Embassy of Germany in London
LocationBelgravia, London
Address23 Belgrave Square/Chesham Place, London, SW1X 8PZ
Coordinates51°29′54″N 0°09′15″W / 51.49825°N 0.15425°W / 51.49825; -0.15425
AmbassadorMiguel Berger[1]

The Embassy of Germany in London is the diplomatic mission of Germany in the United Kingdom.[2] The embassy is located at Belgrave Square, in Belgravia.[2] It occupies three of the original terraced houses in Belgrave Square and a late 20th-century extension.

History

The German Embassy, c. 1930

The Prussian Consul-General was housed at 9 Carlton House Terrace in the so-called Prussia House. During Hans Wesemann's 1936 trial over the kidnapping of pacifist writer Berthold Jacob from Basel, Switzerland, Wesemann admitted that the German Embassy in London had been used as a base for the activities of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret State police.[3] In 1937, Ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop hosted 1,000 people, including Prince George, Duke of Kent and his wife, Maria, Duchess of Kent, at the reopening of the Embassy at Carlton House Terrace which had undergone a £100,000 renovation.[4] In September 1939, the German Embassy burned its files following the onset of World War II.[5]

Post World War II

After World War II Prussia House was requisitioned as enemy property, furniture and the works of art were sold in separate auctions. The Federal Republic of Germany moved its consulate and diplomatic operations to Belgrave Square, still operating as a consulate general. The consulate became a fully functional embassy in June 1951, the FRG leasing the building for 99 years in 1953. In the 1960s, the West German Embassy was the site of Jewish War veterans who were protesting signs in Germany of a revival of anti-Semitism.[6]

In the 1970s, office space in the embassy was tight so an extension was erected at Chesham Place, inaugurated in 1978. It won the Westminster City Council prize for architecture.

In 1990, after German reunification, the East German embassy building at 34 Belgrave Square became part of the German embassy.

List of German ambassadors to the United Kingdom

References

  1. ↑ Paul-Anton Krüger (30 March 2022), Ex-Regierungssprecher Steffen Seibert wird Botschafter in Israel Süddeutsche Zeitung
  2. 1 2 "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 14 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "NAZI AGENT ADMITS KIDNAPPING WRITER; Says in Basle That the German Embassy in London Was Base of Nazi Secret Police". The New York Times. 6 May 1936. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  4. ↑ TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (15 May 1937). "RIBBENTROP IS HOST TO 1,000 AT EMBASSY; German Envoy Reopens London Edifice--Duke and Duchess of Kent Among Guests". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "German Embassy Burns Files". The New York Times. 2 September 1939. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Times, Special to The New York (18 January 1960). "BRITONS PROTEST ANTI-SEMITIC ACTS; Jewish War Veterans Lead London Throng in March on Bonn's Embassy". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
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