Kitchener Ontario

Kitchener: A Brief Overview


Kitchener is a small city with a population of just over 200,000 in the heart of South Western Ontario. Kitchener is part of Ontario's tri-city of Kitchener-Waterloo & Cambridge, due in part to the close proximity of the 3 cities. The City of Kitchener has an area of 136 square kilometers.



Kitchener is an approximate 45 minute drive west from Toronto and is fed by highway 401, which is one of North America's busiest. Kitchener has always had the distinction of being a blue collar community due to the factories in the area. Recently, the housing construction boom that has hit this region has transformed Kitchener into what is termed as a 'bedroom community', meaning that most people who live here, work elsewhere.



Kitchener: A Brief History

The land that Kitchener sits on today was sold to United Empire Loyalist, Colonel Richard Beasley by Six Nations Indians. Years later, Colonel Beasley sold this land to a group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers, hence setting in place the foundations for German migrant workers to that area. In 1854, as a gift to the large German population in the area, the land that is today Kitchener was named Berlin. The name, Berlin, remained until 1916, when on onset of the First World War, when anti-German sentiment saw the name Berlin changed to Kitchener.

Berlin was renamed Kitchener in honor of British field Marshal Lord Kitchener. Lord Kitchener's ship was sunk when it hit a mine laid by a German U-Boat just west of Orkney Islands in Scotland, his body never recovered. It's apparent that the renaming of Berlin to Kitchener was an intentional slight on the German population, who were looked upon with suspicion during both World Wars by surrounding and predominantly English institutions.





Kitchener Today

The German community in Kitchener is still very large, and are fully accepted and integrated into the region. The large German community has left its imprint on the city of Kitchener, creating the largest Oktoberfest festival outside of Germany, which draws in thousands of tourists and revenue into the local economy.

As well as being the home to Oktoberfest, Kitchener is expanding very quickly. Both in part to the housing construction boom that hit most of this region of Ontario as well as a growing financial district and the nearby University of Waterloo. Today, Kitchener is a highly coveted location for young families to settle down. People have been attracted to Kitchener's small town feel, reasonable housing prices and colorful history.

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the Kitchener. In later posts, I will tell you more about Kitchener and the surrounding areas, thanks for stopping by.