The Palais Strousberg later to become the old British embassy building
Before moving to the Wilhelmstraße, the British mission used, among others, the building at Leipziger Platz 12 and the Niederländisches Palais [de]), 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.[1] 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, 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.[1] At the beginning of World War II, 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.[citation needed]
Upon reunification in 1990, the German government returned the seat of government from Bonn to Berlin. Accordingly, the British government 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).[who?] Ground was broken at the site on 29 June 1998 by Derek Fatchett MP, and the new building opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 18 July 2000.[citation needed]
Architecture
The British embassy is the first, and to date, only embassy in Germany to be built under a private finance initiative. Arteos, a Bilfinger Berger owned special purpose entity, 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.[2]
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.[citation needed]
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, the Metropolitan Police'sCounter Terrorism Command, the BKA (German federal police), and various prosecutors had investigated the man for months prior to his arrest in Potsdam.[3][4] On 17 February 2023, Smith was sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison.[5]
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), ISBN3-933743-36-2
1 Diplomatic posts only with no consular facilities. 2 Consular posts only with no diplomatic functions. 3 The United Kingdom and His Majesty's Government do not recognise or have formal bilateral intergovernmental, diplomatic or consular relations with the (generally unrecognised) Government of the Republic of China in Taipei. Functions in Taiwan as an accredited informal and unofficial representative post and a semi-official informal consular post.
