São Borja, Río Grande do Sul

São Borja is the oldest municipality in the Brazilian state of Río Grande do Sul. It was founded in 1682 by the Jesuits as the first of Seven Missions, and named São Francisco de Borja, in honor of Saint Francis Borgia. It is located on the banks of the Uruguai River which separates Brazil from Argentina.

Peter and Elisa Schiel Gottfried, German Russian immigrants who came from the Volga in 1890, landed in Argentina, then moved to Brazil. In 1913 with the support of the mayor, Peter Gottfried went to Argentina to recruit farmers to work the flax fields of São Borja. He returned with 12 Volga German families:

Franck
Frederich
Gaist
Klug
Mack
Merkel
Prendel
Ramborger
Redel (Reidel)
Schifelbein
Schmidt
Schneider

The current Mayor of São Borja is Mariovane Gottfried Weis, a descendant of the original Volga German family that settled there.