Gisele Bündchen
Bündchen in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Gisele Caroline Bündchen
Place of Birth: Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Date of Birth: 20 July, 1980
Ethnicity: German
Gisele Bündchen is a Brazilian fashion model, actress, and producer. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She is 5′11″.
Her parents, Vânia Maria Nonnenmacher and Valdir Reinoldo Bündchen, are both of German ancestry. Bundchen was born and raised in Horizontina, a southern region in Brazil, where there is a large ethnic German community. She is a sixth-generation German Brazilian, with ancestry in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine, France. Gisele has two children with her former husband, American professional football player Tom Brady.
Despite being of German origin, Gisele does not speak German. She stated that she learned German in third grade, but forgot it all. Her parents still speak German to their siblings.
Gisele’s paternal grandfather was Walter Bündchen (the son of Reinoldo/Reinaldo Bündchen and Elsa Irena Hauschildt). Walter was born on March 15, 1926, in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was Mayor of Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, from 1971 to 1975. Horizontina’s airport is named after him. Reinoldo was also born in Rio Grande do Sul, the son of Henrique/Heinrich Bündchen/Bünchen, whose parents were German, from Rheinland-Palatinate, and of Rosaline Schwambach, who was the daughter of Jakob/Jacob Schwambach/Schvambach and Margaretha/Margarida Walber. Gisele’s great-grandmother Elsa was born in Rio Grande do Sul, the daughter of Johann/Joahnn “João” Hauschildt/Hauschild and Karolina/Carolina Hermann/Herrmann, who were also of German descent.
Gisele’s paternal grandmother was Lucila Lückemeyer/Lückmeyer (the daughter of Vicente Lückmeyer and Emilia Horst). Lucila was born in Tuparendi, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Vicente was the son of German parents, Anton Lükemeier/Lückemeier, from North Rhine-Westphalia, and Guilhermina/Wilhelmine Emilie Friederike Borchardt, from Cochem-Zell. Emilia was likely also of German descent.
Gisele’s maternal grandfather was João Theobaldo Nonnenmacher (the son of Jacob Nonnenmacher and Elisabetha/Elisabeth Schneider). João was born in Santa Clara do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. Jacob was the son of Domminick Nonnenmacher, who was from Rhineland-Palatinate, and of Margarida Krieger/Krüger, whose parents were German. Elisabetha was the daughter of João Schneider and Ana Maria Mallmann, who were both of German origin, with Ana being from Blantenrat.
Gisele’s maternal grandmother was Maria Kolling (the daughter of Francisco Antônio Kolling and Maria Bohn). Gisle’s grandmother Maria was born in Santa Clara do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. Francisco was the son of Pedro Heberle Kolling and Ana Maria Kieling, both of whom were the children of German parents. Gisele’s great-grandmother Maria Bohn was the daughter of Bernardo Bohn and Maria Dresch, who were born in Germany.
Sources: http://www.dw-world.de
Genealogies of Gisele Bündchen – https://www.myheritage.com.br
https://www.geni.com
Information about Gisele’s paternal grandfather, Walter Bündchen – https://www.historiaparacontar.com
Obituary of Gisele’s paternal grandfather, Walter Bündchen – http://jornaldesantacatarina.clicrbs.com.br
Genealogy of the Heberle family – https://docslide.com.br
Genealogy of Gisele’s maternal great-grandmother, Elisabetha/Elisabeth Schneider (focusing on her own father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Gisele’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Pedro Heberle Kolling – https://www.geni.com
Not saying she’s ugly, but she’s WAAAAAY overrated. There’s prettier models in the industry.
She is not famous because she is “pretty”, but because she has a great body and catwalk for the fashion industry, otherwise she would be a face model.
@stlucas I disagree with you they are promoting this woman as she is supposed to be pretty and the face of Brazil when most Brazilians look nothing liker her. Also I have seen many face shots of her. Lots of women have great bodies. She must have really good connections. Also I think a true supermodel should be a pretty girl with a great body combined. Not one or the other.
@midori29
I agree, I never thought she was good looking. Also agree about what you said about the supermodels
I have no idea what you are talking about. She was never “the face of Brazil”, but she happens to be one of the most famous and successful people ever to emerge from that country, regardless of her ethnic background. It just seems to be really hard for people to understand that Brazil is not only about soccer, beaches and samba.
About her modeling, I think she manages to have a beautiful face and a great body (which is her best feature, IMO) at the same time, making her one of the highest-paid models of all time. I guess we should agree to disagree then.
Umm, she is pretty. And no one is promoting her as ”face of Brasil”, she just happens to be very patriotic and is promoting her country everywhere. I would never have heard of Ipanema flip flops if Gisele hadn’t promoted them worldwide. You’re being so harsh on a woman that is working hard to promote things made in Brasil, which in turn means more jobs for Brasilians, all because she has a German name.
Well, let me fix one thing: she is probably the most famous and successful WOMAN ever to emerge from Brazil. I’m really sorry if Pelé and Neymar (or whoever you might consider a “real Brazilian face”) weren’t as successful in being chosen to promote Ipanema flip flops around the world.
By the way, she is known worldwide as GISELE. Her surname comes in second place.
@stlucas
I’m not sure why you’re replying to me, I was replying to midori29. And midori29 was attacking her for being German when most Brazilians aren’t, which is a pretty dumb thing to do, because Gisele built her name herself, she wasn’t sponsored by Ministerio do Turismo or anything similar.
@stlucas
the most successful woman ever to emerge from Brazil is Dilma Rousseff, not Gisele Bundchen.
@neiltennant
I love that you are at a site that exists so that people can check the true ancestry of celebrities, yet you don’t check the site before claiming what ancestry a celebrity is. You know Dilma has her own page here, right? :)
Same as with Eric McCormack when you wrote that he was Native American, when his page specifically included a quote from him where he says it’s just a rumour!
Generally speaking, her looks are pretty mediocre to be named a “Supermodel”. Her body and Catwalk isn’t enough. There’s much more beautiful and deserving woman to take such a title. Like Adriana Lima, Lais Ribeiro, and Candice Swanepoel. .
She is there because she is white. Her beauty is what Brazilians worship
Walter was the son of Hermann Bündchen and Wilhelmine Pauline Bühler.
Hermann was the son of Heinrich Bündchen and Maria Margaretha Laux. Wilhelmine was the daughter of Friedrich Wilhelm Bühler and Maria Müller.
– She is Brazilian of German Ancestry but there is no evidence for that she is pure german. Brazil is the second largest with 5 million people claiming German ancestry.
In the South of Brazil, there were three main groups of immigrants: Germans, Italians ( and Slavs (mainly Poles and Ukrainians).
I thought she has some Native American on her because her features seem to sharp (long nose, cheekbones). But living in Europe, I’ve also seem that. The body shape though seems very latin though in the sense that she seems to have more fiber and accumulate less fatty tissue.
What? Mixed?
She doesn’t look mixed
You can tell she’s German
Snd Latin isn’t a race.
Native brazilian doesnt have cheekbones.
Well North North American natives are the ones stereotyped to have high cheekbones. I’m not sure about the South American indigenous.
It’s irreverent to talk about though because Gisele looks 100% German.
Yes.
Many have in fact. A lot people from north and northeast from brazil with visibly native features have this characteristic.
She looks fully German. She does not look Spanish at all. If a Spaniard looks like her its due to Germanic influence. Because Gisele looks 100% Germanic phenotype not Mediterranean at all.