German Architecture in Samoa

Went to a very interesting meeting of the Goethe Society last night at which Christoph Schnoor of Unitec, an architectural historian, spoke about some of the old buildings in Samoa, many of them in Apia, and their architect, Schaaffhausen. Some of these buildings , one in particular, the old Apia hospital, are in grave danger of being demolished , unless the Prime Minister or somebody high up like him, acts to preserve these buildings for posterity. They are just what tourists like to see and visit and they are part of Samoa and Germany's history and New Zealand's to a lesser extent.

It is sad to see them in such a state of disrepair as we did a few weeks ago when we were in Samoa on holiday. Some of them are along the waterfront road like the Court House built by Stuenzner, with extensions by Schaaffhausen a few years later in 1907.

The old Apia hospital, 1902 was supposedly designed in Hamilton. There were fales added to it for the Samoan patients and Schaaffhausen designed other adjacent buildings for the Chinese contract workers. It is this main building that is in dire threat of being demolished unless someone intervenes. I did my bit and sent an e- mail to the address on the Prime Minister of Samoa's website.

We were saddened to see the former Catholic Cathedral on the main road reduced to a big pile of rubble, demolished recently. I remember going to Mass there one White Sunday in the early 1980s.

Another building, the Museum of Samoa which we visited was formerly a German school.

In 1914 Schaaffhausen went back to Germany for a few years, returning in 1923, working as an architect for the NZ administration. During WW2 he was even interned on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour. Incidentally my mother was considered for internment there too but was not considered a threat to national security according to notes on her in the National Archives.

Schaaffhausen returned to Samoa in 1944 and lived there with
his Samoan wife and family, designing churches among other things. He died in 1960 and is buried in Samoa.

The lower picture is of the Robert Louis Stevenson house which was occupied by the German Governor after Stevenson's death when the house was sold. It is one kof the few heritage buildings that tourists can visit. How authentic the renovation/restoration is, is disputed.