The history of tobacco in Delhi, Ontario17 chapters · 46 sources · every figure citedPlan a visit to the Delhi Tobacco Museum
CommunitiesThe halls of Delhi/German

Delhi District German Home The Germans of Delhi

Saxons drawn by the new tobacco farms, Swabians who came after the war, and the hall they built together.

Hall opened 1950Chapter 81 sourcesLast reviewed Oct 2026
The story so far

Saxons, Swabians and a home

Community historyMost of what follows comes from the hall’s own history, and we say so in the text.

A historical marker at the German Home tells the story of two groups. Saxons came to Canada in the 1920s and 1930s looking for opportunity, and many were drawn to the newly developed tobacco farming around Delhi; more followed after the Second World War, sponsored by friends and relatives already here. Swabians, who fled Germany, Hungary and Yugoslavia after the war, came as sponsored immigrants, and many settled in the Delhi area.S24

To keep close to their countrymen and their customs, German-speaking settlers founded the German Association Club of Delhi on 20 April 1936. Its 66 active members and their families held dances in other halls around town: the Grotto Hall, the Polish Hall and the basement of the Stoddard Hotel.S24

The Delhi District German Home was built in 1949 as a community and recreational centre for German-speaking immigrants, and its first social function, a German hall dance, was held on 25 November 1950.S24 The hall was extended in 1966, given its Bavarian-style exterior in 1978, and a larger kitchen in 1980. Around 1998 its float won “Best in Town” in the Delhi Harvestfest parade.S24

The marker itself went up in 2018, placed by the Delhi German Hunt & Fish Club.S24

  1. 1936The German Association Club of Delhi is founded, 20 April
  2. 1950The first dance at the German Home, 25 November
  3. 1978The hall takes on its Bavarian look
Hall
Delhi District German Home
Association founded
20 April 1936
Home opened
1950
In the story
Chapter 8
Photo wantedThe German Home, any decadeDances, Harvestfest floats, the hall before its 1978 makeover: photos of any of them would help.Share a photo →
In the chapters

Read more in the story

Chapter 8The Halls of DelhiThe Hungarian House, Belgian Club, German Home and moreTimelineThe tobacco yearsEvery dated event, filterable by community
The other halls

More communities of Delhi

1949HungarianThe Tobacco District Hungarian House opened on 15 May 1949. Its history records that about 1,000 Hungarians answered a 1933 newspaper call for tobacco workers.S8Read more →1948BelgianA drama club formed in 1943 became the Belgian Club, whose hall opened in 1948. For nearly seventy years it hosted archery, feather bowling, pigeon racing and dances.S9Read more →1930LithuanianLithuanians were working Delhi-area tobacco farms by 1930–31, and some grew their own crop from 1932. By the Second World War, about a hundred Lithuanian families and individuals lived around Delhi.S29Read more →&And many morePolish, Ukrainian, Portuguese and others still to be researched.Tell us yours →
Found a mistake? Tell us. How to cite this pageDelhi Tobacco. “German.” Communities. Last updated 4 October 2026. https://delhitobacco.ca/communities/german/