Embassy of the Republic of South Africa (Bonn)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former office building of the South African embassy, ​​Auf der Hostert 3 (2013)
Former residence of the embassy, ​​Rüdigerstraße 20 (2015)

The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in the Federal Republic of Germany was based in the Bad Godesberg district of Bonn from 1975 to 1999 . The former office building of the embassy , built from 1973 to 1975, is located in the Plittersdorf district near the banks of the Rhine (Von-Sandt-Ufer) in the street Auf der Hostert (house number 3). It is still owned by the Republic of South Africa.

history

South Africa was one of the eleven states that had been accredited with a diplomatic mission for the Federal Republic of Germany to the Allied High Commission at the seat of government in Bonn since December 15, 1949 . The function of head of the South African mission was initially performed by a major general . From the beginning, the office was located in Cologne on the banks of the Rhine (Mevissenstrasse 15), the residence of the head of mission in the Marienburg district ( Oberländer Ufer 208 ). The mission initially had the status of a legation , in 1954 it was converted into an embassy . The firm moved to Machabäerstraße 75 in Cologne by 1959 at the latest and again to rented office space on Heumarkt in the high-rise building of the Chamber of Crafts by 1964 .

When the South African government began to adjust to a longer presence at the seat of government in Bonn, in the early 1970s it planned to build a new embassy office and residence in the Bonn district of Bad Godesberg, the focus of the diplomatic missions. The government of South Africa acted as the client of the office building in the Plittersdorf district; the Bonn architects Ernö Südi and Maria Südi-Simonyi were commissioned with the planning and design . In 1973/74 construction began on both the office and the residence, the ambassador's residence, in the Mehlem district (Rüdigerstrasse 20). In the spring of 1975 the embassy was able to move from Cologne to Bonn, and the new embassy headquarters was inaugurated on September 11, 1975. During the move, Border Guard Group 9 took over the transport of the embassy's secret documents, some of which were lost.

In the course of relocating the seat of government to Berlin , the South African embassy moved there in November 1999, where it has resided since 2003 in a newly constructed building complex on Tiergartenstrasse in the Tiergarten district . The former embassy buildings (office and residence) have been empty since then, but are still owned by South Africa and are being maintained. At the beginning of 2014, plans by an investor for the demolition of the former office building became known, on whose property three city villas on the street Auf der Hostert and one city villa on Von-Sandt-Ufer with a total of 29 residential units are to be built. The implementation of the plans has not yet started (as of February 2019).

building

The former South African office building, erected in the old town center of Plittersdorf on a 4,800 m² property between the Schaumburger Hof in the north and the original park area of ​​the Villa Cleff in the south, is a three-storey reinforced concrete skeleton structure with a curtain aluminum facade . A retractable glass wall was installed on the Rhine side in order to include the associated park at festive events. The usual representation elements for an embassy building were largely absent.

  • Rhine side with park

  • View from the opposite bank of the Rhine

See also

literature

  • Ingeborg flag : Architecture in Bonn after 1945: Buildings in the federal capital and its surroundings . Verlag Ludwig Röhrscheid, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7928-0479-4 , p. 60.
  • Michael Wenzel: Small story (s) Bad Godesberger Messages , Bonn, 2nd edition 2011, pp. 49/50, 54, 79.

Web links

Commons : Auf der Hostert 3 (Bonn)  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helmut Vogt : Foreign missions in Bonn . In: Guardians of the Bonn Republic: The Allied High Commissioners 1949–1955 , Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2004, ISBN 3-506-70139-8 , pp. 156–160.
  2. ^ Address book of the federal capital Bonn 1949/50 . In: City of Bonn, City Archives (ed.); Helmut Vogt: "The Minister lives in a company car on platform 4": The beginnings of the federal government in Bonn 1949/50 , Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-922832-21-0 , p. 222.
  3. ^ Stamm-Leitfaden durch Presse und Werbung , Stamm-Verlag, 1959, p. 711
  4. ^ Advertising & Press Annual of Africa , National Publishing Company (PTY) Limited, 1964, p. 51
  5. ↑ a b Jürgen Bacia, Dorothée Leidig: "Don't buy fruits from South Africa!": History of the anti-apartheid movement , Brandes & Apsel, 2008, ISBN 978-3-86099-875-5 , p. 63.
  6. ↑ Best Help , Der Spiegel , October 31, 1977.
  7. ↑ Bonn Council Information System - Statement by the Administration (PDF), September 2006
  8. ↑ 13 ex-embassies in Bad Godesberg are still empty , General-Anzeiger , October 3, 2012
  9. ↑ New residential quarters are being built in Bad Godesberg , press release by the city of Bonn, March 13, 2014
  10. ↑ Investor is planning eight residential buildings , General-Anzeiger, March 8, 2014
  11. ↑ New residential quarters are being built on “Auf der Hostert 3” , General-Anzeiger, March 13, 2014

Coordinates: 50 ° 41 ′ 50.8 ″  N , 7 ° 10 ′ 1.8 ″  E