Berlin to Kitchener name change

The city of Berlin, Ontario, Canada changed its name to Kitchener in May and June of 1916. The Yes votes won by a small margin. Horacio Kitchener, an army officer, was named for the city.

Berlin To Kitchener Name Change Media

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  A bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I was dedicated in Berlin's Victoria Park in 1897, pictured here in 1905.

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  Berlin residents retrieving the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm from Victoria Park lake, August 1914. Vandals threw the bust into the lake following Britain and Canada's declaration of war against Germany.

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  A day after raiding a local German social club, soldiers of the local 118th Battalion gather around the 1897 Peace Memorial in Victoria Park with a banner bearing the phrase "Berlin will be Berlin No Longer", 16 February 1916.

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  Three days after the referendum, residents see members of the 118th Battalion off at the Berlin station, 22 May 1916. The soldiers' absence reduced tensions in the city.

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  A ballot for selecting the new city name, June 1916

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  In an effort to defuse tensions, Kitchener mayor David Gross pledged in his January 1917 inaugural address that he would not change Kitchener's name back.

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  The election of anti-conscription candidate William Daum Euler in Waterloo North reinforced outside perceptions that Kitchener and Waterloo remained loyal to Germany.

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  Ontario's last German-language newspaper, the Berliner Journal (printing office pictured, c. 1908), closed in 1918 because the federal government forbade German-language publications.