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63-462: The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company built and owned the Grand Falls Stadium. The town of Grand Falls was incorporated in 1961 and that year bought the stadium from the company. The first performance at the new stadium was a children's ice carnival followed by a figure skating exhibition by two Murphy sisters from Corner Brook on February 12, 1948. Approximately 2,300 spectators attended

126-470: A building or structure in Newfoundland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Corner Brook [REDACTED] Route 450 Corner Brook ( 2021 population : 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador , Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador, and

189-511: A certain extent, kept apart because of their names and the way they were socialized. At home they spoke German or Latvian, heard different stories, heard discussions about politics and world affairs from a different perspective, and experienced different customs. Almost all the Baltic children did well in school academically and among the immigrant parents there was an expectation that the children would seek higher education and look for opportunities in

252-537: A change of -2.4% from its 2016 population of 19,806 . With a land area of 147.88 km (57.10 sq mi), it had a population density of 130.7/km (338.6/sq mi) in 2021. Near Corner Brook is Marble Mountain Ski Resort , a downhill skiing resort, and Blow-Me-Down trails, a cross country ski area. The Corner Brook Royals currently play in the West Coast Senior Hockey League and were

315-485: A church choir, drama club, a local orchestra, creating a ski club, badminton club or the rod and gun club. Others did not participate at all and a few learned almost no English. Other Germans from West Germany also came to Corner Brook to work in the cement and gypsum industries. In varying degrees, they interacted with the Balts who were already there. Their experience of the war and post war times had been different and they had

378-710: A city of similar size and landscape on the other side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence . Corner Brook is the most northern city in Atlantic Canada . It is the administrative headquarters of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nations band government . The Mi'kmaq name for the nearby Humber River is "Maqtukwek." The area was surveyed by Captain James Cook in 1767. The Captain James Cook Historic Site stands on Crow Hill overlooking

441-643: A couple of local teachers. Some of the women who stayed at home didn't ever master the English language; however, most became fluent, though retaining definite accents. The men worked primarily in three local businesses, North Star Cement, Atlantic Gypsum and W. J. Lundrigan's Limited. The first group of immigrants was involved in building and managing the cement and gypsum plants and they soon invited other Balts and Germans to immigrate to provide management and production expertise and to train local workers. The Lundrigan group of companies specialized in construction and were

504-481: A few years in Corner Brook and have only a tenuous connection to Newfoundland.  The younger children who received all, or most of, their education in Corner Brook schools integrated quite closely with the local children.  They came to school already fluent in English. But while they integrated well in the classroom and participated in extracurricular sports and activities, they were always identifiable and, to

567-557: A group of Baltic Germans, who had gained relevant expertise in Latvia, gathered to produce these products in the Warthegau. Those active in this industry (the engineers, entrepreneurs and mining managers) were considered essential to the war effort; other men were conscripted into, or volunteered to join, the Wehrmacht. The women and essential workers set up new homes in houses that had belonged to

630-652: A homeland they could return to. Several remained in Corner Brook for only a few years; others came with their families and stayed. A few married local women and started families in Corner Brook. Local people must have regarded these immigrants with suspicion, after all they had been, only a few years earlier, the enemy. They generally didn't make a distinction between the Germans and the Latvians, referring to both as Germans.  Newfoundland hospitality, openness and willingness to help meant that they were able to live harmoniously among

693-556: A map that Corner Brook was geographically well south of Riga and they knew that English was the spoken language. They all experienced culture shock when they arrived on the island at the eastern edge of North America in an isolated town of 12,000 people. Corner Brook was connected to the world by ship and to the rest of the island by train; however, there were no roads that led more than a few miles out of town and no accessible airport. The local language, foods, world-view, customs and life-style were all very different from their own. The climate

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756-434: A pronounced accent and were easily identified. They were, in fact, outsiders, refugees from another place and largely they were not accepted by the local population. At first, the Baltic refugees were billeted in rooms in local homes. Food rationing and a lack of consumer goods meant that people often went hungry, clothes were worn until they fell apart and shoes with holes in the soles were common. The children started school,

819-435: A single storm. The combination of intense winter storms and "sea effect" snow make December and January the wettest months on average in Corner Brook. In December and January combined, average snowfall reaches nearly 200 centimetres (79 in). Latvians and Baltic Germans in Corner Brook, Newfoundland Shortly after Newfoundland's confederation with Canada in 1949, about 70 Baltic Germans and Latvians immigrated to

