The German Presence in the Quebec City Region Researched and compiled by Jacques Gagné
[email protected] Last updated: 2016-01-05 1 Map of Quebec City and surrounding area 2 Ursuline Convent and Chapel Quebec City Saint Michael Church Sillery Holy Trinity Church Quebec City 3 The German Presence in the Quebec City Region Researched and compiled by Jacques Gagné
[email protected] Last updated: 2016-01-05 Centuries after Hans Bernhard settled in New France, 100,000 people in Québec claim German origins. They may be Francophone descendants of mercenaries in the 18th century or Anglophone immigrants of the 1950s. In the 1980s, after a long period of official downplaying of the presence of the Germans, some German-Canadian leaders fought for recognition of the German contribution to a multicultural Canada. Many German-Quebecers took over this discourse, but some refused the idea of a German ‘founding people’ and insisted on the distinct role of their Francophone society. Furthermore, even in Canada, post-war immigrants had to come to terms with the German past; the victimisation often characterized the German- Canadian press, since readers many, of whom lived in Québec often were expellees of the German ‘eastern territories’ and the few exiles often chose to stay invisible. Thus for its citizens of German heritage, Québec became the place of encounter of several competing identity discourses, whether it was about the role of Francophones in Canadian history or about the role of Germans. Manuel Meune Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien 28.2 (2008) 9-27 Germanic Society in Quebec City Association des familles d’origines Germanique du Québec (l’AFOGQ) Association of Families with German Origins in Quebec Claude Kaufholt-Couture - 2230, boul.