What to Do in Colônia Witmarsum

Colônia Witmarsum is located in the town of Palmeira, 60 km from Curitiba. The community has 1,500 residents, and you’ll feel like you’re in a small German town. That’s because the colony’s architecture, food, and customs all carry German traits, inherited from the immigrants who arrived in the 1930s. It’s a great spot for anyone wanting to disconnect and enjoy nature.

The town is essentially built along Avenida Ernesto Geisel, and along its 12 km, you’ll drive around exploring the town and its attractions, though most sit fairly far apart from each other. Downtown is quite small, which makes it easy to visit as a day trip from Curitiba.

The main draw is the German-specialty cooking, especially pork knuckle, and at every café and restaurant, you’ll find colonial products like cheese, jam, smoked sausage, hand-painted cookies, homemade bread, wine, craft beer, and more.

We loved the town, and we hope you enjoy these tips.

History of Witmarsum

The town was founded by Mennonite immigrants, a group of Christian denominations directly descended from the Anabaptist movement that emerged in Europe in the 16th century.

The immigrants came from the historic region known as Frisia, spanning what’s today the Netherlands and Germany, fleeing the communist regime, and settled in Santa Catarina, in the town of Witmarsum, in 1930. It was only in 1951 that they moved on to the municipality of Palmeira, in Paraná, buying the land that would become the well-known “Colônia Witmarsum.”

This migration happened after purchasing the Fazenda Cancela property, financed through Mennonite communities in North America. The farm is organized into five settlement clusters, called villages, numbered 1 through 5, arranged around an administrative, commercial, and social center located at the headquarters of the old Fazenda Cancela.

Its economy is based on farming and dairy production, though there’s also poultry and hog raising for slaughter, and soy and corn crops.

How to Get to Colônia Witmarsum from Curitiba

From Curitiba, take BR-277, fully paved and in good condition, heading toward Ponta Grossa. After the toll, which was inactive when we passed through, pending a new concession, continue to the highway patrol station and turn right toward the town of Palmeira.

From there, cross over the Recanto dos Papagaios overpass and follow the signs to Colônia Witmarsum.

What to Do in Witmarsum

There are several restaurants in town, mostly serving colonial-style café spreads, though we chose to go for lunch and eat pork knuckle. But we’ll also cover the cafés and desserts here.

Bierwit Restaurante e Choperia

Bierwit Restaurante e Choperia

We really liked this restaurant, though you’ll need to book through the website, which opens up the same week. It offers a variety of domestic and imported beers, meats, and traditional German dishes, in a spacious, relaxed setting.

The restaurant has both an outdoor and indoor area. There’s no playground, but kids have fun with the truck tires scattered around the garden.

We ordered the Bierwit dish, since we came specifically to try the specialty: roast pork knuckle with crispy crackling. We also ordered schnitzel, a bratwurst portion, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, sweet-and-sour red cabbage, and applesauce, which is simply spectacular (R$120.00, serves two).

There are several dessert options, but we ended up ordering dessert elsewhere, since I wanted to try the toffee square.

Bierwit dish

Cervejaria Usinamalte

This was the first brewery in Colônia Witmarsum, and for anyone with small kids who also loves good beer, this is absolutely the spot for you, since they serve lunch with traditional pork knuckle. On top of that, you can try their several beers, which are really tasty.

For kids, there’s a playground, a mini petting-zoo farm with several animals, and finally, a huge lawn for them to run around in.

We stopped by late in the afternoon to try the beer and enjoy the beautiful space, but you could easily spend the whole day here. Just remember, if you’re drinking a lot, have someone else drive.

Cervejaria Usinamalte

Edit’s Kaffee Hof

Edit’s Kaffee Hof

We went here for dessert. Edit’s Kaffee Hof offers European and Brazilian cooking, with a range of savory bites and desserts sold by the kilo, in a family-friendly setting.

The space also has a playground and a large lawn for kids to run around in the garden.

We came specifically for one dessert, the chocolate toffee square, an oat bar with condensed milk and plenty of chocolate — absolutely worth it, since it’s delicious!

Toffee square

Confeitaria Kliewer

Confeitaria Kliewer is one of the most popular spots in Colônia Witmarsum, and it’s always packed. It has huge wooden tables shared by several people at once.

At the colonial café spread, don’t skip the cheese tart and the grape cuca — and just to add, this is genuinely one of the most beautiful cafés in the region.

Confeitaria Kliewer

Loja Toll

Loja Toll

Stop by Toll, with its wooden pieces, like nutcrackers, original cuckoo clocks, door decorations, and more. Most of the products are imported from the Black Forest region of Germany.

Some of the handcrafted pieces come from Christian Ulbricht, known for precisely hand-painted wooden pieces. Worth noting: these aren’t cheap pieces, but it’s worth at least stopping by to admire the craftsmanship.

Wooden pieces

Heimat Museum

Heimat Museum holds objects, clothing, photos, and various other items, like antique radios and cash registers once used by the colony’s founders.

There’s even a historian in charge of the museum, sharing the site’s story — Mr. Egon — though if he’s not around, his son Ricardo does the honors.

Museu de História Witmarsum

Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 2 PM to 5 PM.

Centro de Informações Turísticas da Colônia Witmarsum

Centro de Informações Turísticas

The Tourist Information Center sits across from the large co-op supermarket, next to where the producers’ market runs on Saturday mornings.

Inside, there’s an illustrated map of the region’s attractions, and they also sell local products like chocolate, cheese, jam, and town souvenirs.

Hours: every day, 8 AM to 6 PM.

Products

Church in Witmarsum

On Sundays, you can attend a Mennonite service, entirely in German, starting at 9:30 AM. There are signs along the main road into the colony pointing toward the church, though it’s easy enough to find.

Church in Witmarsum

Attractions for Kids in Colônia Witmarsum

Witmarzoo

This site functions as a mini farm and petting zoo. They have chickens, rabbits, horses, mini ponies, and other animals — genuinely fun for anyone traveling with small kids.

Ponyland

Ponyland sits at the end of the main street, turning left (right takes you back to the highway). The place has a large area with a lake, an incredible view, a small soccer field, horses, and several ponies. Without question, a great spot for a fun, different kind of day for kids.

Read more tips for what to do in Curitiba.