882-493: A small mid-German town, Stadtoldendorf , and the nearby towns of Bodenwerder and Bielefeld . The common threads that led them there were their expertise in cement and gypsum (essential to rebuilding Germany) and their connection to Ernests Leja. Working with some other German experts (Karl Jericho and Friedrich Kreiser, see Escape Hatch , G. Bassler) they designed and built a gypsum plant in Bodenwerder. Allied occupied Germany

945-600: A strong arts community exists both within the school and well into the public. The campus houses the Grenfell Art Gallery . The Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre among other institutions thrive in promoting the arts on all levels from visual arts to theatre. In 2015, the City's newest theatre and gallery, the Rotary Arts Centre , opened. Theatre Newfoundland Labrador is Corner Brook's professional theatre company. It

1008-521: A wide array of shopping and retail businesses and federal and provincial government offices. It is home to Grenfell Campus, Memorial University , as well as campuses of Academy Canada and College of the North Atlantic . Corner Brook celebrated its Come Home Year from July 19–28, 2019. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Corner Brook had a population of 19,333 living in 8,868 of its 9,552 total private dwellings,

1071-655: Is Linda Chaisson. Municipal elections in Corner Brook are held every four years on the last Tuesday in September. In the 2021 municipal elections held on September 28, 2021, Jim Parsons was re-elected mayor. Route 1 , the Trans-Canada Highway , passes the south side of the city on a high ridge before descending to the east into the Humber Valley. The city is accessed by air services at Deer Lake Regional Airport , 55 km (34 mi) northeast. Corner Brook Transit

1134-402: Is a privately operated local bus service. The city is also served by four taxi cab companies. Corner Brook has a humid continental climate ( Dfb ) typical of most of Newfoundland. It is warmer in summer than St. John's due to less maritime exposure, whereas winters are colder than in the provincial capital. In terms of its overall climate, it is very maritime-like, especially considering how

1197-497: Is becoming increasingly tenuous. Four Baltic children remained on the island and married Newfoundlanders; one in Corner Brook ( Bernd Staeben ) and two in St. John's (Heddy Peddle and Gunar Leja). Klaus Staeben (died in 2007) also married a Newfoundlander. Two girls (Ilga Leja and Susanne Hynes, née Rodsewicz) married Newfoundlanders and left the island to live in Halifax and Toronto. Several of

1260-750: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , the Hitler-Stalin Pact, or the Nazi-Soviet Pact).  They were given some support by the German government, were allowed to take some belongings with them, and were resettled in the Reichsgau Wartheland (Warthegau) in Poland. Ethnic Germans were given German citizenship and the men were expected to serve in the war. The German war effort required cement and gypsum;

1323-775: The Russian army and thought their best chance for survival was in the defeated German territories. In early 1945, they fled just ahead of the Russians however they could, in wagons, on the last train out, walking, in the rush of people fleeing west ahead of the Russian army. They took only their loved ones and what they could carry with them. ( Flight and Expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II ) ( Evacuation and Flight into areas in Germany ) By circuitous routes, these refugees made their way to Lower Saxony . The refugees settled in

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1386-541: The Atlantic Gypsum Plant. (For more history on the subject, see Latvians and Baltic Germans in Corner Brook .) Corner Brook is home to the Corner Brook Pulp & Paper Mill (owned by Kruger Inc. ), which is a major employer for the region. The city has the largest regional hospital in western Newfoundland. The Western Memorial Regional Hospital opened to patients and clients on June 2, 2024. It also has

1449-479: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on October 6, 2016, and commenced FM broadcasting on November 5, 2017. The radio station is located on Cobb Lane, in the city's downtown district. The Corner Brook City Council has six city councillors and a mayor. The highest voting winning councillor becomes Deputy Mayor. The current mayor of the city is Jim Parsons . The deputy mayor

1512-473: The German families who came later have also remained in Newfoundland: ; Schultz, Dlugosch, Meiwald, Suske, Binder and Bachmann. The New Industries Program brought many other Latvians and Germans to other Newfoundland communities between 1950 and 1970. Extensive information about them is available in books and articles by Gerhard Bassler (see footnote 2). Many Baltic Germans and Latvians immigrated to

1575-496: The Great Depression, they lived ordinary lives. They grew up within families; they knew their city, Riga ; they went to school and university; they partied and had friends; they spent summers at the beach ( Jūrmala ); they fell in love, got married and started families – all in the full expectation of continuing to live where they had been born, in the society they knew. But this was not to be because war and conflict were changing

