The Afrikahaus is an office building at Große Reichenstraße 27 in the German city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. It was built in 1899 as the headquarters of the ''C. Woermann'' firm (including the

Woermann-Linie The Woermann-Linie was a German shipping company that operated from 1885 to 1942. History It was founded on 15 June 1885 by Adolph Woermann and developed as one of the leading shipping companies between Europe and Africa. From 1899 the company ...

) by the Hamburg architect

Martin Haller Martin Emil Ferdinand Haller (1835–1925) was a German architect, who designed the Hamburg Rathaus and the building of the Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg, and a member of the Hamburg Parliament. Early life and family H ...

and was given listed monument status in 1972.

Construction

The Afrikahaus was commissioned by

Adolph Woermann Adolph Woermann (10 December 1847 in Hamburg – 4 May 1911 in the Grönwohld-Hof near Trittau) was a German merchant, shipowner and politician, who was also instrumental in the establishment of German colonies in Africa. In his time he was the ...

and Eduard Woermann in 1899 to serve as an office for the C. Woermann trading company; the operator of the Woermann-Linie and the

Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie (''German East Africa Line'') was a shipping line, established in 1890 as an alternative to the existing shipping services to East Africa, including German East Africa (1891–1919), then dominated by United Kingdom ...

. In order for construction to take place, Haus Große Reichenstraße 31, an old Hamburg Mansion, was demolished. The architect Martin Haller designed the facade to emphasize the exotic nature of its primary tenant. To further reflect this, the buildings colors were those of the Woermann line.

Location

The Afrikahaus is centrally located in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

's inner city, between the shopping street,

Mönckebergstraße The Mönckebergstraße (locally also called Mö) is one of the main shopping streets in Hamburg, Germany. Mönckebergstraße is located in Hamburg-Altstadt, running some 800 m in east-west-direction between the Hauptbahnhof at Steintorwall and th ...

, the

Hamburg City Hall Hamburg City Hall (german: link=no, Hamburger Rathaus, ) is the seat of local government of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is the seat of the government of Hamburg and as such, the seat of one of Germany's 16 state parliame ...

and the

warehouse district This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indust ...

Speicherstadt The Speicherstadt (, literally: 'City of Warehouses', meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations, oak logs, in this particular case. It is ...

. To the west is another notable office building, the Zürichhaus. Afrikaner

The building as a monument

The "Afrikahaus" was protected in 1972 as an example of Hamburg Kontorhaus Architecture. When built in 1900 it combined then modern construction techniques and practicality. Because of its status, the building is regularly open on the "Day of Open Monuments", with guided tours of the Afrikahaus provided for visitors. The building was closed for renovations for a few years, but reopened in February 1999 with modern office space. During the renovation, special care was taken to ensure that architectural features such as cast iron supports, vaulted ceilings, doors, and a wall mosaic with African Motifs and Elephants were preserved.

Today

The building is now family owned, and is rented out to various firms. Companies that currently rent space in the building include, ''pilot group'', ''Deutsche Personalberatung - DPB - GmbH & Co. KG'', ''EURO I AG'', ''IPHH Internet Port Hamburg GmbH'', ''HEAVEN'S DOOR event agentur GmbH'', ''Careerteam GmbH'', ''SNM Style Net Media GmbH'', and the restaurant ''Estancia Steak''. Since the buildings construction, ''C. Woermann GmbH & Co'' has been a tenant.

References

External links

Homepage of the Afrikahaus
{{coord, 53, 32, 53, N, 9, 59, 44, E, region:DE-HH_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte Office buildings in Germany Office buildings completed in 1899 1899 establishments in Germany 19th-century architecture in Germany