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Jonas Knechtel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonas Knechtel
Born1842 (1842)
Bavaria, Germany
Died(1894-12-14)December 14, 1894
Kitchener, Ontario
Resting place
Mount Hope Cemetery
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsWalper Hotel

Jonas Knechtel was a German-born Canadian architect known for designing buildings in what is today Kitchener, Ontario including the Walper Hotel.

Knechtel was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1842.[1] His family immigrated to New York in 1847, where they lived for nine years before settling in Mannheim, Ontario.[1] Together with Susannah (nee Otto) he had twelve children; six girls and six boys.[1]

Four-storey red brick building on the corner of a downtown intersection.
Walper Hotel (2011) in Kitchener, Ontario

A self-taught architect, Knechtel operated a practice in what was then Berlin, Ontario.[2] He designed numerous buildings including the Berlin Opera House and St. Paul's Lutheran Church, in addition to overseeing renovations to the Courthouse and Gaol, Krug's Factory, and the Economical Block.[2] Knechtel was also the architect responsible for Courtland Avenue Public School and King Edward Public School.[3] One of his final projects was the Walper Hotel, which opened in 1893.[4]

Knechtel died of typhoid fever December 14, 1894 and buried in Kitchener's Mount Hope Cemetery.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jonas Knechtel Dead". Daily Record. Vol. 2, no. 168. December 14, 1894.
  2. 1 2 Burke, Susan (November–December 2016). "Designing for Education - The Knechtel Story" (PDF). Architectural Conservancy Ontario - North Waterloo Region. Vol. 12, no. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  3. Howitt, Chuck (January 4, 2010). "175 years of faith celebrated". The Record. p. B1.
  4. "Flash from the Past: Postcard view shows Walper Hotel in Kitchener". The Record. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2026.