1638-564: The Gulf of St. Lawrence and picking up moisture, resulting in "sea-effect" snow (similar to "lake effect" snow in US locations like Muskegon and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan). The "sea effect" snow comes in addition to the heavy snow that can accompany mid-latitude storms, called "nor'easters," that approach the area from the U.S. Northeastern and New England states. Such storms can bring high winds and heavy precipitation, with possibly changing precipitation types in

1701-573: The Heights) with its railway and industrial operations; and Townsite (known as Corner Brook) to house employees of the pulp and paper mill, laid out in 1923 by Thomas Adams using Garden City principles. In 1956, these four communities were amalgamated to form the present-day City of Corner Brook. Between 1948 and 1958, about 70 people from Latvia and Germany settled in Corner Brook. They came as part of then Premier Joseph Smallwood's New Industries program. They built and worked at North Star Cement and

1764-597: The Latvians had a very different experience during the war years. In Germany, they were considered refugees or displaced persons. Many were housed in United Nations-sponsored DP camps . There the school age children attended school while their parents did their best to plan for their futures. The greatest hope was that Latvia would be liberated by the Allies. Barring this, they looked to emigrate to North America or Australia.  Through their connection with people in

1827-485: The Nazi-evicted Polish population. Some women worked in offices or ran the businesses their husbands had to leave when they began service in the Wehrmacht. They all established what they considered normal lives, raising their children and taking care of their relatives. But after four years, when it became clear that Germany was losing the war, they began to plan for escape to Germany. The Baltic Germans greatly feared

1890-660: The Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games in February 2011. The city also twice hosted Raid the North Extreme , a televised six-day multi-sport expedition race held in wilderness locations across Canada, and was a leg of the ITU World Cup Triathlon. In 2004, Corner Brook hosted the annual World Broomball Championship . Corner Brook is home to Grenfell Campus , Memorial University , where

1953-586: The United States. Smallwood recognized that the experts he needed were among the many unemployed or underemployed refugees in early post-war Germany. Following on the advice of his then-director of economic development, Alfred Valdmanis, a Latvian refugee himself, Smallwood travelled to Germany to meet with industrialists, including Ernest Leja. Through Leja, Valdmanis also visited Bodenwerder gypsum plant. This group of Latvians and Baltic Germans made its way to Corner Brook between late 1949 and 1954. In some cases,

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2016-415: The city. By the middle of the 19th century, the population of Corner Brook was less than 100, and the inhabitants were engaged in fishing and lumber work. The area was originally four distinct communities, each with unique commercial activities: Curling , with its fishery; Corner Brook West (also known as Humber West or Westside) with its retail businesses; Corner Brook East (also known as Humbermouth and

2079-501: The climate is in mainland Canada on similar latitudes. Precipitation is heavy year-round but highest in December and January and lowest in April and May, with relatively dry, stable conditions extending into July many years. The Corner Brook area lies in an especially heavy snow belt because of cold Arctic air masses from mainland Canada, coming from the west or northwest, crossing the waters of

2142-454: The fathers got work and the mothers did their best to provide food and a stable environment for the children. There was a certain post-war euphoria; massive relief that the men had returned having survived the war and prisoner of war camps. They loved to picnic and partied among themselves. Gradually, they were able to obtain their own accommodations and earn enough to provide food and clothing for their now growing families. As mentioned earlier,

2205-628: The group who emigrated to Corner Brook would have met Leja through their social and business lives in Riga. They renewed their connection with him in Lower Saxony and, largely because of this, made the decision to emigrate to Newfoundland. In November 1939, the Baltic Germans were forced to leave Latvia under the terms of a German-Soviet neutrality pact. (The pact was signed on August 23, 1939, by Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop, variously called

2268-429: The gypsum or cement industry, and through Ernest Leja, a small group made their way to Lower Saxony where they connected with Baltic Germans who shared the same geographic homeland.   All of these people were strangers in a strange land with no homeland to return to in the post war years. They were discriminated against, impatient with the lack of opportunity in slowly recovering Germany, and were very concerned about

2331-468: The intelligentsia, or the merchant and professional classes. Their children were born in Latvia, Poland and Germany. During their lives, they experienced, endured – and made the best of – highly eventful times. Even though, in their young lives, they had already experienced the turmoil and uncertainty of the Russian Revolution , the liberation of Latvia , changes in landownership, new technologies, and

2394-597: The island as part of then Premier Joseph R. Smallwood ’s industrialization and economic diversification strategy, the New Industries Program. Their expertise in cement and gypsum had contributed to Germany's reconstruction after the war, and it enabled them to participate in building Newfoundland's infrastructure after Confederation. The adults in these Latvian and the Baltic German families, born in Latvia between 1896 and 1920, came from families of landowners,

