Canadian-German Relations on Display
Recently, 蓝莓视频 Centre for German Studies employees Misty Matthews-Roper and James Skidmore caught up with Ad猫le Hempel, Manager/Curator of the . The museum is currently hosting 鈥,鈥 on view until 3 September 2018. Ad猫le was able to answer a few questions for us.
What is the focus of the exhibition 鈥淐anada and Germany: Partners from Immigration to Innovation鈥?
The exhibition gives a brief introduction about immigration of Germans to Canada and also Canadians going over to Germany - it鈥檚 a two-way street. It also touches on innovation.
For the innovation part, we weren鈥檛 able to get all of the items from the exhibit launched in Ottawa (June 2017); some of the items were on temporary loan and weren鈥檛 able to travel. We were very happy to get the lunar rover. That was a real fluke! I happened to be sitting at a dinner and the Chair of the Board of Ontario Drive and Gear, Joerg Stieber, was sitting next to me. We started talking about the museum and our next travelling exhibit, Canada and Germany, and out of the blue he offered 鈥渨ould you like to have a lunar rover?鈥 Having recently arrived here, I had no idea who Mr. Stieber was or what the company did. The rover is the centerpiece of our exhibit!
Lunar Rover on display at the 蓝莓视频 Region Museum till 3 September 2018
Which items connected to innovation didn鈥檛 come to the 蓝莓视频 exhibition?
What was the role of the 蓝莓视频 Region Museum in the original exhibition?
Tom Reitz (former manager/curator) submitted a portion of our panel copy to the exhibition鈥檚 curator, Peter Finger, who was employed by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ottawa to produce this exhibition.聽 It鈥檚 nice to see that Mr. Finger put in a substantial section on Kitchener-蓝莓视频. He really wanted to have the exhibition on display here, so he approached us.
Why do you think it鈥檚 important for this exhibition to be hosted in Kitchener-蓝莓视频?
This region is recognized as a capital for German culture in Canada. It鈥檚 wonderful for people from the community to come in and see themselves in the exhibition. On the night of the opening, it was heartwarming, for instance, that Willi Huber recognized himself in one of the photographs. How nice is that for people to see themselves in an exhibition!
What are some of the other local connections to the exhibition?
There are lots of local connections here. There鈥檚 a section on John Motz and the Berliner Journal. There鈥檚 also a display of the skills and trades that came into the region 鈥 German immigrants were often well trained in the trades before coming over. The local section starts off with the Mennonite settlers and then moves on to the continental German-speaking peoples who followed them.
Some of the people represented have not been spoken about much, despite the centuries of German settlement in Canada, perhaps because of the wars and the prejudices they engendered. There has been a reticence among some Germans to share their personal stories. It鈥檚 time to encourage these stories to be told. At the same time, this exhibit does not shy away from sensitive topics, like the war years.
Which items or stories in the exhibition say something that is particularly noteworthy for you?
Take for example the story of Kurt G眉nzel. Just the fact that he was a prisoner of war: imagine the feeling of being shipped off to another country, totally removed from family, and when he was freed and sent back to Germany and could live wherever he wanted, chose to return to Canada with his family because he was so impressed with the people and country he had gotten to know.
Another story shook me, and I don鈥檛 know how well known it is. It鈥檚 the story of eight Inuit (Abraham, Ulrike, their two children and four others) known to the Moravian missionaries who worked in Labrador, who were put on display - a little like the Dionne quintuplets 鈥 in Europe. Back in the late 19th century, Europeans looked at Aboriginal peoples like specimens to be put on public display. These Inuit all died of smallpox (three died in Germany, the rest in Paris). The exhibit has reproduced some of Abraham鈥檚 diaries, which are heart-wrenching to read.
But you also have a positive story about the musical legacy of the Moravians and what they taught the Inuit.聽 While this could be looked upon as the 鈥渃olonizing鈥 of Indigenous peoples, in this example there is a positive sharing of cultural traditions through the medium of music, and visitors can listen to a recording of music performed by an Inuit choir.
Inuit family and above right picture of Abraham's diary.
We know this exhibition is the tip of the iceberg in terms of relations between Germany and Canada. What remains to be studied - or curated - from your perspective?
I think there鈥檚 a significant amount of Canadian history that鈥檚 being lost because of the language difference, the Schrift (German style of handwriting) and the Fraktur (German Gothic type). People couldn鈥檛 record it properly back in the day and they can鈥檛 read it easily now. If you鈥檙e trying to do genealogical studies, it鈥檚 difficult: Anglophones misspelled German names and/or Anglicized them, so it鈥檚 not always easy to trace ancestors. I think there needs to be some concerted effort to study the German documents in local repositories. Some history scholars can鈥檛 read German or contract this out to third parties, and one can miss the nuances by approaching it that way.
There鈥檚 much history to be discovered, and I think that could bring some people back to their roots more. Some local residents with German heritage have lost touch with their past; they don鈥檛 know where their ancestors came from in Europe or why their names are pronounced or spelled the way they are. I look at Bleams Road and that鈥檚 just one example - I could give you ten or twelve, and I鈥檝e only lived here for a year!
Our Canadian history can be very mixed up, and it takes students and scholars to disentangle the evidence and put stories together again 鈥 like puzzles.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.