Novo Hamburgo (; ; both meaning 'New Hamburg') is a municipality in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the state capital. As of 2025, its population was 235,802. The city covers an area of , and the average temperature is , which is mild for the region. The Sinos River runs through the urban area.
Consolidated by German immigrants, the city was named after Hamburg, Germany. Novo Hamburgo's population is still predominantly of German descent.
In the 1980s, Novo Hamburgo received the nickname of "the national capital of shoes", attracting many athletes, tracks and companies connected to the sport. Nowadays, the city is the industrial centre of the Sinos River Valley, the economy of which is based mainly on the manufacture of shoes and the associated leather goods supply chain.
History
The area of the city was first settled by Portuguese immigrants in the mid 18th century, but it would grow to the status of village only with the arrival of the first German immigrants in 1824. At that time, Novo Hamburgo was part of São Leopoldo, the cradle of German immigration in Brazil. The Germans established a prosperous agricultural colony and eventually started to supply the state's main urban centers at that time with food.
Some of the immigrants also brought handicraft skills, valuable for a self-sufficient, isolated economy, as the valley and the state were at that time. In Novo Hamburgo, the first urban agglomeration appeared around the Hamburger Berg, circa 1870, where there was a little commerce. The city was emancipated from São Leopoldo on 5 April 1927, and soon joined the rest of Brazil in its run to industrialization. The city was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Hamburgo in 1980.
Emancipation
In the mid-1920s, Novo Hamburgo was a sub district of São Leopoldo. At this time, the shoe industry was in full swing and there was an intense expansion of trade and an abundance of work for the service providers in the region. In 1924 this expansion prompted a group of men to create a committee with the goal of achieving emancipation for the district. These men were: Jacob Kroeff Neto, Pedro Adams Filho, Leopodo Petry, André Klipp, Julius Kunz, José João Carlos Martins and Carlos Dienstbach.
On three occasions letters sent to the São Leopoldo council requesting emancipation were denied. Faced with this rejection the group decided to send the request to the state government. The governor at that time was Borges de Medeiros who subsequently asked the commission to submit a formal application including voter signatures requesting emancipation.
Three years later on the 5 April 1927, Borges de Medeiros signed decree number 3818, known as "The order Gold" creating the municipality Novo Hamburgo. On the same day decree number 3819 was signed creating an administration with a constitutional basis and allowing for the nomination of a temporary mayor. The document gave a maximum period of two months to hold an election for mayor and councillors. Jacob Kroeff Netto was named the first Provisional Mayor of Novo Hamburgo by Borges, under decree number 3820.
Geography Novo Hamburgo is located in the south-central part of the Southern region of Brazil, at latitude 29°40'40" South and longitude 51°07'51" West. It currently forms part of the Porto Alegre Intermediate Geographic Region and the Novo Hamburgo-São Leopoldo Immediate Geographic Region.
Hydrography
Novo Hamburgo is part of the River Sinos basin. The city is divided into four basins, formed by Pampa creek, Cerquinho creek, Luiz Rau creek and Gauchinha creek. As well as these, there are several creeks that flow into the várzea region of the Sinos, both on the north bank of the river and in the south.
Climate
Novo Hamburgo has four well defined seasons. In winter, temperatures can hover around , and in some instances can reach . In the summer the temperatures get high, often above . The average temperature of Novo Hamburgo during the year is .
Industry
Novo Hamburgo is most famous for its footwear industry. The footwear manufacturing industry came about quite quickly, and led to Novo Hamburgo being recognized as the Capital of Brazilian Footwear. The city also has industries in the area of pharmacy, cosmetics, furniture, food, appliances, clothing, graphic art, electronics, chemical and constructions.
This industry also spread into neighboring towns, with many tanneries, chemical plants and shoe component factories being opened. One example of this industry is the National Fair of Shoes held annually in Fenac. This fair was started locally in 1963 held in a small neighbourhood convention centre. Today, Fenac is not only home to this fair but also other related fairs such as Fimec (footwear machines exhibition), and Courovisão Ecovisão (Leather Fair).
A new Industrial District is being planned in the area of Lomba Grande, however some locals have voiced concerns that this construction may have environmental implications.
Export It is estimated that about 80% of Brazilian exports of shoes come out of Rio Grande do Sul, with Novo Hamburgo being the center of these operations. Novo Hamburgo has developed a complete infrastructure for production, marketing and trading of footwear, and now has the largest movement of containers in Brazil. The export of shoes is currently worth about two billion dollars.
Shops and services
Novo Hamburgo is the largest commercial area of Sinos River Valley, with more than 5,500 outlets, including major Brazilian chain stores such as Magazine Luiza, Lojas Renner, C&A, Lojas Americanas, Casas Bahia, Ponto Frio, Lojas Colombo and Delta Sul.
In the shopping district there are four large supermarkets (Wal-Mart, recently sold by the parent multinational and now under different ownership), Carrefour, Bourbon (Zaffari) and Hiper Rissul. There are two malls in this city: Bourbon Shopping Novo Hamburgo and i-Fashion Outlet.
