river valley as acultural frontier in which Germans weredepicted as the civilized antithesis to theBotocudo “savages”.