The history of Kitchener is unique among cities in southern Ontario. Although Kitchener shares so much of the character of the region today, its past was considerably different. Until 1916, Kitchener was Berlin, "Canada's German capital", with over two-thirds of the residents being of German origin. By the middle of the First World War, the idea of "a patch of Germany" in the heart of southern Ontario became untenable. Berlin became Kitchener, but not without a battle which split the small city. This is the first scholarly history of Kitchener.
