São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

image by Ivan Sache, 5 August 2020

See also:

Municipality

The municipality of S�o Leopoldo (229,678 inhabitants in 2016; 10,273 ha) is located 30 km of Porto Alegre.

S�o Leopoldo was established on 27 July 1824 by 39 German immigrants who settled close to the Imperial Hemp Factory, on the left bank of Bells' River. S�o Leopoldo was granted the title of "Cradle of immigration".

The founder of S�o Leopoldo is Jos� Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro (1774-1847), better known as the Viscount of S�o Leopoldo.
Jos� Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro graduated at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and went back to Brazil in 1800. Appointed in 1811 Troops' Superviser, he joined the Uruguayan expedition commanded by Diogo de Souza, Captain-General of Rio Grande do Sul. During his inspections through Rio Grande do Sul, he accumulated material that would be published in 1819 as "Anais da Capitania de S�o Pedro", still considered as a main source of information on the early ages of Rio Grande do Sul.
After the Portuguese Constitutionalist Revolution of 1820, Jos� Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro was elected as a Representative to the Lisbon Cortes, both in Rio Grande do Sul and in his birth state, S�o Paulo, and subsequently, to the Brazilian Constituent Assembly.

Appointed on 8 March 1824 President of the Province of Rio Grande do Sul, he pushed and supervised the establishment of a German colony near the Imperial Hemp Factory, which he considered as "one of the most salient facts of my tenure". In 1825, Emperor Peter I named him Minister and State Secretary of Imperial Commerce, which allowed him to introduce study of Law to Brazil. He was subsequently elevated to Viscount of S�o Leopoldo and appointed State Councillor and Senator for S�o Paulo.

The name of Jos� Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro, Viscount of S�o Leopoldo, was inscribed on the Book of National Heroes kept in the Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom by Federal Law No. 1,599 promulgated on 8 January 2018.

http://ihgrgs.org.br/arquivo/cd_visconde_saoleo/CD/biografia.htm
Instituto Hist�rico e Geogr�fico do Rio Grande do Sul

Ivan Sache, 5 August 2020

Symbols

A green flag, bearing the municipal arms in the centre.
Dirk Schönberger, 3 April 2012

The coat of arms of S�o Leopoldo is prescribed by Municipal Law No. 1,159 promulgated on 22 June 1962.

Article 1.
A classic shield divided per bend sinister by Bells' River, the settlement's original artery and main source of income of today's region of S�o Leopoldo, on a field vert (green). In chief on a field gules (red), the arms of the Viscount of S�o Leopoldo, founder of the modern town, a lion rampant a Brazilian pine proper; in base, azure (blue) the Immigrant's Monument inaugurated in 1924 argent. A four-towered mural crown argent. The shield surrounded by acanthus leaves or, gules and azure.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/rs/s/sao-leopoldo/lei-ordinaria/1962/115/1159/lei-ordinaria-n-1159-1962-altera-a-definicao-e-o-simbolo-do-municipio
Leis Municipais database

The coat of arms was originally prescribed by Municipal Law No. 276 promulgated on 19 May 1951.

Article 1.
A shield diagonally divided. In the upper part, on a red field a lion or rampant a Brazilian pine proper fructed or rooted argent, in the lower part, on a field azure the miniaturized reproduction of the Immigrant's Monument proper.

https://leismunicipais.com.br/a/rs/s/sao-leopoldo/lei-ordinaria/1951/27/276/lei-ordinaria-n-276-1951-adota-e-define-o-simbolo-do-municipio
Leis Municipais database

The Immigrant's Monument was erected in 1924 on Centenary Square, S�o Leopoldo's oldest square, to commemorate the centenary of German immigration.

https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/biblioteca-catalogo.html?id=445965&view=detalhes
IBGE
http://anelisekunrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/monumento-ao-imigrante-alemao-sao.html
Photos

Photos
https://www.facebook.com/saoleopoldo/photos/a.236311486427552/3186635701395101/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/saoleopoldo/photos/a.236311486427552/2919620264763314/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/saoleopoldo/photos/a.236311486427552/2688784524513557/?type=3&theater

Ivan Sache, 5 August 2020