Embassy of the United Kingdom, Berlin
| British Embassy, Berlin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location: |  Berlin, Germany
|
| Address: | 70-71 Wilhelmstraße, 10117 Berlin, Germany |
| Ambassador: | Sir Sebastian Wood |
The Embassy of the United Kingdom, Berlin (German: Britische Botschaft, Berlin) is the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to Germany. It is located on 70-71 Wilhelmstraße, near the Hotel Adlon, in Berlin. In October 2021, the ambassador is Jill Gallard.[1]
Palais Strousberg
[change | change source]Before moving to the current location of the embassy, the embassy could be found used Building Leipziger Platz 12, the Dutch Palace and other places from 1797 to 1803. The original building at 70 Wilhelmstraße, known as the Palais Strousberg and designed by August Orth, was finished being created in 1868 by the railway businessman Bethel Henry Strousberg. The United Kingdom would officially buy the place in December 1884, as they were previously just renting it for use as the embassy.
After World War 1 started and relations with the United Kingdom and Germany started being bad, the building would become empty. It would only be in 1920 that the United Kingdom would start to use it again, as the war had ended.[2] However, the building would return to being empty after World War 2 started, as United Kingdom-Germany relations became bad again. After allied bombing on Germany, the building would become very damaged. After the end of the war, it was decided that the building would be completely destroyed in 1950. The United Kingdom still owned the land though.
Embassy during the Cold War
[change | change source]Between 1949 and 1991, Germany was split in 2 countries, East Germany and West Germany. The British Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was based in Bonn, the capital city of West Germany. The British embassy to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was near the old embassy, at Unter den Linden 32-34.
Building after reunification
[change | change source]After the reunification of Germany, the German government returned to Berlin. After this, the British government decided to go back to the Wilhelmstraße embassy spot. A new building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on the 18 July 2000.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Germany: November 2020" (Press release). Foreign & Commonwealth Office. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ↑ "British embassy Berlin - More information". Archived from the original on 15 February 2002. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
This article contains material that was originally translated from the German Wikipedia article Britische Botschaft in Berlin. That article contains the following references:-
- Thomas Michael Krüger, Florian Bolk: Britische Botschaft Berlin. Broschüre (32 Pages), ISBN 3-933743-36-2
- Ulf Meyer: Bundeshauptstadt Berlin, jovis Verlag, Berlin, 1999, ISBN 3-931321-98-3