Nestled into the side of a small hill on the campus of University of Waterloo is a handsomely-preserved farmhouse – a quiet testimony to the Pennsylvania German cultural heritage it celebrates. Today the home has become a landmark overlooking Columbia Lake and the University of Waterloo playing fields. The strong simple architectural lines of a past era contrast the modern lines of buildings on the north campus. While the Brubacher House Museum used to be on the edge of campus, the research and technology park has been creeping closer to its historic walls.
The house was built of native fieldstone in 1850 by John E. Brubacher, who with his wife Magdalena farmed the land and raised fourteen children. Farming continued on the land until 1965 until the property was purchased as part of the University of Waterloo, when the university decided to preserve the farmhouse as a memorial to Pennsylvania German Mennonite settlers who had developed the land upon which the university complex was built.
Unfortunately, before restoration could take place, the house was gutted by fire in 1968. However, plans for restoration continued with involvement and planning by the University of Waterloo, the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, Conrad Grebel University College, and the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation. Under the direction of Simeon Martin, a master Mennonite craftsman, and with the assistance of many Mennonite farmers, the house interior was rebuilt to reflect a Pennsylvania German Mennonite home of the 1850-90 period.
To outfit the museum, authentic period furnishings, many of them originals from Mennonite families in the area, were purchased and collected by the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario. Amongst many fine possessions at Brubacher House is the Wismer grandfather clock, the history of which dates back to the early 1700s when it was brought to Pennsylvania from Switzerland. The clock travelled to Waterloo County in the early 1800s where it continued to be passed down through the generations and was eventually donated to Brubacher House.
Brubacher House Museum opened in 1979 as a site of historic interest and dialogue on Mennonite beliefs and traditions. It is operated for the University of Waterloo by Conrad Grebel University College. Today, the farmhouse as a museum serves to educate and interpret the Pennsylvania German Mennonite way of life to interested visitors.
To mark the 30th anniversary of Brubacher House Museum, a celebration will be held as part of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario’s annual meeting in the Great Hall at Conrad Grebel University College on Saturday, June 13, 2009, at 1:30pm. Ken McLaughlin, will be speaking on the early Mennonite presence in Waterloo, and also on the beginnings of the Brubacher House Museum in his talk, "Saving the John E. Brubacher House: Giving the Past a Future." McLaughlin is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Waterloo, a frequently published author on the Waterloo Region and its institutions, and was a member of the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation at the time it worked with University of Waterloo to fund the creation of the museum. Following the meeting at Conrad Grebel, birthday cake and tours will be offered at Brubacher House. The event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome.
To become acquainted with the Pennsylvania German heritage of Waterloo County, visit the museum Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2-5 o’clock in the afternoon. Live-in Brubacher House museum hosts, Bethany and Brandon Leis, will help you learn first hand about the life of a Pennsylvania German Mennonite family during the mid-nineteenth Century.
Brubacher House
c/o University of Waterloo, North Campus
Waterloo, ON
N2L 3G6
Phone: 519-886-3855
Email: bhouse@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca