The Slave Tunnel Linking Richter House to Osu Castle

One of the most chilling and historically significant features associated with Richter House is the underground tunnel connecting it to the dungeons of Osu Castle.

Research by historians, archaeologists, and human-rights scholars reveals that:

• The tunnel likely served as a covert passage for transporting enslaved Africans directly from the house to the holding cells beneath Osu Castle.

• The passage allowed merchants like Richter to move captives discreetly, avoiding Danish taxation and regulatory oversight.

• The tunnel contains small chambers and narrow corridors consistent with the forced movement and confinement of human beings.

• Its existence underscores how private trading families played a direct role in the slave trade, working alongside the official colonial fort structure.

Today, although sections of the tunnel are sealed or collapsed, portions remain documented through mapping, oral history, and archaeological study.

A Building at the Crossroads of Heritage and Trauma

Richter House is more than the ruin of a colonial merchant’s mansion. It is:

• A testament to the entanglement of European traders and local Ga communities through marriage, politics, and commerce.

• A physical remnant of the darker networks that supported the transatlantic slave trade.

• A symbol of the contested memories of colonialism—heritage on one side, historical trauma on the other.

• A key architectural witness in Accra’s ongoing efforts to document and preserve sites connected to slavery.