Kitchener, Ontario, the host of a major Oktoberfest, was formerly named Berlin.
Kitchener is one of the twin cities in Ontario’s Waterloo Region, alongside Waterloo. The area has deep German-speaking and German-Canadian roots, which helped inspire the Kitchener–Waterloo Oktoberfest. The festival began in 1967 during Canada’s centennial celebrations and became an ongoing event after further experimentation in the region.
The city’s name changed from Berlin to Kitchener during the First World War. Anti-German sentiment made the former name politically controversial, and a 1916 municipal vote selected Kitchener, honoring British military leader Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener.
The Oktoberfest still reflects the region’s German heritage through music, food, dancing, festhalls and the mascot Onkel Hans. Its large Thanksgiving Day parade is one of the festival’s signature events. Berlin, Bremen, Dresden and Hamburg are German place names, but only Berlin was Kitchener’s former name.