City on Edge offers a taste of history not to be missed
Museum exhibition shows how Berlin became Kitchener 100 years ago
I finally made it to the “City on Edge” exhibit at the Waterloo Region Museum, which tells the story of how Berlin, Ontario, became Kitchener in 1916.
“City on Edge” opened late June. I’d tried to get there during the Canada Day celebrations, but free admission and a sunny holiday attracted such a large crowd I decided to try again later.
“City on Edge” is the most elaborate historical exhibition centred on a primarily local topic that I can remember seeing. For anyone with even a modicum of interest in Waterloo County/Region as a distinct place, this special offering is highly recommended.
Although the tension and bitterness that prevailed during that fateful year eventually subsided, the Berlin to Kitchener name change can still elicit controversy. That’s what we discovered 20 years ago when, in a playful spirit, it was announced that the newly formed artists’ “salon” recommended in the first Kitchener CulturePlan would gather at the Walper Hotel every Thursday as the “Berlin Circle.”
Most of the objections, as I recall, were not angry expressions of anti-German feeling stemming from the First and Second World Wars, but an aversion to stirring up old troubles. The questions we were confronted with were: Why are you deliberately returning to the source of so much conflict and humiliation? Why not make it the Ebytown Circle, or the Sand Hill Circle instead?
I didn’t come away from the “City on Edge” exhibit with a desire to return to the subject to look for a fresh approach to how the events of 1916 have shaped the city and the region over the last 100 years. Maybe later.
The actual anniversary of the end of Berlin and the beginning of Kitchener is Sept. 1. The exhibit will remain open until the end of the year.
The Waterloo Region Museum will be hosting two public “City on Edge” talks in the fall.
On Monday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m., Lauren Harder-Gissing from the Mennonite Archives of Ontario will highlight personal stories of Ontario Mennonites and the First World War in a talk titled, “Where Are You In This?”
“Berlin to Kitchener and the First World War” is the title for the 2 p.m. talk on Monday, Nov. 11. The speaker is Geoff Hayes from the University of Waterloo’s history department, who will emphasize how the events of 1916 led to shifts in local identity.
And on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m., the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, one of the institutional partners involved with the “City on Edge” project, is presenting a discussion panel, “Von Berlin to Kitchener: Connotations and Cultures.” Panellists include local historian rych mills; Geoff Hayes and Mat Schulze from UW German. Former Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr will moderate. This event is being organized in partnership with the Kitchener Public Library, which is hosting the discussion at its central branch.
There are a couple of additional offerings worth mentioning.
One is the selection of media art currently on at the display at the Waterloo Region Museum’s sister organization, Joseph Schneider Haus. The work is by the 2016 Folk Artist-in-Residence at Schneider Haus, filmmaker James Anthony Usas. It includes two experimental films: “House of the Gathering” set in 1916 and created using historic film footage from that era; and “Anima Ürbem” which looks at the role of fire in BerlinKitchener.
Also highly recommended is Jasmine Mangalaseril’s Kitchener 1916 project: a series of regular posts following the events of 100 years ago in detail, week by week. Part of a broader online project about “Waterloo Region’s food histories, traditions and influences” titled “Rye & Ginger,” each Kitchener 1916 post includes “a period(ish) recipe and a translation for modern cooks.” www.waterlooregionmuseum.com uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-germanstudies josephschneiderhaus.com ryeandginger.ca
This special offering is highly recommended. MARTIN DE GROOT