German Tennis Club - 1927 [1927-????]

Submitted by christoph on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 15:31
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed

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.

German Tennis Club 1927

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German Tennis Club 1927
1927

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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

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.

1910s Hong Kong Cricket Club Pitch and Hong Kong Club

So the tennis club must have been up on the roof.

Regards, David

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:

German Club 1931

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:

  • If you look at Butterfield & Swire in the Jurors Lists, they give the address as 1, Connaught Road Central, which would put the New Oriental Building at Number 2
  • The New Oriental Building has a fourth floor
  • The floor plan shown above fits the shape of the New Oriental Building, but not the B&S building

Regards, David