September 2000 - Nr. 9

German Heritage in Canada

Wars, famine, political revolutions and finally the arrival of the industrial revolution created conditions in the German states that caused mass emigration to North America from the 1830s to ‘90s. The dream destination of most of those boarding ships in the German ports of Bremen and Hamburg, or those who made their way across the Atlantic from Liverpool or Le Havre, was that golden republic, the United States. Some ships landed in Quebec or Montreal, others in New York, yet few Germans who landed in either of these ports considered the colonies of British North America, and after 1867, the country of Canada, as their future home. Canada was for most an unknown quantity, and many who settled in this country did so as accidental immigrants.

It seems amazing that this vast country of ours, for the umpteen’s time voted the best country to live in by the United Nations, even now lies far behind the USA as a desirable place for modern Germans to settle in permanently. Sure, many now have bought summer retreats in the mountains of British Columbia, in the valleys of Nova Scotia and in southern Ontario. Others have found it prudent to invest Deutsche Marks in property as an insurance against the ever declining Euro. But few of them are immigrants.

About 150 years ago, an estimated 48,000 Germans (referred to as Reichsdeutsche since they came from the central German states) landed in Quebec, yet only 15,000 of these appear to have travelled westward to Upper Canada to settle in the then counties of Bruce, Grey, Perth and Waterloo. The rest journeyed to the USA. Luckily for these four counties, many of the 15,000 were well-educated. They included doctors, lawyers, teachers and even journalists.

Their lives were not easy, though. Regardless of their background, they still had to embrace the pioneer spirit or perish. For some the effort was too much, or as some observers noted, some so-called intellectuals and journalists found Waterloo County too restrictive. Rather than turn their talents towards the obviously developing political and intellectual life in Toronto and Montreal, they opted for the USA. The glamour of the republic proved too enticing. But enough stayed to create a very competitive German newspaper milieu. There were newspapers that promoted assimilation, others that urged the retention of all things German. Some published in both High German and in dialects, giving particular attention to the needs of the Pennsylvanians.

In many of the areas in which the newcomers settled, but especially in Waterloo County, long-time settlers, the Pennsylvania Germans, Mennonite and Lutheran alike, aided them in their endeavours since many of the established families had a century or more of North American life experience. Although many of the new arrivals from the German states now were Roman Catholics, a spirit of co-operation between Mennonites, Lutherans, Catholics and other Protestant denominations prevailed that would have been unthinkable in a European setting.

Records show that the first German Catholics arrived in Waterloo County in 1826/27. The Pennsylvanians, whose prosperous farms needed workers, whose communities needed an influx of new people to improve the economic life of their communities, and who needed new "blood", welcomed them alongside Protestant Germans. Many of the newcomers, regardless of religious conviction, intermarried with the locals.

Germans often pride themselves in possessing a strong spirit of wanderlust, but as has been pointed out by historians, few who came to Canada during the 19^th century suffered from this malady. They came because of unbearable conditions at home. To be able to settle in the then mostly German townships of Waterloo, Woolwich, Wilmot and Wellesley was their fortune. Yet, as more and more arrived, and as they considered places for permanent settlement after earning enough money to buy land or open a business, religious convictions began to dictate where home would be.

Denominational centres began to form. The Roman Catholics focussed on what was then called Neu-Deutschland (New Germany), which eventually became Maryhill in Waterloo, also in St. Agatha in Wilmot, and in St. Clements in Wellesley Townships. The Lutherans chose to settle in Preston, Berlin (Kitchener), Waterloo, Mannheim, New Hamburg, New Dundee, Phillipsburg and Heidelberg. Yet, religious co-operation continued in these communities. It helped to preserve the German flavour of Waterloo County. All of these villages and towns still exist.

In comparison, this kind of co-operation between old and new Germans, and between the denominations, failed to coalesce in the Niagara area and around Markham. There, too, in the mid-to-late 19^th century many newly arriving European Germans joined a core of already well-established Pennsylvania Germans. But these were dispersed among predominantly British settlers. Consequently, the old and new Germans there soon lost their ethnic, and sometimes even religious, identities, and melded with the general British population.

To be continued . . .

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