German Tennis Club - 1927 [1927-????]
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Submitted by christoph on Thu, 2011-07-07 15:31
Current condition:
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed:
1927-01-01
The German Tennis Club - Deutscher Tennis Klub north to the junction Jordan Road - Gascoigne Road, Kowloon was established in 1927. There were two tennis courts an a small club house. In 1927 approximately 120 Germans lived in Hong Kong. Their number increased to 180 in 1935 and due to the sino-japanese war to 350/400 in 1939. In 1931 another club was established on the 4th floor of the Butterfield & Swire building in Central, 2 Connaught Road.
Comments
Thanks Christoph, that's
Thanks Christoph, that's another interesting piece of history. It's surprising to see that the google satellite view shows there's still a tennis court there today!
I'm not sure if the tennis club could have been on the 4th floor of the Butterfield & Swire building. Notes from its opening in 1897 say:
On the Praya side it consists (including the ground floor) of three storeys and on the Connaught Road side [A mistake, this should be Chater Road] of two storeys.
The same article notes the potential for tennis:
The top floor is practically a private house, and only occupies about half the area of the first floor, but the remaining space is available for extension when required, and meanwhile will make an excellent tennis court.
Or maybe the top floor was extended before 1931, so that the tennis court was on the roof of the third storey ("4th floor" using the German numbering of floors)?
Regards, David
Fourth floor
Just answered my own question - this view of the B&S offices (the building on the right) shows the Chater Road side had already been extended to three storeys by the 1910s.
So the tennis club must have been up on the roof.
Regards, David
no sports
Sorry, my text was misleading. A german tennis club existed only in Kowloon. The German Club on the fourth floor of Butterfield and Swire was an ordinary club with function rooms, library, restaurant, facilities etc. as shown in the floor plan:
Deutscher Klub
Looking at this again, I believe the club was in the New Oriental Building, the taller building, second from the right in the photo above:
Regards, David