2457-836: The land as a condition of their immigration, moving into their chosen professions only after their time as agricultural workers. Secondly, the Corner Brook Balts were much more isolated.  In 1948, the mainland Baltic Germans established an organization, the Canadian Baltic Immigrant Aid Society (CBIAS), to provide support and to preserve their Baltic heritage. In 2017 the CBIAS sponsored an exhibit at Tartu College, University of Toronto: Sharing our Stories: The Baltic Diaspora at Home in Canada , and sponsored events celebrating 70 years in Canada in 2018.  They also publish

2520-573: The largest outside the Avalon Peninsula . Located on the Bay of Islands at the mouth of the Humber River , the city is the second-largest population centre in the province behind St. John's , and smallest of three cities behind St. John's and Mount Pearl . As such, Corner Brook functions as a service centre for western and northern Newfoundland. It is located on the same latitude as Gaspé, Quebec ,

2583-412: The local children and expected to learn as if by osmosis. Most tell the same story: in their first set of exams, they excelled in math and failed in all courses that required the English language. A few months later, they had caught up and were doing well in all subjects. The men learned English quickly, mostly on the job, but also by going to movies, reading dime store novels and taking instruction given by

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2646-698: The local population. The Baltic children ranged in age from infants to teenagers (one family had another child born in Corner Brook). The older children had experienced life in Europe, and some have memories of the war and fleeing the Russians. Some have kept contact with friends they made in Germany. Learning English was more difficult for some who, now in their eighties, still spoke with German or Latvian accents. The teenagers found school challenging at first. Some integrated well and had active social lives, while being considered somewhat exotic. However, most of them spent only

2709-425: The main builders of bridges, roads and many institutional buildings; the company built roads not only around Corner Brook, but also around the island. Ernests Leja's expertise in pre-stressed concrete was crucial to this development. Two of the women had dental practices in Corner Brook. Most of the women were not employed, or worked for a short time only to help support their families. In the early 1950s, Corner Brook

2772-664: The men came first and brought their wives and children later; in others families came together. Some flew over the Atlantic to Gander and then travelled by train, the Newfie Bullet , to Corner Brook ; others crossed the North Atlantic in ships. A selection of first person recollections of arriving is available in an article in the Newfoundland Quarterly, Spring 2019, p. 24-27. In Germany, these people had been unable to get much information about Newfoundland. They could see on

2835-434: The others arrived. Most of the adult Baltic immigrants interacted with local people at work, in commercial establishments and in their neighbourhoods. They were friendly and passed the time of day, but they didn't become close friends with many local people. Their social lives were centered in the Baltic community where they shared a common heritage and common concerns. Some individuals participated in local activities, joining

2898-422: The political map of Europe. As a result of changing relations between Communist Russia and Nazi Germany during World War II, these Baltic people had to leave Latvia (just as they were beginning their careers and families) in their twenties and thirties. The ethnic Germans were resettled to Poland in 1939 and fled the advancing Russian army into Germany in 1944 or early 1945. The Latvians remained in Latvia during

2961-478: The rest of Canada after the war.  While the Corner Brook Balts share a common Baltic heritage and war experience with Baltic people in the rest of Canada, their experience in the New World is different in two fundamental ways.  Firstly, people in the Corner Brook group were invited to come and were immediately employed in their areas of expertise. In the rest of Canada, Latvians and Baltic Germans had to work on

3024-400: The rest of North America. A final diaspora began when, in their late teens, the Baltic children went to St. John's, Halifax, Fredericton, Montreal and Toronto to study. These young adults earned their higher degrees or practical diplomas, met their life mates, and most of them established themselves elsewhere in Canada or the United States. Their connection to each other and their Baltic heritage

3087-524: The stadium was renamed as a memorial to Joe Byrne , on what would have been his 70th birthday, in recognition of his lifelong contribution to sports in the community and the province. Byrne, a Quebec City native, was hired by the Grand Falls Athletic Association to coach their hockey team and moved to the papertown in December 1949. He died in August 1990 at Grand Falls. This article about

3150-645: The stadium's first event. The official opening of the stadium was on November 22, 1948. An exhibition game was played between two teams from the Maritime Senior Hockey League, the Halifax Crescents and the Halifax St. Mary's. When the stadium first opened, and until late 1954 when St. John's Memorial Stadium was completed, it was the only regulation-size artificial ice surface in Newfoundland and could accommodate 2,500 spectators. On March 22, 1991

