Salvador, world city: from Germany to Bahia

Abstract

This paper discusses the German presence in 19th century Bahia. There was an intense flow of foreigners to the city of Salvador and other parts of what was then a province; these people were involved in trade, farming, industry and services. Among the Germans who crossed the Atlantic to establish themselves in Bahia, medical doctors are a particularly interesting object of study, along with their motives for going to America and how they worked in the field of scientific knowledge at the time. The paper highlights studies by Otto Wucherer and his activities as a clinician, researcher and agent of the intersection between the German scientific and the Bahian communities.