Deutscher Platz: Vancouver's Surviving Cultural Legacy

By Elke Porter | Westcoast German News | September 23, 2025
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Vancouver, BC - In 1986, as Vancouver prepared to host Expo 86 and showcase the city's multicultural makeup on a global stage, the newly constructed SkyTrain system faced an unexpected challenge. Transportation Minister Grace McCarthy found herself with insufficient budget to decorate the transit stations. Her innovative solution would create a lasting multicultural legacy: she invited cultural groups across Vancouver to sponsor small parks along the BC Parkway, a 26-kilometre path along the SkyTrain's Expo Line.

The idea for the plazas emerged as a way to welcome Expo 86 visitors to Vancouver and its newly-built SkyTrain system. The response to McCarthy's invitation was enthusiastic, with partnerships formed with Vancouver's Austrian, Dutch, Chinese, Filipino, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, and other communities. Between 18 to 20 plazas in total were planned for the route.

The German Canadian community embraced this opportunity with characteristic enthusiasm, establishing what would become known as Deutscher Platz at 29th and Atlin Street, near the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. The German Plaza was one of 20 parks along the BC Parkway. The German Community founded the "Parkway Committee", collected donations and used local expertise to create their plaza.

Another one of these original 20 parks, the Austrian Canadian Heritage Park, is also located in the area and features a distinctive stylized "A" painted in the red and white colours of the Austrian flag, which acts as an entrance to its plaza under the SkyTrain guideway. This landmark became so recognizable that the Cedar Cottage Community Garden used to identify its location as being "under the Skytrain tracks at the big red 'A' where Hull Street meets Victoria Drive."

The German Canadian Heritage Plaza quickly became more than just a transit stop decoration—it evolved into the heart of German Unity Day celebrations each October. These annual gatherings drew impressive participation from Vancouver's German-Canadian community.

Distinguished speakers included representatives from the German Consulate General, the German Canadian Heritage Plaza Society president, Beatrice Schreiber, Pastor Hardo Ermisch from St. Mark's Church, and RCMP officials. Community leaders such as John Pioch from the German Canadian Congress (DKK), Heinz Stühlmüller from the German Canadian Benevolent Society, and Hans Potomak from the Austria Vancouver Club regularly addressed the crowds.

The festivities featured rich cultural programming. Burkhardt Hoffmeister's street organ melodies filled the air, while the men's choir Lyra and the Edelweiss Musikanten, led by Karl Schindler, provided traditional music. Alex Schöbel, president of the Vancouver Alpen Club, helped coordinate post-ceremony gatherings where Inge Webb organized coffee and cake receptions.

A dedicated team of volunteers, often accompanied by a German Shepherd maintained the plaza with pride for decades. However, maintenance responsibilities have since transferred to the City of Vancouver.

Today, nearly four decades after Expo 86, only three of the original plazas remain: Deutscher Platz, Piazza Italia, and Filipino Plaza. As Professor Leonora Angeles from the University of British Columbia notes, these plazas served as important "place markers" that affirmed a community's presence and signified "what a community stands for, and what they value." The surviving spaces stand as testaments to Vancouver's multicultural heritage and the enduring vision of community partnership that Grace McCarthy fostered during that transformative year in the city's history.

I will finish by quoting the Hon. Sophie Leung, MP for Vancouver Kingsway, in her speech at the House of Commons in Ottawa on October 18, 2001, after attending an annual celebration at the plaza:

"Mr. Speaker, I recently attended the 15th anniversary of the German Canadian Heritage Plaza in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway. German Canadians have played an important role in the development of our country, and I was proud to attend their event to mark this important milestone for the German Canadian Community in Vancouver.

I am proud of Canada's multicultural unity. It is through the sharing of our individual cultures and traditions that Canada has emerged as a fine example to the world of how people from different backgrounds can come together to build a country that is strong and united, where its people live in peace and harmony through celebrating cultural diversity."

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