Der Deutsche Canadier

Heinrich "Henry" Peterson, proprietor of the Museum, who sold his printing press to Heinrich Eby in 1841.

In 1835, Heinrich Wilhelm Peterson[lower-alpha 2] established Canada Museum und Allgemeine Zeitung in the hamlet of Berlin, Waterloo Township.[2] As Upper Canada's first German-language weekly newspaper,[2] the publication predated Berlin's first English newspaper by 18 years.[6] Born in Quakenbrück, Duchy of Oldenburg, on 27 May 1793, Peterson's parents migrated to Baltimore, Maryland when he was two years old.[2] Arriving in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in March 1803, he operated several German publications in Pennsylvania in the 1810s and 1820s before moving to Berlin in 1832.[7] Wanting to start another newspaper, but finding himself with little available capital, he relied on help from around 140 friends, 51 of whom became shareholders in the newspaper.[8] After a printing press was transported from Pennsylvania to Berlin via oxen,[9] he printed, published and edited the first issue of Museum, appearing on 27 August 1835.[10] His first apprentice, Heinrich Eby, the son of bishop and Berlin-founder Benjamin Eby, assisted in the production, printing a poem by the German poet Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart.[11]

The presence of the Museum in Berlin helped to emphasize the town's status as the centre of Upper Canada's German population.[9] The newspaper ran pieces advocating for Berlin to be the township's "district town",[9] while subscribers hoped it would help to preserve their language and traditional values.[12] Peterson became increasingly active in the community, leaving him with less time to sustain the publication of the Museum. He sold the German part of his printing business to Heinrich Eby, who had by that time been apprenticing under Peterson as a printer for four years.[13] The final issue of the Museum ran on 18 December 1840, with Peterson recommending Eby and Enslin's new German language newspaper, Der Deutsche Canadier, to all Museum subscribers.[14]

Different mastheads of Der Deutsche Canadier. The lower first appeared on 3 January 1861.

The format of the Canadier was nearly identical to that of its predecessor, the Museum.[30] As a weekly newspaper, subscribers paid CA$2.00 per year or CA$3.00 if receiving it by mail (equivalent to CA$50 and CA$70 in 2021) until 1852, at which time the prices were reduced to $1.50 in advance or $2.00 if in arrears three months (equivalent to CA$40 and CA$50 in 2021). Always four pages long, the dimensions of the newsprint expanded over time. Beginning with 20 × 14 inch paper (50.8 × 35.6 cm) and four large columns per page, the dimensions expanded to 22 × 16 inches (55.9 × 40.6 cm) for 1843–1844 before reverting to its original size; in 1848, it again expanded to its larger size, adding a fifth column to each page; in 1852, it added a sixth column.[31] In 1853, it again increased, this time to 25½ × 19½ inches (64.8 × 49.5 cm) and seven columns per page.[32] A motto that occasionally changed appeared beneath the newspaper's masthead, including Gott und mein Recht (God and my right) in 1841, and Gleichheit allein ist die unumstößliche Grundlage des Rechts (Equality alone is the firm foundation of justice) in 1855.[30]

In its written vocabulary, the newspaper occasionally used words from the local Pennsylvania German language,[24] including "Flauer" (flour) and "Klertsche" (clergy), amongst others.[33] Advertisements were mostly in German, but English ones appeared on occasion. Scholar Herbert Karl Kalbfleisch writes the newspaper was stylistically weak, which "offended the taste of some readers", though most did not complain.[33]

A March 1848 extra edition of Der Deutsche Canadier covering the revolutions in Europe. The newspaper catered its coverage to recent German immigrants who remained interested in European political and social happenings.

In the 1840s, Canada West experienced another influx of German immigrants caused by poor agricultural conditions in Europe, as well as turbulent political conditions resulting from the German revolutions of 1848–1849.[34] The Canadier's flourishing period coincided with this population increase,[34] with historians John English and Kenneth McLaughlin describing the Canadier as "the most successful and widely read German newspaper in [Canada]".[35] From September 1841 through January 1848, Der Deutsche Canadier was the only German language newspaper in British North America.[36] The only circulation figure available is from the 2 January 1852 issue of the newspaper, with Peter Eby writing that the subscription list numbered almost one thousand. Kalbfleisch writes there is no way to confirm the figure, adding that some newspapers artificially inflated their subscriber numbers to attract advertisers.[27]

Though his father was a Mennonite, Heinrich Eby instead focused the paper towards the German culture of Berlin's new immigrants, cultivating a unique German-Canadian culture.[37] Though the new immigrants detested the German political system they left behind, they remained interested in the political and social events of Germany,[34] leading the newspaper to focus on European coverage.[24] The Canadier published an extra edition in March 1848 covering the revolutions in Europe, which Kalbfleisch suggests indicates how interested the readership remained in European news.[38]

Despite its focus on Europe, the Canadier covered Canadian political content, especially regarding its political and public institutions.[39] Kalbfleisch suggests the coverage of Canadian politics was framed in a way to encourage recent German immigrants to abandon "their lethargy toward public affairs which had characterized the behavior of many of them in the fatherland".[40] While the Museum attempted to be politically impartial,[41] it strongly denounced the rebellions of 1837–1838.[42] The Canadier, however, was consistently partisan through all of its owners and editors,[34] vehemently arguing for the Reform Party and describing the Tories as dishonest and corrupt.[43] The paper encouraged those Germans who could vote to support the Reform Party in all election contests.[34] Through the 1850s, McDougall's political connections helped him win the majority of Waterloo County's municipal printing contracts.[44][45] When the Liberal Party gifted him a gold watch in 1861 to recognize his services, the Berliner Journal criticized the gift as open bribery.[45] In December 1863, McDougall was proposed to be the county registrar of deeds, with the Journal strongly opposing the nomination and suggesting the "honest man" A. J. Peterson in his place.[44][45] Despite the opposition, McDougall won the position in 1864.[44]

As recent German immigrants were mostly made up of artisans rather than farmers, the readers of the Canadier demanded poetry and prose content,[34] pushing the paper to maintain "a high literary tone".[35] After Edward Lindemann became editor in October 1853, the amount of literary content greatly expanded,[43] including several of Lindemann's short stories.[46] Kalbfleisch writes that Lindemann "raised the quality of the Canadier appreciably and improved its literary tone".[20] After publishing a serial story from January through February 1854 – "Die Tochter der Riccarees, Lebensbilder aus Louisiana" by Friedrich Gerstäcker – the newspaper published at least one prose story instalment with each issue until it folded in January 1865.[47]