Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
September 2025
Mate Cup and Spoon, ca. 1988
| Size | Cup: 11.2 x 8.8 x 8.8 cm Spoon: 22.3 x 4 x 3 cm |
| Material | Cup: Wood, Metal Spoon: Metal |
| Donation | Edi Wysocki |
Historical Context
In 1874, 25-year-old farmer Wilhelm Thielke, his 22-year-old wife Ernestine, and their two small children, Friedrich and Bertha, emigrate from Prussia to the region of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. They are not alone in this journey. Since Brazil’s independence from Portugal in 1822 until World War II, the country has welcomed 4.5 million immigrants from Europe. After Portuguese and Italians, Germans formed the third largest immigrant group in Brazil during the 1870s. The Thielkes settle in Nova Petrópolis, a settlement founded 16 years earlier by immigrants from Pomerania, Saxony, Bohemia, and the Hunsrück. Life there primarily occurs in German. Shortly after arriving in Brazil, Ernestine passes away. Wilhelm Thielke remarries and has ten more children with his second wife, Guilhermina Granke.
Short Biography
In 1978, nearly a century later, their great-granddaughter Edi Wysocki stands in the German winter in front of closed doors. Born in 1948 in Panambi, Rio Grande do Sul, she grew up in a German-speaking environment. Edi is accustomed to open doors in her neighborhood where people are generally welcoming. However, in Germany, her introductions in the neighborhood are perceived as strange, and she is not invited in.
Before her arrival, Edi worked as a housekeeper and nanny for a teaching couple from Bremerhaven, who taught at the German school in Panambi. When the couple returns to Germany and Edi offers to continue working for them, she eagerly seizes the opportunity. As a child, she had seen slides of Germany and wished to visit the country someday. Despite cultural differences, Edi adapts her life in Germany. After three years, shortly before her visa expires, she meets Horst Wysocki. The couple soon gets married in December 1981, just a few months later.
Edi comes from a farming family with limited financial means. Her husband is also not wealthy. Thus, trips to Brazil are rare. Nonetheless, over the years, they manage to save enough money for a house in Panambi, where they plan to retire and emigrate back. However, Horst’s deteriorating health disrupts their plans, and they decide to stay in Germany.
Significance of the Object
Edi Wysocki’s family has spoken primarily German for several generations after immigrating to Brazil, rather than Portuguese. This does not mean they were not influenced by local customs, particularly regarding the everyday drink mate.
Rio Grande do Sul is one of the traditional regions for mate cultivation. Leaves from the mate bush are cut, dried, ground, and left to rest for a while before being brewed with hot water. The resulting caffeinated drink is called Chimarrão in Brazil. Its origin lies with the indigenous populations living in present-day Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.
In 1988, the Wysockis bring cups and spoons with integrated straws from Brazil to Germany. Edi Wysocki describes drinking mate as a communal activity: the cup is passed around in a circle from one person to the next. This particularly reminds her of her father:
“Every morning, my father would drink this. When he got up, he would feed the cattle, cows, and pigs, and then he would sit down and drink this mate tea. Or at lunchtime, before the meal, when those from the field came, it was a ritual; then, there was this green mate tea beforehand.”
She sees her father only on a few trips as an adult. Alone in Germany—her husband does not like the green infusion—Edi Wysocki drinks mate tea only rarely.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de