Goodbye Berlin

November 16, 2016 | Viewpoints | Volume 20 Issue 23
Laureen Harder-Gissing |
Mennonite Archives of Ontario

Gordon Eby captured the moment when families in Berlin, Ont., said goodbye to local troops at the start of the First World War in 1914. In 1916, concerned that its Germanic name was bad for business, the city would say ‘goodbye’ to Berlin and ‘hello’ to Kitchener. The Berlin Mennonite Church faced a dilemma. Should it adopt the name of the ‘warlord’ war hero Lord Kitchener? They did not; that is why the Kitchener church is called ‘First Mennonite’ to this day.

For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.

Further reading:
Where is Berlin (Ont.) Mennonite Church?

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