Hand in hand, a group of figures stands in a circle, holding spanners and other tools in the air, celebrating the migrants who built São Leopoldo. The monument is located in the city known as the “cradle of German immigration in Brazil.” Germans have flocked to Brazil for the past two centuries, initially in search of a better life following poor harvests and the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Brazil embraced them, offering financial incentives, tools and seeds to people willing to farm the land, especially in the south. Some 6 million Brazilians, or 3% of the population, have German ancest…