3213-425: The threat posed by communist Russia.  They were by now in early middle age with growing families and were longing for the opportunity to live in a safe and prosperous land as far away from the communists as they could get. Newfoundland joined Canada as its tenth province in April 1949 ( Commission of Government and Confederation with Canada ). At that time, the Newfoundland economy was based largely on fishing and

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3276-428: The upper end of Caribou Road were built specifically for their immigrant workers by W. J. Lundrigan's .  A number of managers and workers of North Star Cement and Atlantic Gypsum built homes near the cement plant on Ingrid Lane, referred to by locals as Little Berlin. Learning enough English to get along was key. The children started school immediately and learned English quickly; they were placed in classrooms with

3339-503: The various works by Al Pittman and Our Frances by Berni Stapleton . Corner Brook is home to Gros Morne Summer Music , a classical music festival that spans July and August. The Hangashore Folk Festival was a folk festival based in Corner Brook from 1980–1994. For 32 years, the March Hare literary festival ran every March. It celebrated poetry and written works by poets and writers from around Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and

3402-464: The war and fled to Germany also ahead of the Russian army in 1944. Five or six years later, they left Germany for Corner Brook , an industrial town on the west coast of Newfoundland. Corner Brook was a great distance, geographically and culturally, from everything they had known in their lives. The key person in the trajectory of their lives was the Latvian, Ernests Leja. An engineer, educated in Riga, he

3465-646: The winners of the 1986 National Title, the Allan Cup . The Royals play home games at the Corner Brook Civic Centre , formerly called the Canada Games Centre and the Pepsi Center. The arena was built in 1997 and was one of the main venues used when the city of Corner Brook hosted the 1999 Canada Games . The Corner Brook Civic Centre is currently owned by The City of Corner Brook. Corner Brook hosted

3528-425: The world. Atlantic Canada's largest poetry festival was founded in the late 1980s by poet and playwright Al Pittman and Corner Brook author and historian Rex Brown . The last March Hare was held in 2018. Corner Brook is also home to the region's only community radio station, BayFM ( CKVB-FM 100.1, or BOIR). The station was previously only available online. However, the station received its broadcast licence from

3591-477: Was a challenge. Some Balts were first housed in the barracks on Fern Street, very basic housing that had been erected to house construction workers building a tuberculosis sanatorium. Some, not only the men who came alone but also families, were boarded in homes. A few stayed for a time in the local hotel, the Glynmill Inn. Eventually several families lived at 11 East Valley Road or on Reid Street.  Four homes at

3654-423: Was a specialist in cement and the use of pre-stressed concrete in construction. A brilliant man with a large personality, Leja was daring and always willing to do what was necessary to survive and prosper. He was a devoted family man, loyal to his friends, and during his working life in Latvia and Germany developed key connections among the Latvians, Germans, Russians, British and, ultimately Newfoundlanders. Many in

3717-517: Was an industrial town centred on a paper mill, at the time owned and operated by Bowater's , a company based in England. In the late 1940s, Bowater's recruited Baltic experts, who had been identified in the United Nations refugee camps as experts in paper production. These families (Bērziņš, Buliņš and Langins) were able to emigrate out of Germany before Confederation and were already in Corner Brook when

3780-419: Was desperately trying to accommodate about 7 million displaced persons and refugees while providing for its own population after losing the war. The ethnic German Balts were not eligible for any support from the United Nations or the Allies because they had received German citizenship. They had to survive along with the local German population, competing with them for very scarce resources. They spoke German with

3843-731: Was founded in 1979 by Maxim Mazumdar , and it operates a year-round professional theatre company from its home base, Corner Brook. From September to May, their Sarah McDonald Youth Theatre offers classes in acting, stagecraft and music to youth aged 6 to 8 and produces several youth and community-oriented productions in and around the city. From May to September, it puts together a professional repertory summer festival in Cow Head , Gros Morne National Park and regular national and international touring of plays like Tempting Providence by Robert Chafe , With Cruel Times in Between by Sarah McDonald , based on

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3906-418: Was much more severe than they expected with very long winters and short cool summers. What the immigrants shared with local Corner Brookers, though, was the post-war boom time with its expectation for a prosperous future. They were happy to have found a place that offered a peaceful life under a democratic government system that provided hope, freedom, education, and health care. Finding lodgings in Corner Brook

3969-409: Was woefully deficient in infrastructure.  Joseph Smallwood , its first premier, established the New Industries Program to provide employment, infrastructure and consumer goods. Two of the key elements for this infrastructure were cement and gypsum to build bridges, roads, schools and hospitals. The required expertise was not available locally and could not be attracted in nearby mainland Canada or in

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