The British Embassy in Berlin () is the United Kingdom's

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 denotes ...

to Germany. It is located on 70-71

Wilhelmstraße Wilhelmstraße, or Wilhelmstrasse (see ß; ; ) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, and lat ...

, near the Hotel Adlon, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The current ambassador is Andrew Jonathan Mitchell CMG.

Palais Strousberg

Before moving to the Wilhelmstraße, the British mission used, among others, the building at Leipziger Platz 12 and the ), from 1797 to 1803. The original building at 70 Wilhelmstraße, known as the Palais Strousberg and designed by August Orth, was built in 1868 by the railway magnate Bethel Henry Strousberg. In December 1884, the United Kingdom bought the site after renting it for some years after Strousberg's bankruptcy and the subsequent sale of the building to Hugo zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen in 1876. Wilhelmstraße was then a centre for the German government, being the location of the Imperial Chancellery and the Foreign Ministry. When diplomatic relations were broken off at the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the building stood empty. Surviving a fire during the upheavals of the 1919 revolution, it was reoccupied in 1920 when Edgar Vincent d'Abernon became ambassador. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, relations were broken off again. The building was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during the war and was demolished in 1950. The title to the land nevertheless remained in the possession of the United Kingdom.

Cold War era

Between 1949 and 1990, Germany was divided. The British Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was based in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, the capital city of that state. The British embassy to the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(East Germany) was situated near to the old embassy, at

Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the Tilia, linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Berlin Palace to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the Tilia, linden trees (known ...

32-34.

Post-reunification building

Upon reunification in 1990, the German government returned the seat of government from

. Accordingly, the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

decided to reoccupy the Wilhelmstraße site, despite the German Foreign Office no longer being located on this street. An architectural competition was held, and won by the practice of Michael Wilford and Partner (see also Manuel Schupp). Ground was broken at the site on 29 June 1998 by Derek Fatchett MP, and the new building opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 18 July 2000.

Architecture

The British embassy is the first, and to date, only embassy in Germany to be built under a

private finance initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 ...

. Arteos, a Bilfinger Berger owned

special purpose entity A special-purpose entity (SPE), also called a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) or a financial vehicle corporation (FVC), is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited partnership) created to fulfill narrow, speci ...

, financed and were to operate the embassy building for 30 years. A further 30-year extension is possible, following which the building will revert to British government ownership. In December 2006, Bilfinger sold their interest in the embassy to the UK firm Secondary Market Infrastructure Fund. Conscious of the necessity for modern embassies to forge good and open relationships with the German public, Wilford endowed the main floor with a café, library and restaurant. The security zone used to begin on the fourth floor but, with the perceived increased risk from terrorists, the site is now totally secured, and the intended public spaces are no longer freely accessible.

Events

On 10 August 2021, British and German authorities arrested an embassy security guard for passing documents to Russian intelligence for money. The guard, a 57-year-old British locally-hired contract worker, was named as David Smith.

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

, the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, the BKA (German federal police), and various prosecutors had investigated the man for months prior to his arrest in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. On 17 February 2023, Smith was sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison.

References

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), * Ulf Meyer: ''Bundeshauptstadt Berlin'', jovis Verlag, Berlin, 1999,

External links

British embassy BerlinPhotograph of the old embassy
{{Authority control Government buildings completed in 2000 Buildings and structures in Berlin Germany–United Kingdom bilateral relations organisations

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Michael Wilford buildings Postmodern architecture in Germany