Although I have ancestors who originated from various countries such as the Orkney Island (Scotland), England, Ireland and France, I am most familiar with the the origins of my ancestors from Germany. These ancestors are from the family of my 94 year old maternal Great Grandmother , Joyce Mason, whose family came from Germany (Ferrier). If my ancestors had stayed in Germany, there would be some advantages to living there, but life would be fairly similar.
In the 1830’s and 1840’s Adam Keller (1841-1961) and Christina Hoffman (1843-1890), as well as Frederick Kreller (1839-1913) and Maria Bruestel (1842- ?) were living in Bavaria, the southeast regions of German (Ferrier). The map below, shows that Bavaria borders Austria and the Czech Republic.
As children, my ancestors, Adam, Christina, Frederick and Maria, immigrated with their families to Waterloo County, Ontario in the mid to late 1840’s. By the 1860’s Adam married Christina, and had a son Julius Keller (1862- 1950) , while Frederick and Maria were married and had a daughter named Amelia Kreller (1866-1941) (Ferrier). Julius and Amelia are my great grandmother’s grandparents. I have included the death certificate of my 4th great grandfather , Adam Keller which shows that he was born in Germany and died in Ontario.
When they emigrated in the late 1840’s, Germany had many challenges. There was widespread poverty. It was difficult for people to improve their living conditions. Unemployment was very high because of a huge increase in population and because the industrial revolution had allowed machinery to take the place of many labour positions. Germans immigrated to Canada because there was a lack of farmland in Germany, but there was a lot of cheap land in Canada (Needham Public School). In addition to poverty, there were many political problems. Napoleon had just been defeated and there were many rules for Germans for fear that they would unify and become too powerful. In Germany there was an increase in government control and regulation at universities and in newspapers (Sparknotes). Men left Germany because they didn’t want to be forced into joining the army (Needham Public School). For this reason, it was a good idea for my ancestors to leave Germany at that time. If they hadn’t they, or their future children, might have been sent to war and been killed, or possibly died because of the poor living conditions.
If I assume that they had survived and continued to live in Germany, and I had been born there , my life would be similar to my life here in Canada . First of all, Germany has universal health care just like Canada. In Germany 85% of is covered by social health insurance and 10% is subsidized by private health insurance (The Commonwealth Fund). Here in Ontario, we have OHIP but my parents also pay benefits for other health care costs.
Germans also have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of press . This means that they have the right to say and write what they want to, and they are allowed to meet freely. This is also allowed in Canada. In Germany 65% to 70 percent of the German population religion is Christian (Wikipedia) so my religion would probably be the same if I were living in Germany.
Popular sports in Germany are: skiing, golf and hockey. This is good for me because those are the sports I play. As you can see in this picture there are mountains called the Bavarian Alps which is close to where my ancestors lived. If I lived in Germany it would be similar to my lifestyle here because I ski almost every day.
While there are similarities between Canada and Germany, there are also a few advantages to living in Germany . First of all there are smaller class sizes in elementary schools throughout Germany; the teacher student ratio is 1 to 14 ( The Local). Also, education is very accessible because colleges and universities are publicly funded (Ward). This means that education is free and college and university students only have to pay minor fees of 300 to 2000 dollars in instead of 20,000 dollars a year in Canada (Ward). I’m planning to go to college so this would have helped me if I lived in Germany because I wouldn’t have to pay as much money for school.
Also the unemployment rate is lower in Germany than Canada; in Germany only 4.2% of the population is unemployed and in Canada there are about 7% of people unemployed. If I were living in Germany, it would be easier to find a job because the unemployment rate is better.
Living in Canada or Germany wouldn’t be that different for me because there are numerous similarities between these two countries. Not only is health care publicly funded in both countries, but there is also freedom of speech and the majority of citizens practice Christianity. Also, the sports they play in Germany are similar to the sports I play here in Canada. However, a couple of advantages to live in Germany are for me are receiving free post secondary education and better employment opportunities.
Works Cited
Bassler, Gerhard. “German Canadians.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, Gerhard Bassler, 30 July 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/german-canadians/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
Emerson, Chuck. “German School System.” How to Germany, www.howtogermany.com/pages/germanschools.html. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
Europe after Napoleon, www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1848/section2/page/2/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2017.
Ferrier, Cynthia. Interview. 6 Jan. 2017.
“The German Health Care System.” The Common Wealth Fund, 19 Nov. 2014, www.commonwealthfund.org/topics/international-health-policy/countries/germany. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
“German Immigration.” Needham Public Schools, www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/kane98/kane_p3_immig/German/germany.html. Accessed 9 Jan. 2017.
“German Leisure, Entertainment and Sports.” Expact Focus, 30 Sept. 2016, www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-germany-leisure-entertainment. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
“Germany Unemployment Rate.” Bureau of Labour Statistics, 1 Feb. 2007, www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=german%20 unemployment%20rate. Accessed 8 Jan. 2017. Chart.
“Human Rights in Germany.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Germany. Accessed 10 Jan. 2017.
Ethan, this is a well-researched and thorough blog about the history of your family. The images and charts also provide us with excellent support for what really matters to you. It's very interesting to see how despite being a world away and having a very different recent past, our countries share many of the same values and cultural codes of conduct. We want a healthy and well-educated population, who also enjoy spending time in the outdoors. You seem to be correct in your conclusion that Germany would be a perfect place for you to live.
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