10 Downing Street

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The entrance from 10 Downing Street, 2013

The house 10 Downing Street , the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury , which since 1905 always at the same time the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 's.

The term (10) Downing Street is a metonymy or synonym for the British government or the Prime Minister, comparable to the terms White House for the US government or historically Wilhelmstrasse for the German government.

The house is in the middle of London's government district on a side street off Whitehall . The street was built in the 17th century. Winston Churchill writes about the house in his book about the Second World War that it was "built in accordance with the greed for profit of the time".

The house has been sporadic since 1735 and has been the permanent residence of the respective prime minister since 1902. Originally it was number  5. Hans Caspar von Bothmer , First Minister for German Affairs of Georg I (“ German Chancellery ”) lived here until 1732 .

10 Downing Street is closely connected to the more spacious neighboring house No. 11, which is the official residence of the Second Lord of the Treasury (an office held ex officio by the Chancellor of the Exchequer ). Due to the size of the Blair family , it became necessary to change the arrangement in 1997, so that Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown moved into house number 10 and Tony Blair moved into house number 11.

All subsequent Prime Ministers, including Boris Johnson , have retained this arrangement .

During the tenure of Harold Wilson (1964–1970 and 1974–1976) the house was subjected to such a thorough renovation that it was then equivalent to a completely new building. In 1991 committed IRA - terrorists a grenade attack on Downing Street 10 . Since then, but especially after September 11, 2001 , security measures have been tightened considerably.

The 10 Downing Street door can only be opened from the inside and does not have a keyhole on the outside.

Web links

Commons : 10 Downing Street  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Berlin-Mitte: A quarter as a showcase for democracy , Der Tagesspiegel , September 23, 2017
  2. ↑ Jan von Flocken: The British King who did not speak English , welt.de of August 10, 2014, accessed on December 20, 2016
  3. ^ Boris Johnson and girlfriend take bigger Downing Street flat, leaving smaller one for Javid family . July 29, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 12 ″  N , 0 ° 7 ′ 39 ″  W.