museum · Petrópolis, RJ
Casa do Colono
A half-timbered house built by the first German immigrants around 1847 and opened as a museum in 1976. It tells the daily life of the settlers who built the city, before the imperial period it became known for.
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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About Casa do Colono
The Casa do Colono tells the story of the Petrópolis that came before the palace. In 1845 the German immigrants hired to build the city arrived, divided into blocks named after the regions they came from. This house, from 1847, is in the former Kastellaun block, now the Castelânea neighborhood, and belonged to the settler Johann Gottlieb Kaiser, who had served as a soldier in the Imperial Army before receiving his plot.
The building is wattle and daub: walls of clay and grass over laths, a wooden frame, a rough stone foundation and a zinc roof. Everything is fitted together, with no nails or concrete, following the model of rural houses in the Hunsrück region of Germany. Inside, the rooms are separate, an adaptation made in Brazil: in Germany, the rural house was organized around the stove.
The municipal museum opened on March 16, 1976, at the initiative of historian Gustavo Ernesto Bauer, and turned 50 in 2026. The collection has about 300 pieces donated by the settlers' descendants: furniture, carpentry tools, a cabbage cutter, dishes with German inscriptions and an 1876 Bible. The labels are bilingual, and the museum receives about 20,000 visitors a year.
The visit is short and outside the downtown walking circuit. It is worthwhile if you want to understand how the families lived who came to open roads and farm in the mountains, in a city later known for the Empire. To see the house before you go, there is a 360-degree virtual tour.
Before you go
Practical information
How much time to set aside
About half an hour.
Best time
Open Tuesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays. On weekdays the visit is quieter.
How to get there
Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 1034, in Castelânea, about 10 minutes by car from downtown. Several bus lines run from downtown to the neighborhood. It is too far to walk.
Tip
Admission is free. The house is not wheelchair accessible.
Official website
A look at the place
Casa do Colono in pictures
These pictures are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs. They may differ from the place.
Click the picture to enlarge it.
Get your questions answered
Frequently asked questions about Casa do Colono
Is there an entrance fee?
No. Admission to the museum is free.
Is the house open on Mondays?
No. It is open Tuesday to Sunday.
How old is the house?
It dates from 1847. It belonged to the German settler Johann Gottlieb Kaiser and became a municipal museum in 1976.
Can you walk there from downtown?
It is far. The house is in Castelânea, about 10 minutes by car, and several bus lines run from downtown to the neighborhood.