Danish embassy in Berlin

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Portal of the Danish Legation

The Danish embassy in Berlin in the embassy district of the Berlin district of Tiergarten was established from 1938 to 1940 as the headquarters of the diplomatic representation of Denmark in Germany . The building was designed by Johann Emil Schaudt in the neoclassical style and is now a listed building . The embassy building is no longer used as a diplomatic mission.

Location, planning and architecture

The Danish Embassy building is located at Drakestrasse 1, opposite the zoological garden extension that opened in 1987 . The northern wing of the embassy (standing in front of the portal: the right wing) adjoins the Spanish embassy with the front side , and already borders Thomas-Dehler-Straße, into which Drakestraße flows in front of the building. The two embassy buildings are the only remaining buildings in the entire block between Drakestrasse and Lichtensteinallee and thus form the north-west corner of the embassy district .

New embassy buildings as part of the " Germania " planning

As part of the development plan of the National Socialist chief architect Albert Speer and his authority General Building Inspectorate (GBI) for the construction of the “ World Capital Germania ”, the area at the southern Tiergarten, known today as the embassy quarter, was declared a diplomatic quarter. Twelve embassy buildings were to be erected in order to create space for the execution of Speer's plans in the government district near the Brandenburg Gate as the embassies moved away, which would go beyond all previously known urban planning standards. In order to realize his plans, residential buildings in Berlin were demolished in 1938–1939, and the tenants who were to be relocated received replacement apartments that were vacated at Speer's instigation through the evacuation and deportation of Jews. Before the move to the embassy district, the Danish embassy was located at Alsenstrasse 4 (NW 40) in Moabit , a street in the Alsenviertel near the Reichstag building that no longer exists today . The Danish Consulate General was located at Französische Strasse 17 in Mitte . The embassy chancellery was in the way of the plan for the “ Great Hall ”.

The new building, erected between 1938 and 1940, is around 60 meters wide, has three upper floors and, with its gently curved facade, follows Drakestrasse, which opens onto Thomas-Dehler-Strasse. The front view of the building is strictly symmetrical towards the representative portal in the middle. The front is closed off by narrow risalits on both sides . The facade is designed with natural stone, building decorations were only used sparingly to emphasize the window axes. The only decorative exterior design were two bronze figures created by Paul Eschert between the pillars of the portal entrance. In the same building context, Eschert also created vases in front of the main entrance of the not far away Japanese embassy . The representative access to the building is unusual : directly behind the double doors of the portal, a large hall opens up in the form of a gateway, which encompasses the ground floor and the first floor. This gate passage, which was driven through because of the three car garages in the courtyard, is flanked by side staircases, through which one reaches the representative reception rooms on the first floor. The risalites continue to the rear of the building as side wings that encompass a small inner courtyard.

Usage history

The Danish envoy Mohr (first row, far right) at a diplomatic reception in June 1942

It is not known whether the embassy, ​​completed in 1940, was handed over to the Danish envoy before the occupation of Denmark by the Wehrmacht (April 9, 1940). The diplomatic properties of the countries annexed or dismantled by Germany were generally treated as "booty": the Soviet embassy and the Yugoslav embassy fell to the Reich Ministry for the occupied eastern territories . The Danish embassy, ​​however, remained in Danish hands. In 1943, the Berlin address book listed the Danish embassy office at the then address Tiergartenstrasse 48. The Danish envoy in Berlin was Otto Carl Mohr , General Secretary in the Danish Foreign Ministry from 1941 until the end of World War II . Mohr was therefore by no means considered a collaborator after the end of the war , on the contrary: he was involved in the rescue operation of the White Buses and was awarded the Dannebrog Order after 1945 .

In 1946 the Allied Control Council accredited the Danish Military Mission as the diplomatic representation of Denmark in Germany. The military mission took its seat in the building of the Danish legation. The first chief of the Danish Military Mission in Berlin was Major General EAM Biering. From December 1949 - after the founding of the Federal Republic  - the representation in Berlin only had the status of a consulate . Like other nations, with a view to potential reunification , Denmark held the building until 1977, after which it was sold to the housing association Neue Heimat Berlin .

In 1987 the building was restored and then used by Deutsche Telekom as an academy for managers . From 2005 to 2009 the legation stood empty and was only used for events at times. Since April 2009, the building has been converted into a luxury hotel , the southern wing of the building being torn down and replaced by a new building. The hotel opened in 2012 under the name Das Stue . Since they moved from Bonn to Berlin, the Danish embassy has been located in the Nordic embassies complex, which opened in 1999 .

literature

  • Matthias Donath: Architecture in Berlin 1933–1945 , published by the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin . Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2007, (especially Chapter 24: “Embassies in the Diplomatic Quarter”, pp. 99-106), ISBN 3-936872-26-0 .
  • Erich Voss: New Legation Buildings in Berlin . In: The art in the German Empire , Part B: The architecture . Vol. 4, 1940, ZDB -ID 578605-8 .
  • Raffael Rheinsberg: Messages - Archeology of a War . Frölich & Kaufmann, Berlin 1982 (especially p. 8–11: A walk-in sculpture or The Danish Embassy as a garbage container for German history , p. 35–49: Thomas-Dehler-Strasse , p. 143–221: Core : Danish Embassy ), ISBN 3-88725-011-7 .

Web links

Commons : Danish Legation Berlin  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans J. Reichhardt, Wolfgang Schächen : From Berlin to Germania: about the destruction of the Reich capital by Albert Speer's redesign plans . Catalog for an exhibition at the Landesarchiv Berlin, November 7, 1984 to April 30, 1985. Landesarchiv, Berlin 1985.
  2. ^ Wolfgang Schächte: Architecture and Urban Development in Berlin between 1933 and 1945 , 2nd edition. Gebrüder Mann, Berlin 1992.
  3. ↑ Susanne Willems: The resettled Jew . Edition Hentrich, Berlin 2002.
  4. ↑ a b authorities . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1936, Part 3, pp. 9-10.
  5. ↑ Alsenstrasse . In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  6. ^ Matthias Donath: Architecture in Berlin 1933–1945 . Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2007, pp. 104-105.
  7. ↑ authorities . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1943, part 3, p. 10.
  8. ^ Fritz Petrick: April 9, 1940 and the "reorganization" of Northern Europe . In: Robert Bohn (Ed.): Germany, Europe and the North . Franz Steiner Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3-515-06413-3 , p. 101.
  9. ^ A b Hans Branner, Morten Kelstrup: Denmark's Policy towards Europe after 1945 . Odense University Press, 2000, ISBN 87-7838-541-5 , p. 246.
  10. ↑ Enn Küng (Ed.): Festschrift for Vello Helk on his 75th birthday . Eesti Ajalooarhiiv, 1998, ISBN 9985-858-09-3 , p. 386.
  11. ^ Kerstin Englert, Jürgen Tietz (ed.): Embassies in Berlin . 2nd edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-7861-2494-9 , p. 214.

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 35.6 ″  N , 13 ° 20 ′ 45.4 ″  E