Historical Swakopmund
Theodor Ritter was a son-in-law of the Hamburg shipping magnate Adolph Woermann, and had been managing affairs at the local offices of the Woermann Shipping Line from 1908 until 1912. Architect Höft (who also signed responsible for the design of the Haus Altona and the stately Woermann Haus with the Damara Tower) had designed the residence for Mr Ritter. Notably, it had been the first building in the country with electrical wiring and switches for lights and appliances integrated in the walls. (The Woermann group of companies operated the local coal-fired power station in town, it had also been one of the very first electrical power stations in all of Southern Africa).
View from Woermann Haus Tower over the Ritterburg Mansion, the empty shell of the customs shed, and a deserted Mole in the distance
The mansion for Mr Theodor Ritter and his family (remember: his wife had been a daughter of the patrician Woermann dynasty) had been built onto the upper ridge of an age-old beach terrace, at the intersection of Kaiser Wilhelm - and Bismarck Straße. Further north along the same terrace, there had been the lighthouse as well as the 'Kabelmesse' (the local telegraph station). A little distance away, the Woermann Haus had been completed a few years prior.
YouTube video: Old Swakopmund:
As can be seen on the historical photograph of the 'Ritterburg', the main entrance had originally been on the southern façade of the building. This explains why the current entrance around the back has always felt like the kitchen servants' entrance - and does not make much sense, architecturally.
The southern main entrance had probably been shut off and bricked in somewhere between 1920 and 1970, when the building had served as yet another boarding school / 'Schul-Internat'.
The persistent southwesterly winds are probably to blame for this, but today there would be more elegant solutions to that.
Note how the building had once been surrounded by trees, probably the hardy Manotoka, Rooikrans / 'Port Jackson', Araucarya and Casuarina trees.
The photograph dates back to the years immediately after the 1st World War.
The customs shed in the picture explains why the diagonal street below is still known as 'Am Zoll Straße'.
Swakopmund had originally been the main harbour town of German South-West Africa. All the harbour activities were moved to Walvis Bay during the war in 1915 already.
Swakopmund thus remains a harbour town that hasn't seen a single ship in well over a hundred years. And, against all odds, the town seems to be doing pretty well.
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