If you live outside of Canada and you’ve heard of Kitchener-Waterloo, es könnte sein, weil der Research in Motion.

No offense to Kitchener-Waterloo, but this Ontario region’s most famous product is much better known than the cities themselves. Mit Hauptsitz in Waterloo, Research in Motion (aka RIM) is the maker of the now-ubiquitous Brombeere.

Aber die Partnerstädte Kitchener–Waterloo, befindet sich etwa 100 km (60 Meilen) westlich von Toronto, haben einen anderen Anspruch auf Ruhm: The region is home to a large German-Canadian community, und ihre jährlichen Oktoberfest is the largest Bavarian festival in North America.

This year’s Oktoberfest opens today, Oktober 9, und läuft bis Samstag, Oktober 17. Sie können get the whole calendar of Oktoberfest events here.

Here’s an excerpt from my book, Wohnen im Ausland in Kanada, about the Kitchener-Waterloo region’s German heritage:

In den frühen 1800er Jahren, communities of Pennsylvania “Dutch” (actually settlers from Germany) moved north to southern Ontario to escape religious persecution in the United States. One of Ontario’s original Mennonite settlements, der Stadt St. Jacobs outside Waterloo still has a significant Mennonite population, including bonnet-clad women and bearded men who sell vegetables, Fleisch, und Marmeladen an der local farmers’ markets.

For a more detailed history of German immigration to Canada, einen Blick auf The Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples.

In the meantime, tuck into a Wiener Schnitzel and hoist a glass at Canada’s largest Oktoberfest!