Nearly 100 years Villa Wille - The Chronicle of the Hotel Eberwein

On 12 November 1910 Hermann Wille applied for the permission to build at the building authority of Swakopmund in form of a letter written in immaculate gothic script.

“To the Building Authority Swakopmund

I intend to erect servants quarters and outbuildings on the plot I have purchased from the German Colonial Company, corner Kaiser Wilhelm and Otavi st., and beg the honored Authority to grant permission to do so in accordance with the attached plans.
Faithfully yours,
Hermann Will”

The person of Hermann Wille at that stage was quite well known in Swakopmund as he already had designed a number of impressive and elegant buildings. Today there still remain, apart from his residence ”Villa Wille”, the Adler Apotheke, erected in 1909 and the extension of the Hotel Fürst Bismarck, erected in the same year. Noteworthy are the vicarage erected in 1911 and the German School opposite with its attic window and well styled façade, which was built in 1913, which together form a successful architectural unit. The remarkable stylistic elements Hermann Wille applied are much in evidence in these buildings. Opposite the more “rustic” colonial style of the earlier buildings of Swakopmund, he integrated more and more design elements of the neo-baroque style and especially the so-called “Jugendstil” which have contributed largely towards the elegance of his buildings. The Evangelical Lutheran church and vicarage were declared national monuments in 1978.

• 1928 Mr. Hänicke became new owner of the Villa
• 1975 it was changed into a medical surgery
• 1979 Mrs Hänicke became owner of the building
• 1982 Mr. J.J.Terblanche became new owner
• 1998 Gerhard Eberwein became the new owner
Reconstruction of the Villa Wille into Hotel Eberwein was undertaken

On 25 March Gerhard Eberwein signed the purchase contract for the Villa Wille. He developed an action plan for the conversion of the Villa into a hotel.

• A hotel Garni of the upper middle class was to be erected.
• The façade of the new part was to be integrated into the original design to form a closed unit.
• The original building was to house the kitchen, lounge, bar, reception and dining room on the ground floor.
• The upper floor of the original was to undergo little change and was to contain suites and double rooms.
• In the added part of the building 16 double rooms of sufficient space and quality were to be constructed to ensure total comfort of the guests.
• For the storage of vehicles a basement garage was necessary.

On 4 January 1999 the municipality of Swakopmund granted permission for the reconstruction of Villa Wille to a hotel. At the beginning of February Horst Fritze started with the reconstruction of the old Villa. In the old building some walls and floors were carefully removed. It became obvious that the old building was solidly constructed. In spite of the fact that the building had been standing on sand for ninety years no cracks or rotten beams were detected. Inside the space of the foundation some old newspapers of 1908/09 were found.
The construction work proceeded rapidly and was completed on December 1999.