Breslau, Ontario

Breslau is a community located within the township of Woolwich, part of the Waterloo Regional Municipality in Ontario Canada. Separated from the city of Kitchener by the Grand River, Breslau is named after the former German city of Breslau, now Wrocław, capital of Poland's Lower Silesia.

Breslau
Unincorporated community
Coordinates: 43°28′31″N 80°24′45″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
Regional municipalityWaterloo
TownshipWoolwich
Area
 • Total5.46 km2 (2.11 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total3,778
 • Density691.9/km2 (1,792/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Forward sortation area
N0B 1M0
Area code(s)519 and 226
NTS Map040P08
GNBC CodeFALNO

It is located at the junction of Highway 7 and Waterloo Regional Road 17. This routing, although recently bypassed, is the main route between Kitchener and the nearby Region of Waterloo International Airport, located south of the settled area. It is also close to the city of Guelph.

History

The first settlers to the area now called Breslau arrived in 1806, mostly German Mennonite families from Pennsylvania. Settlers included John Brech, Daniel Erb and John Cressman. In the 1820s, members of the Cressman Mennonite Church began congregating in the homes of the early settlers. in 1834, the first meeting house in Waterloo County (built by Benjamin Eby in 1813) was donated to the Breslau congregation and moved to the settlement.[2] In 1850, Joseph Erb built a dam, a sawmill and a grist mill. The village was named after Breslau, the capital of the Province of Silesia in historic German Empire.

A post office was established in 1857 and began receiving mail on a daily basis. By 1864, the settlement had several tradesmen including two blacksmiths, a cooper, wagon maker, a cabinet maker and two mills. [3]

Notable people

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References
  1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Breslau, Ontario". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  2. Good, Margaret; Steiner, Sam (March 1984). "The Breslau Mennonite Church: A Brief History" (PDF). Mennogesprach. Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  3. County of Waterloo Gazetteer and General Business Directory, For 1864 (PDF). Mitchell & Co. 1864.
  4. "Town Reeve, Widely Known In Hockey, "Tubby" Schmalz Dies". The Walkerton Herald-Times. Walkerton, Ontario. December 10, 1981. p. 1.

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