The Embassy of Austria in London is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

of the

Republic of Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine States of Austria, states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, th ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The embassy is located at 18 Belgrave Mews West in the

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

area of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and the residence of the ambassador is located at 18

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for t ...

History

Excerpt from Rudolf Agstner, ''Von Chandos House zum Belgrave Square – Österreichs Botschaft in London 1815–1997'', Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs (Sonderdruck): "The history of the Austrian Embassy in London is remarkable in many ways. Since the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, it has moved its quarters only once, in 1866, from

Chandos House Chandos House is a Grade I listed building at N° 2 Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, in central London. It was designed by Robert Adam, the most prominent architect in Georgian era, Georgian Britain, and built by William Adam and Company. It is se ...

to 18

. It is the only Embassy building of the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Foreign Service still used today by Austrian diplomacy. After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian Empire reestablished her diplomatic mission in London. In 1816, Paul Anton III Prince Esterházy de Galantha rented Chandos House, N° 2, Queen Anne Street, London SW, as his residence and as chancery of the embassy. It had been built around 1770 by architect

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...

for the Duke of Buckingham and was considered one of the most beautiful townhouses. As the building became old and dilapidated and its owner intended to pull it down, Ambassador Rudolph Count Apponyi in 1866 concluded a sublease for the townhouse at 18, Belgrave Square. The new residence of the Austrian ambassador and chancery of the building had been built between 1814 and 1825 by architect

George Basevi Elias George Basevi FRS (1 April 1794 – 16 October 1845) was a British architect who worked in both Neoclassical and Gothic Revival styles. A pupil of Sir John Soane, his designs included Belgrave Square in London, and the Fitzwilliam Muse ...

according to a development plan for Belgrave Square by Thomas Cubitt and Joseph Cundry. The actual builder and first resident was philanthropist William Haldimand. The building was situated on an area of 10.686 square feet at the western side of Belgrave Square, Parish St. George Hanover Square in Middlesex County. It had 4 floors facing Belgrave Square, and 5 floors on the back facing the mews. In 1866, it consisted of 74 living rooms, salons, corridors, anterooms, servants’ pantries, staircases and closets. After several short-term contracts, Ambassador Count Francis Deym finally in 1892 bought the town house at 18, Belgrave Square on behalf of Austria-Hungary. A small wing was added to the building, consisting of two rooms that served as archives and chancery for administrative affairs, and another room above to be used jointly by three diplomats. In 1911 the office wing was adapted further, providing space for the commercial director, an office, an anteroom and two rooms for the military and naval attachés. When on August 12, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary, the rupture of diplomatic relations became unavoidable. On August 13, the embassy was entrusted to the protection of the ambassador of the United States. This protection was brought to an end with the severing of diplomatic relations of Austria-Hungary with the United States on April 6, 1917. From April 1917 to August 1920, the Royal Swedish Legation in London looked after the embassy building, the consulates and Austro-Hungarian interests. Protection ended when Austria opened her legation in London on August 18, 1920 and George Franckenstein became the first minister plenipotentiary after the war, remaining so until 1938. The long-running dispute between Austria and Hungary over the rights to the Westminster lease was only resolved in 1934, when Hungary finally ceded the rights to the lease. After Hitler proclaimed the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich on March 13, 1938, the building N° 18, Belgrave Square was used as consular department of the German embassy. After the outbreak of World War II until July 31, 1945, the Swiss legation took over the protection of German interests in the United Kingdom, which then included the former Austrian legation on Belgrave Square. Swiss protection ended on July 31, 1945. Between August 1, 1945 and September 28, 1948, the severely damaged former legation building was administered by the Ministry of Works. On September 29, 1948, the legation building was returned to Austria. 2 months later, on November 29, a new lease was concluded for 86 years, until Michaelmas (i.e. 29 September) 2034. On January 30, 1952 Lothar Wimmer presented his credentials as Ambassador of Austria. The historic mansion on 18, Belgrave Square continues to serve as residence to the Austrian ambassador. The mews wing which until the 1960s also contained apartments has been used exclusively as office space in the last decades. Before Austria assumed the EU-Presidency for the first time in 1998, extensive modernisation work was undertaken to turn it into a modern and spacious office-building."Rudolf Agstner
''Von Chandos House zum Belgrave Square – Österreichs Botschaft in London 1815–1997''
Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs (Sonderdruck).

Gallery

File:Embassy_of_Austria_in_London_1.jpg, The Austrian Embassy at 18 Belgrave Mews West File:Embassy_of_Austria_in_London_2.jpg, Plaque outside the embassy in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

depicting the

coat of arms of Austria The current coat of arms of the Republic of Austria has been in use in its first forms by the Austria, First Republic of Austria since 1919. Between 1934 and the Anschluss, German annexation in 1938, the ''Federal State (Bundesstaat Österreich) ...

File:Embassy_of_Austria_in_London_3.jpg, The residence of the ambassador at 18

File:Austrian Embassy in London - sign.jpg, Plaque outside the residence of the ambassador File:Rutland Gate, SW7 - geograph.org.uk - 434049.jpg,

Austrian Cultural Forum An Austrian Cultural Forum is an agency of the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, whose task consists of the cultural and scientific dialogue with artists and scientists of each particular host country. A Cultural forum focuse ...

London at 28

Rutland Gate Rutland House was the name of at least two London houses occupied by the Earls and Dukes of Rutland. That on Aldersgate Street was leased by playwright Sir William Davenant, who converted a room of it into a private theatre in the 1650s. That in ...

Ambassadors of the Republic of Austria

# Georg von und zu Franckenstein (1920–1938) #

Heinrich Schmid Heinrich Schmid (6 April 1921 – 23 February 1999) was a Swiss linguist and "father" of the Rhaeto-Romance Dachsprachen ("umbrella languages") Rumantsch Grischun and Ladin Dolomitan. Heinrich Schmid lived his entire life in the same house in Z ...

(1946–1950) # Lothar Wimmer (1952–1955) # Johannes Prince of Schwarzenberg (1955–1966) # Josef Schöner (1966–1970) # Wilfried Platzer (1970–1975) # Kurt Enderl (1975–1978) # Heinrich Gleissner (1979–1982) # Reginald Thomas (1982–1987) # Walter Magrutsch (1987–1993) # Georg Hennig (1993–1996) #

Eva Nowotny Eva Nowotny (born 17 February 1944 in Vienna) is chair of the Board of the University of Vienna. She has been Austrian ambassador to France (1992–1997), to the Court of St. James's (United Kingdom) (1997–1999), and to the United States. From 1 ...

(1997–2000) # Alexander Christiani (2000–2003) # Ernst Sucharipa (2004–2005) # Gabriele Matzner-Holzer (2005–2010) #

Emil Brix Emil Brix (born 1956) is an Austrian diplomat and historian. Life and career Born 1956 in Vienna, he studied English and History at the University of Vienna. Starting in 1982, he worked for the Foreign Service of the Republic of Austria. From ...

(2010–2015) # Martin Eichtinger (2015–2018) # Michael Zimmermann (2018–present)Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United Kingdom
/ref>

References

External links

Official websiteAustrian Cultural Forum London
{{Diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Diplomatic missions of Austria Austria–United Kingdom relations Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Belgravia