Beginning of the Neu-Württemberg Colony, now Panambi, near Ijuí (Rio Grande do Sul), founded in 1899

South of the Jacuí River, Jakob Rheingantz founded São Lourenço, the largest private colony in the state. On the plateau of Rio Grande do Sul, areas such as the Ijuí Colony received Polish, Russian, German-Russian and Austrian immigrants. In 1891, the Serro Pelado and Guarani colonies were set up, the latter receiving mainly German-Russians. Around 250,000 German speakers immigrated to Brazil by the 1920s and half of them settled in Rio Grande do Sul.