Berliner Journal

Berliner Journal

Top of the Berliner Journal front page, 12 August 1914, reporting on the outbreak of the First World War in Europe
Type	Weekly newspaper
Founder(s)	John Motz Friedrich Rittinger [de]
Publisher	Rittinger & Motz printing firm
Founded	1859
Language	German (English after October 1918)
Ceased publication	1918
Headquarters	Berlin (renamed Kitchener in 1916)
Circulation	5,155 (1908)
OCLC number	1147283368

The Berliner Journal (later the Ontario Journal) was a German-language weekly-newspaper published in Berlin, Canada (later Kitchener), from 1859 to 1918. The newspaper was founded by the German immigrants Friedrich Rittinger [de] and John Motz, who operated the paper together through most of its existence until their sons – William John Motz, Herman Rittinger and John Adam Rittinger – took over the operation at the turn of the century.

German speakers made up a large segment of those immigrating to Canada in the 19th century, and demand for German-language publications in Upper Canada was high. When founded, the Berliner Journal was one of several German-language newspapers in Ontario. By 1908, competitors had either ceased publication or amalgamated into it, making the Journal one of only two German papers in Ontario and the most widely read in Canada. At its peak, circulation was around 5,000 with a readership spanning the country and extending into the northern United States.

The outbreak of the First World War led to rising anti-German sentiment in Canada. After Berlin changed its name to Kitchener in 1916, the newspaper was renamed the Ontario Journal in January 1917. A 1918 Order in Council prohibiting the use of "enemy languages" in Canadian publications led the Journal to publishing only in English beginning in October 1918 and then folding altogether that December.^{[note 1]}

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