German Embassy London
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| State level | bilateral | ||
| Position of the authority | Embassy | ||
| Supervisory authority (s) | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | ||
| Consist | since 1955 | ||
| Headquarters |
 London
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| ambassador | Andreas Michaelis | ||
| Website | www.london.diplo.de | ||
The German Embassy in London is Germany's most important foreign representation in Great Britain . The embassy building is located in Belgravia , City of Westminster .
history
The history of German diplomacy in London begins with the first Prussian ambassador to the English royal court of Charles II , Ezechiel Spanheim (1629–1710). Spanheim worked in London for nine years and, in addition to his work as a diplomat a. a. lively contact with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz . He was buried with his wife at Westminster Abbey .
After a long period without German-British diplomacy, Dodo Heinrich Baron zu Inn and Knyphausen moved to London in 1758 to represent the interests of Prussia until the end of the Seven Years' War .
Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) had been the Prussian envoy in London since 1817. At that time there were a total of eleven representations of the German federal states . From 1827 to 1841 Heinrich von Bülow headed the royal Prussian legation, which apart from him consisted of only three people.
Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen followed von Bülow in 1841. With von Bunsen a breath of fresh air was blowing in the legation: he enlarged the representation of Prussia and made sure that No. 4 to No. 9. Carlton House Terrace, a representative building in the classicism style . Von Bunsen was in close contact with Albert von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha , Queen Victoria's husband . When the royal princess Victoria ("Vicky") the liberal Prussian crown prince and later German emperor Friedrich III. married, von Bunsen organized a large celebration in the Prussian legation (Carlton House Terrace), to which theodor Fontane , who had been invited several times to receptions of the legation, also members of the British royal family appeared.
When von Bunsen tried to bring neutral Prussia into the Crimean War on the side of the British , he was recalled to Berlin . From 1854 to 1861 Albrecht was Count von Bernstorff the Elder. Ä. Prussian ambassador until King Wilhelm I appointed him royal ambassador in 1862 on Bismarck's advice . From 1866 he was appointed envoy of the North German Confederation , before he was allowed to call himself the first imperial ambassador in 1871. He was followed by five other ambassadors from Imperial Germany until the end of the Empire . The diplomacy between the German Reich and the United Kingdom was of great importance, which is why the post in London was very popular despite the weather, which Wilhelm von Humboldt lamented.
The first diplomatic representative of the Weimar Republic was Friedrich Sthamer , a former member of the Hamburg Parliament and the Senate . In his work in the embassy building No. 8 & No. 9 Carlton House Terrace supported by Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath and Leopold von Hoesch , who both succeeded him as ambassadors.
During the time of National Socialism Joachim von Ribbentrop was first ambassador in London. He left Carlton House Terrace on March 12, 1938, the day of the "Anschluss" of Austria . His successor was Herbert von Dirksen . This prompted soon after that the splendid Austrian embassy building was released from its purpose and used as a German consular department. The Austrian diplomats had to wait until 1949 to use the building on Belgrave Square as an embassy again.
The German Consulate General in London opened on June 16, 1950 and continued until 1955. In the same year, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the British capital was opened at Belgrave Square 21-23 . The building on Carlton House Terrace could not be moved into again because the British had already set up the "Office for the Administration of Enemy Property" there. Today, the magnificent former residence of the imperial embassy is the seat of the Royal Society .
The first ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany was Hans Schlange-Schöningen , who until his appointment, which took place at Adenauer's request , spoke no English and, as Reich Minister under Heinrich Brüning, had nothing to do with foreign affairs. Nonetheless, he mastered the difficult political situation and successfully advocated reconciliation between Germany and Great Britain.
Hans-Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld , Schlange-Schöningen's successor, managed to get Federal President Theodor Heuss to appear on a state visit in London in 1958 , thus giving new impetus to the re-emerging German-British friendship. On the occasion of this, the later Goethe-Institut was officially opened in the British capital.
Between Herwarth von Bittenfeld and today's ambassador Peter Wittig , 15 other diplomats led the German diplomatic mission, including Rüdiger von Wechmar , Hermann von Richthofen and Wolfgang Ischinger .
Today the German Embassy in London is once again the linchpin of German-British relations with a wide range of tasks. The former embassy of the GDR in London now belongs to the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and serves as a location for exhibitions and receptions.
Heads of mission
Ambassador of the German Reich
Imperial ambassadors
- 1871–1873 Albrecht Graf von Bernstorff
- 1885–1901 Paul von Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg
- 1901–1912 Count Paul Wolff Metternich
- 1912 Adolf Freiherr Marshal von Bieberstein
- 1912–1914 Karl Max Prince Lichnowsky
- 1914–1919 as Chargé d'affaires Friedrich Sthamer
Ambassador of the Weimar Republic
- 1920–1930 Friedrich Sthamer
- 1930–1932 Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath
- 1932–1936 Leopold von Hoesch
Ambassador at the time of National Socialism
- 1936–1938 (March 12) Joachim von Ribbentrop
- 1938–1939 Herbert von Dirksen
- 1939–1950 no diplomatic relations
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 1950–1955 Hans Schlange-Schöningen
- 1955–1961 Hans-Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld
- 1961–1965 Hasso von Etzdorf
- 1965–1970 Herbert Blankenhorn
- 1970–1977 Karl-Günther von Hase
- 1977–1980 Hans Hellmuth Ruete
- 1980–1983 Jürgen Ruhfus
- 1985–1989 Rüdiger von Wechmar
- 1989–1993 Hermann von Richthofen
- 1993–1995 Peter Hartmann
- 1995–1997 Jürgen Oesterhelt
- 1997–1999 Gebhardt von Moltke
- 1999–2002 Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz
- 2002–2006 Thomas Matussek
- 2006–2008 Wolfgang Ischinger
- 2008-2013 Georg Boomgaarden
- 2014–2018 Peter Ammon
- 2018–2020 Peter Wittig
- 2020– Andreas Michaelis
literature
- To Embassy in Belgrave Square by Roland Hill (English), published by the German Embassy in London
Web links
supporting documents
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 53.3 " N , 0 ° 9 ′ 15.2" W.