Old houses
Among the city's oldest.
Ajmcbarreto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ajmcbarreto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ajmcbarreto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ajmcbarreto — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Museu da Família Colonial, in Blumenau's historic centre, grew from objects donated by Edith Gaertner, a stage actress and heir to the lands of the city's founder, the German pharmacist Hermann Blumenau. Born in 1882, Edith left Brazil young, became an actress in Argentina and then on European stages from Vienna to Leipzig, and returned to Blumenau in 1924; when she died in 1967 the city turned her house into a museum. It shows the tools and belongings of middle-class families in the first years of German settlement in Brazil, a collection of about 6,200 pieces over 15,000 square metres, spread across three 19th- and 20th-century houses counted among the oldest buildings still standing in the city, listed by the national heritage institute in 2007. Its garden holds the well-known «Cat Cemetery», where Edith buried her cats. It opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-16:00; tickets are about R$12, and groups book ahead.
Among the city's oldest.
Tools and furniture.
In the garden.
Alameda Duque de Caxias 78, historic centre of Blumenau
A small cemetery in the museum garden where Edith Gaertner, the house's owner, buried her cats; it is one of the best-known sights there.
