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 ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

have had diplomatic relations since

German unification The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1871. Prior to that, the only German states holding diplomatic relations with the U.S. were the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

, since 1835, and the three

Hanseatic cities The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German tow ...

of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, since 1853.
A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Hanseatic Republics
', Secretary of State, Washington, D.C. Relations were broken twice (1917 to 1921, 1941 to 1955) while Germany and the United States were at war.

Envoys and ministers of German states

Ministers of Prussia to the United States

*1817–1823: Friedrich von Greuhm *1825–1830: Ludwig Niederstetter; ''Chargé d'Affaires'' *1834–1844: Friedrich Ludwig von Rönne *1844–1848: Friedrich von Gerolt *1848–1849: Friedrich Ludwig von Rönne (October 1848 - December 1849; (January 26 - December 21, 1849) simultaneously "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for the Central Government of Germany" i.e., the

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

) *1849–1868: Friedrich von Gerolt (January 24, 1868 – 1871 as Minister of the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

)

Ministers of the Hanseatic cities to the United States

*1827–1828: Vincent Rumpff''Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, Volume 3''
The Hanseatic Republics: 1827, p. 397, United States. Department of State, 1933. *1862–1864: Rudolf Schleiden *1864–1868:

Johannes Rösing Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John (name), John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes (given name), Ioannes''), itself ...

Heads of mission

Ministers and Ambassadors of the German Empire to the U.S.

Embassy of Germany, former location - Washington, D

*1871–1882:

Kurd von Schlözer Kurd von Schlözer (original name ''Conrad Nestor von Schlözer''; 5 January 1822, in Lübeck, Free City of Lübeck – 13 May 1894, in Berlin, German Empire, Germany) was an imperial German historian, diplomat and German Ambassador to the United ...

, ''Minister Plenipotentiary'' *1882–1884: Carl von Eisendecher, ''Minister Plenipotentiary'' *1884–1888: Friedrich Johann Graf von Alvensleben, ''Minister Plenipotentiary'' *1888–1891: Ludwig, Graf von Arco-Valley, ''Minister Plenipotentiary'' *1891–1893: Theodor von Holleben, ''Minister Plenipotentiary'' *1893–1895: Anton Saurma von der Jeltsch *1895–1897: Max von Thielmann *1897–1903:

Theodor von Holleben Theodor von Holleben (18 September 1838 Stettin, Pomerania – 31 January 1913 Berlin) was a German diplomat. Biography Holleben was educated at the universities of Heidelberg, Berlin and Göttingen; became an officer in the Bodyguard Hussar Re ...

*1903–1908:

Hermann Freiherr Speck von Sternburg Hermann Speck von Sternburg (21 August 1852 Leeds, England – 23 August 1908 Heidelberg, Germany) was a German diplomat. Education Sternburg was educated in the Fürstenschule Saint Afra, Meissen, Saxony, and the military academy of Potsda ...

*1908–1917:

Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff Johann Heinrich Graf von Bernstorff (14 November 1862 – 6 October 1939) was a German politician and ambassador to the United States from 1908 to 1917. Early life Born in 1862 in London, he was the son of one of the most powerful politicians ...

''Diplomatic relations broken off due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(February 3, 1917 – April 25, 1921)''

Ambassadors of the Weimar Republic to the U.S.

*1921–1922: Dr. Karl Lang, ''Chargé d'Affaires'' *1922–1925:

Otto Wiefeldt Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

*1925–1927: Adolf Georg von Maltzan Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11795, Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron

*1928–1933:

Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron (1 September 1884 – 1 September 1955) was a German Ambassador to the United States under the Weimar Republic, from 1928 until 14 April 1933. He was in office at the time that Adolf Hitler came to po ...

(resigned April 14, 1933 in opposition to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Ambassadors of the Third Reich to the U.S.

*1933–1937:

Hans Luther Hans Luther () (10 March 1879 – 11 May 1962) was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany for 482 days in 1925 to 1926. As Minister of Finance he helped stabilize the Mark during the hyperinflation of 1923. From 1930 to 1933, Luther was h ...

*1937–1938:

Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff Hans-Heinrich Dieckhoff (23 December 1884 – 21 March 1952) was a German diplomat best known for his service to the Nazi regime. Dieckhoff was born in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. From 1937 to November 1938 he served as German ambassador ...

, recalled November 18, 1938 in response to worsening relations with the U.S. due to

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

(November 9), and the U.S. recall of its Ambassador (November 15). *1938–1941:

Hans Thomsen Hans Thomsen (14 September 1891 – 31 October 1968) was a German diplomat in the United States. Career Thomsen was a son of the Norwegian-born banker Carlo Z. Thomsen. Hans Thomsen held the dr. juris degree, and entered the foreign service in ...

, ''Chargé d'Affaires'' ''Diplomatic relations broken off due to

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 ...

(December 11, 1941 – September 22, 1949)''

Ambassadors of the Federal Republic of Germany to the U.S.

*1951–1958: Heinrich Krekeler (20 July 1906 – 5 August 2003), (June 1950 – June 1951: Consul General, June 1951 – May 1955: ''Chargé d'Affaires'', May 1955 – January 1958: Ambassador) *1958–1962: Wilhelm Grewe (16 October 1911 – 11 January 2000) (February 1958 – May 1962) *1962–1968: Karl Heinrich Knappstein (15 April 1906 – 6 May 1989) (June 1962 – December 1968) *1968–1973: Rolf Friedemann Pauls (26 August 1915 – 4 May 2002) (December 1968 – February 1973) *1973–1979: Berndt von Staden (24 June 1919 – 17 October 2014) (February 1973 – November 1979) *1979–1984: Peter Hermes (8 August 1922 – 14 October 2015) (November 1979 – July 1984) *1984–1987: Günther van Well (15 October 1922 – 14 August 1993) (July 1984 – October 1987) *1987–1992: Jürgen Ruhfus (4 August 1930 – 25 February 2018) (November 1987 – August 1992) *1992–1995: Immo Stabreit (*24 January 1933) (August 1992 – January 1995) *1995–2001:

Jürgen Chrobog Jürgen Chrobog (born February 28, 1940) is a German jurist and former diplomat. He worked in the Foreign Office of West Germany and the reunified Germany and among other diplomatic postings, was Ambassador to the United States from 1995 to 20 ...

(*28 February 1940) (January 1995 – June 2001) *2001–2006:

Wolfgang Ischinger Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger (born April 6, 1946) is a German diplomat who served as chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022. From 2001 to 2006, Ischinger was the German ambassador to the United States, and from 1998 to 20 ...

(*6 April 1946) (June 2001 – March 2006) *2006–2011: Klaus Scharioth (*8 October 1946) (March 2006 – 2011) *2011–2014: Peter Ammon (*23 February 1952) (August 2011 – April 2014) *2014–2018: Peter Wittig (*11 August 1954) (April 2014 – June 2018) *Since 2018:

Emily Haber Emily Margarethe Haber (''née'' Oncken; born in 1956) is a German diplomat. She served as State Secretary from 2011 to 2018: from 2011 to 2013, at the Federal Foreign Office and from 2014 to 2018, at the Federal Ministry of the Interior. She is ...

(*1956) (June 2018 – present)

References

{{reflist