Joseph Schneider

Joseph Schneider, commonly regarded as the Founding Father of Berlin now Kitchener, immigrated with his wife and four children from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in May, 1807, with other prominent Mennonite pioneers such as Benjamin Eby, Peter Erb and Abraham Weber.

He settled on Lot No. 17 of the German Company Tract, erected a two-storey sawmill on Schneider Creek and constructed a road from his farm to the A Great Road from Dundas. This crossroads was the nucleus of the village which was incorporated in 1854 and became the County Seat.

His 1820 house is the oldest surviving homestead in Kitchener and has been restored as a museum.