Example of the service industry are cargo agents, brokers, export agents, trading companies as well as the presence of important banks.
Theatre
The Paschoal Charlemagne Theatre located at the Culture Department of Novo Hamburgo, has a capacity for approximately 490 people. Paranóia Productions has a school in the theatre trains local actors. The school has sent students to the biggest cities of the country to work inplays and shows.
The Feevale University inaugurated on 20 September 2011 the largest theatre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul with a capacity to 1,805 spectators in Novo Hamburgo. The theatre was built in the campus II of the university. It is administered in partnership with Opus Promotions.
Education
The first school in Novo Hamburgo was founded in 1832, called Comunidade Evangélica Hamburgo Velho (Old Hamburg Evangelic Community). The school taught through the German language as that was the most common language at that time. The teaching material was poor and the provincial government was giving them little support. The central government at the time had no interest in investing in education and therefore would not release funds to the different provinces.
In 1833 there were only two public schools, in 1866 a school for girls was founded by a group of Nuns – The Engel Sisters located in the Hamburgo Velho neighborhood. which would become a "Fundação Evangélica" (Evangelic Foundation). The creation of this school was a big step for women's education, although still largely focused on traditional values such as child rearing and home care.
The first Catholic school created in the town was Santa Catarina college founded on the 10 June 1900 by the Sisters Maria Romualda Flash and Maria Julitta Schwark, who were invited to come to the Hamburg Berg region (which would later become Hamburgo Velho) by several families – Czermak, Carlos Klein, José Kroeff, João Altmeyer, Zimmer and Plentz.
The Jesuit priests arrived in the Sinos River Valley region in the mid-nineteenth century and took over the Church Nossa Senhora da Piedade in Hamburgo Velho. In 1914, the Priest Benedict Meienhofer organized the opening of a Catholic school for boys, which was called St. Jacob's college.
In 1927, the year when Novo Hamburgo was emancipated, there were seven state schools in the city, with a total of 374 students, one state school with 72 students and six private schools with 478 students. In 1930 there were eight state schools, six city run schools and eight private schools, with the student population rising to 1,477.
The Vargas Era (1930–1945) represented a significant advance in Brazilian education. This educational revolution also had an impact in Novo Hamburgo. In 1943, the city schools had grown to a total of 35, with a total of 3668 students.
The main educational institutions in Novo Hamburgo today are:
Ceducs Centro de Educação Superior Colégio Marista Pio XII Colégio Santa Catarina Faculdade IENH — Instituição Evangélica do Novo Hamburgo Ftec Faculdades Fundação Escola Técnica Liberato Salzano V da Cunha Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul Universidade Feevale
Tourism
Novo Hamburgo is one of 13 cities on the Rota Romântica, a scenic corridor of Brazilian cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul with heavy Germanic influence. Other cities on the corridor are São Leopoldo, Estância Velha, Ivoti, Dois Irmãos, Morro Reuter, Santa Maria do Herval, Presidente Lucena, Picada Café, Nova Petrópolis, Gramado, Canela and São Francisco de Paula.
In the historical centre which is located in the Hamburgo Velho neighbourhood, there are still some half-timbered buildings constructed in the same technique, as the Community Schmitt-Presser Museum (first exemplary technique protected by IPHAN in Brazil). There are also the works of the German architect Ernst Seubert, some of his known buildings are the Church of Reis Magos (IECLB), the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Bakery Reiss ("Padaria Reiss"), Schmitt House ("Casa Rosa") and Municipal Public Library Machado De Assis. Also noteworthy is the neoclassical building of the Ernesto Frederico Scheffel Foundation.
There is a "historic-cultural street" called Rua General Osório, along which there are dozens of historic buildings from various periods. Notable buildings along this street are the St. Catherine College, the building of the former Frohsin Society, designed by the German architect Theo Wiederspahn, the homes of the families Richter, Klein, Momberger, Snel, and Grunner, This street is recognized by the City Master Plan as an area of historical and cultural interest.
The downtown area has landmarks such as the Monument to the Shoemaker, Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis Gonzaga, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension, both historical constructions of the 1950s. The latter follows the Gothic style, with pure forms of the original Gothic architecture. There are also dozens of eclectic houses distributed among this historical area, but these are not officially recognized. The city also presents some interesting examples of modernism, especially residences built in the period 1950–1960.
Natural Attractions Lomba Grande
:pt:Lomba Grande It is the Rural District of Novo Hamburgo, occupied an area of 156 square kilometers, making a total of two thirds of the municipal area. It is considered environmentally protected area where the wetlands of the Sinos River is very important for the preservation of the ecosystem, both fauna as flora.
Lomba Grande also received the first German immigrants who settled in the Hemp Linen factory, then owned by the municipality of São Leopoldo. Today provides one of the main points of visiting the city, where the natural attractions of the neighborhood next to developments designed for leisure and tourism attracts many tourists.