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 How lucky we were with the weather - wonderful sunshine - exactly until
1pm, when the outdoor ceremony concluded. In previous years
there had been cooler temperatures and sometimes rain but today
it felt like another summer day. Happy faces all around.
| Community leaders |
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Speakers at
German Pioneers Day
at Queen's Park |
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Karsten Mertens, the president of the German-Canadian Congress
opened the event shortly after 12 noon. As the German flag rose
on the flagpole in front of Ontario’s Parliament Building the
national anthem of Germany was intoned followed by the Canadian
anthem.
 Several speakers then stepped up to the podium, starting with
Tony Ruprecht, who for many years, and as former MPP of
Ontario’s Liberal Government, organized countless events for the
different ethnic groups. He surprised the throng of visitors
with his knowledge of the German-Canadian history. The Consul
General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Sabine Sparwasser,
also spoke, not only of historic events but also about the
future of the German community which she portrayed as promising,
due to institutions such as the International German Day School,
for which generous donations had been made by the firms of
‘Brandt Meats’ and ‘Dimpflmeier Bakery’.
Great applause was given to the speech of Wayne Wettlaufer,
former Conservative MPP and “Father of the German Pioneers Day”.
Through his efforts this day was proclaimed a constitutional
holiday in the year 2000.
When Frank Klees, conservative MPP of Oak Ridges spoke, we were
also reminded of his speech in the House of Parliament in 2006,
where he spoke to his fellow parliamentarians of the
contributions that were made by German-speaking immigrants to
this province over the last 200 years.
 In another year Dr. Robert Luck, the Consul of Austria, gave
credit to the resolution proclaimed in 2008 by him, together
with the Consul General of Switzerland, Bruno Ryff, and the
German Consul General, Holger Raasch that the German Pioneers
Day should extend to all German-speaking people in Ontario, not
just to those from Germany.
 The outdoor ceremony concluded with a speech by Hildegard
Schieweck, representing the German Language Schools, giving
thanks for a generous Scholarship Fund donation from the
German-Canadian Business Association.
| Honouring the
contributions of Otto Rosenmeier of Brandt Meats and
Steve Bruendl of Dimpflmeier Bakery |
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Before this two plaques, honouring the contributions of the
Brandt and Dimpflmeier corporations, were presented to Otto
Rosenmeier and Steve Bruendl by Karsten Mertens.
Unfortunately the microphone was not loud enough to hear every
word that was spoken - as the occasional truck driving by on
University Avenue further contributed to this. It was especially
difficult to hear what two additional speakers at the end had to
say. The opinion was expressed that the ceremony should be
conducted in the evening so that our young people would be able
to attend. The suggestion to move it to the weekend was rejected
because the day after Thanksgiving had been fixed by
governmental statute to be German Pioneers Day.
It was good to see members of the German community that have
contributed a lifetime to the German-Canadian cause and who are
now in their senior years. With some we were able to speak
inside the parliament building after the ceremony, where coffee
and cake was offered. Of course, the fact that instead of a
hundred participants there should have been a thousand was
bemoaned once more. Only Kitchener can boast of nearly that
large a participation at the yearly celebration of the German
Pioneers Day. In Toronto, however, we commemorate the
accomplishments of Johann Ulrich Albrecht Moll alias William
Berczy, the co-founder of this metropolis from 1794 on, and his
settlers, but also of those that came here over half a century
ago and who can claim having played an important part in the
development and furthering of Canadian culture and industry. It
should be pointed out once more, with regards to the celebration
of the German Pioneers Day at Queen’s Park in Toronto, that the
scheduled time on a working day, which is the Tuesday after
Thanksgiving, prevents a larger attendance of the population in
general.
Chris Klein
Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada
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