Germans of Waterloo Region

The scope of this Oral History Project is to collect the life stories of German-speaking immigrants to Canada by conducting biographic interviews with members of the German-Canadian community (immigrants from German-speaking central Europe as well as their descendants) who have ties to Waterloo Region of south-western Ontario, Canada. The interviews were video-recorded, transcribed, and the information gathered presented in two distinct ways. The initial presentation is a book which would contain individual community members' recollections of their immigration and settlement experiences. These accounts are embedded within the larger, historical context. The book chapters focus on a variety of migration-related topics, such as life before immigration to Canada, the immigration experience, life after arrival in Canada, work experience, language, and maintaining social and cultural heritage.

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LCSH: Germans--Ontario--Waterloo (Regional Municipality)--History--1938-2011 LCSH: Germans--Ontario--

Waterloo (Regional Municipality)--Social conditions--1938-2011 LCSH: Waterloo (Ont.: Regional municipality)--

Emigration and immigration--1938-2011 LCGFT: Oral histories

Table of Contents

Preface: Changing Times ..................................................................................1

Walter Stechel

The Oral History Project....................................................................................3

Elizabeth Wendy Milne and Mathias Schulze

The History of Waterloo Region........................................................................9

Elizabeth Wendy Milne and Mathias Schulze

Mennonites......................................................................................................20

Christine Kampen Robinson and Nikolai Penner

They Came from South-eastern Europe.........................................................32

Lori Straus and Emma Betz

They Came from East-central Europe .............................................................47

Stephanie Cooper and Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach

They Came from Germany and Austria ..........................................................58

Stefanie Templin and Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach

Illustrations......................................................................................................69

Arrival in Canada.............................................................................................87

Judith Linneweber and Harald Bauder

Earning a Living ...............................................................................................98

Ryan Carroll and Grit Liebscher

Who Are We? .................................................................................................110

Alissa Melitzer, Natasa Nuhanovič, and Paul Malone

How to Build a Canadian Bird with Feathers from Across the Sea.............120

Melanie Wei

Connecting with the Old Country ................................................................134

Lisa M. Rosen and James M. Skidmore

Speaking the Language.................................................................................147

Wes Lindinger and Grit Liebscher

Family and Children ......................................................................................156

Friederike Schlein and Linda Warley

Looking Ahead...............................................................................................165

Elizabeth Milne and Mathias Schulze

Bibliography ...................................................................................................168