The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bangalore represents the interests of the

Government of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n states of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It was opened on 21 November 2008 in a temporary office in the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

(CBD) of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. On 22 June 2012, the Consulate moved to its permanent premises in the corner of St. Mark's Road and Residency Road near the

Bishop Cotton Girls' School Bishop Cotton Girls' School, or BCGS, is a private all-girls' school for boarders and day scholars in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The school offers academic scholarships, which aid students from lower income backgrounds to afford tuition and ...

. Achim Burkart is the current Consul General.

Founding

The Consulate was inaugurated on 21 November 2008 by

Foreign Minister of Germany The federal minister for foreign affairs () is the head of the Federal Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Johann Wadephul. Since 1966, the minister for foreign affairs has often also simultaneousl ...

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

in the presence of ambassador to India Bernd Mützelburg and Consul General Stefan Graf in rented premises located in the CBD of

; however, the post was not to begin processing

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

and work permit applications till 2011. It was the first Consulate General to start operations in Bangalore. Bangalore was chosen because of the presence of large German investments in Karnataka like

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch (styled BOSCH), is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 188 ...

and the potential for more investment in the region. The new premises located in the intersection of St. Mark's Road and Residency Road was inaugurated on 22 June 2012 by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in the presence of Chief Secretary of Karnataka S. V. Ranganath and the then Consul General Ingo Karsten.

Services and activities

The Consulate General provides

services to residents of

and

along with consular services to German nationals. In March 2012, the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

(DAAD) opened its fifth Indian office on the Consulate premises to promote academic and scientific knowledge transfer between Karnataka, Kerala and Germany. The office provides free counselling services for students and scholars interested in German education.

References

{{German diplomatic missions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Germany–India relations Organisations based in Bengaluru 2008 establishments in Karnataka

Founding

Services and activities

See also

References