The first settlers in what is now Kitchener arrived in 1799 from Pennsylvania. In the midst of a prosperous Mennonite farming area a bustling community arose; by 1833 it was named Berlin. A large influx of immigrants from the German states of central Europe and the United Kingdom turned Berlin into a bustling industrial city by 1912. During World War I, the name was changed to Kitchener, in honor of Lord Kitchener, a British hero of that war. Learn More...