While the Region is marked by a uniquely German heritage, Waterloo North, which is of primarily German descent, was distinctly “Canadian” by 1911. According to the 1911 Census of Waterloo North’s 33, 619 people, 25, 352 were of German origin; furthermore, 29, 134 citizens were Canadian-born, with 29,026 born specifically in Ontario. The people of Waterloo North, despite their German ancestry, were second, third, and even fourth generation Germans by the outbreak of the First World War, as immigration between 1901 and 1911 had slowed to just over 1200 people, primarily from Germany. An example of this trend are the prominent Berlin citizens Albert Loborious Breithaupt, Louis Jacob Breithaupt, and Louis Jacobs’ daughter Catherine Breithaupt, who were born in Ontario and of German ethnic ancestry, but used English even in their personal journals. By the outbreak of the war, the individuals living in Waterloo North had developed a unique Canadian identity – they were German-Canadians, but most importantly Canadians.
(McLaughin, Ken, and John English. Kitchener: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.; McLaughin, Ken. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association,1985; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)
