For the Hamburg shipping company's Woermann House, the granite foundation had to be blasted away. The resulting individual granite boulders encompass the house up to the first floor, creating the impression that the building is growing directly out of the rock. The leeward side is lined with bay windows and balconies. The Woermann Line had its headquarters in the building, built by Friedrich Höft in 1906. During the Herero uprising, the line's ships supplied the entire Schutztruppe (protection troops) with weapons and other supplies—a highly profitable business for the company.