‘A place big in impact’
Region recognizes former village of German Mills
KITCHENER — When George Berge was 10 years old, he was entrusted with the responsibility of lighting the lamp that helped guide trains on the spur line to the Grand Trunk Railway.
He was paid 25 cents a week in the early 1920s to light the lamp and make sure there was enough oil in it for it to burn all night, so that trains could unload grain for the nearby mill and take on loads of sugar beets.
On Saturday, his descendants stood near the house where he was born, to recognize the history of the area and those who laboured there.
In a blustery rainy ceremony on Saturday morning, a small crowd gathered to unveil a plaque to the almost-forgotten community of German Mills, on the banks of Schneider Creek at what is now Manitou Drive. The plaque is next to the cycling and walking trail at the newly rebuilt bridge over the creek.
German Mills was once a thriving, bustling village, with a flour mill and saw mill, a cooperage, a general store, a distillery and a stop on the Grand Trunk Railway. It sat on the banks of Schneider Creek, at the intersection of no fewer than six public highways.
“It was never a large place, but it was big in impact,” said Lindsay Benjamin, a
cultural heritage planner with the Region of Waterloo. At its height, in the late 1890s, there were maybe 75 people living in the village.
Regional chair Ken Seiling said the plaque was a way to recognize that impact. “People had great hardship, but it also was the basis for the prosperity that we enjoy today in the region.”
Today, there’s little to indicate to a passerby that the area has a long history. The mill was torn down in 1963, replaced with a cluster of modern retail businesses on either side of the creek. The three homes that once sheltered mill workers are still there — one is a modern home rebuilt on the foundation — but with their siding it’s not evident they date from the mid-1800s.
“Unless you grew up here, you’d drive through the area and never know this area was significant in the settlement of the region, in terms of building the economy of the region,” Benjamin said. “There’s not a lot left, so it’s a story that needs to be told.”
The short unveiling ceremony turned into a family reunion of sorts for members of the Berge family (pronounced Berg-ey). Young George, the railway lamplighter was born in German Mills, but his father, Jonas, arrived as a 16-year-old from Germany. Jonas worked as a labourer at the mill, delivering flour door to door by horse-drawn wagon in the early 1900s. Five of Jonas’s grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and six great-greatgrandchildren attended on Saturday.
“I was very excited to have something that has been part of our lives and our family’s memories, to have it recognized,” said Marilyn Berge, the family’s unofficial historian and George’s daughter.
“I think it’s important to know where people come from, what they’ve been through, what lives were like before we came along,” Marilyn said. “You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you come from.”
Seventeen-year-old Jonas Berge of Ayr, who is named after his great-great-grandfather, agreed. “It’s a cool story.”