The Embassy of Turkey in Berlin maintains

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

and represents

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

's interests in dealing with the

German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

. Currently, Ali Kemal Aydın is the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of Turkey to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

Situated on the crossing of

Tiergartenstraße Tiergartenstraße is a street in the Tiergarten, Berlin, Tiergarten district in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. The street runs east-west along the southern edge of the Großer Tiergarten park from Kemperplatz and Ben-Gurion-Straße near ...

with Hildebranstraße, the first embassy building was purchased by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1918, and was used until the

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) began with the Young Turk Revolution which restored the constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system for the Ottoman parliament. At the same tim ...

. The building served for the Turkish Republic's embassy between 1929 and 1944. It was destroyed during the last days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in Allied air raids and street fighting. With the establishment of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

and the relocation of its capital to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, the Turkish Embassy moved to

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

. The Embassy of Turkey was based in Bonn from 1950 to 1999 when Berlin regained its capital status after the reunification of Germany. From 1999 to 2012, the embassy quartered in a rented six-storey building in Berlin.

New building

On October 30, 2012, a new embassy building, constructed on the site of the destroyed building, was opened with a ceremony attended by high ranked politicians such as the Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as M ...

, Minister for the European Union

Egemen Bağış Egemen Bağış () (born 23 April 1970) is a former Turkish politician of, former member of the Turkish parliament, and the former minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator of Turkey in accession talks with the European Union. Currently, h ...

and Foreign Minister of Germany

Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...

as well as some 1,500 guests. The architecture of the building symbolises the situation of Turkey as a bridge between Asia and Europe.

Technical details

The groundbreaking took place in October 2010. The construction began in July 2011 and was completed in October 2012. It cost EUR 30 million. The building's floor area is , and it covers a total area of including the parking lot. It is the biggest diplomatic mission of Turkey. The embassy complex, designed by German architects Thomas Hillig and his colleagues Volkmar Nickol, Felipe Schmidt, consists of two blocks connected with an atrium. While one of the blocks is reserved for the ambassador's office and reception areas, the second block contains office space for 100 staff. There is a conference hall with tiered seating for 110 people, where video shows can be held. Another conference and ball room can hold 800 guests, which is situated in a glass-roofed gallery (atrium) between the two blocks. With opening of its doors, the atrium transforms into a multi-purpose hall having a capacity of around 2,000 people. The gallery is decorated with nine pieces of

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, created by Turkish artist

Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (1911 – 21 September 1975) was a Turkish painter, mosaic-maker, muralist, writer and poet. His art work was inspired by Anatolian village scenes and folk literature, and included traditional handicraft folk patterns. Ea ...

(1911–1975) and brought from the former embassy building in Bonn. The portal of the building is made of copper plates, which were taken off the embassy building's front door in Bonn. The glass of the interior and exterior windows is engraved with

girih ''Girih'' ( fa, گره, "knot", also written ''gereh'') are decorative Islamic geometric patterns used in architecture and handicraft objects, consisting of angled lines that form an interlaced strapwork pattern. ''Girih'' decoration is believ ...

interlacing ornaments found in historical Seljuk art.

References

{{Diplomatic missions in Germany

Germany–Turkey relations

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Buildings and structures in Berlin Office buildings completed in 2012

History

New building

Technical details

See also

References