Schneider Haus facts for kids
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| Established | 1981 |
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| Location | 466 Queen Street South Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1W7 |
| Public transit access | Short walk from Charles St. Terminal (Grand River Transit) |
| Official name: Joseph Schneider Haus National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1999 |
The Schneider Haus National Historic Site is a special museum in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It's built on some of the very first land settled by people who came to live in what is now Waterloo County. The museum has the oldest house still standing in the area. In 1999, it was named a National Historic Site of Canada.
Contents
Discovering the Past: History of Schneider Haus
The Schneider Haus was once a farm with a house and other buildings. Joseph and Barbara Schneider built it around 1816. They were part of a large group of Pennsylvania German Mennonites. These families moved from Pennsylvania to Waterloo County in the early 1800s.
This land was one of the first places in the county where new settlers made their homes. A leader named Bishop Benjamin Eby wanted to start a new Mennonite community here. Over time, a village grew around the house. This village later became known as Kitchener.
The Schneider Farm and Its Legacy
The Schneider farm was once very large, covering about 181 hectares. The house itself is the oldest one still standing in Kitchener today.
The Schneider Haus is like a time machine! It shows what life was like in Ontario in the 1850s. The house and other buildings have been carefully fixed up to look just as they did back then.
People dressed in old clothes work at the museum. They use tools from the past to show you how people lived and worked long ago. It's a great way to see history come to life! The museum also has over 7,000 items. These include old paintings, quilts, documents, games, and leather items.
The house was opened as a museum in 1981. By the 1850s, the second generation of the Schneider family was living there. In 1999, the Schneider Haus was officially named a National Historic Site of Canada.
Why the Name Changed
In 2017, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo changed the museum's name. They dropped the word "Joseph" from "Joseph Schneider Haus." This change was made for two main reasons:
- To recognize the contributions of the whole Schneider family, including Joseph's wife Barbara.
- To avoid confusion with another famous person named John Metz Schneider, who started a food company.
See also
- List of oldest buildings and structures in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
