German Embassy Vienna

German Embassy Vienna
State level	bilateral
Position of the authority	Embassy
Supervisory authority (s)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Consist	since December 1, 1964
Headquarters	Vienna
ambassador	Ralf Beste
Website	www.wien.diplo.de

The German Embassy in Vienna is the diplomatic representation of the Federal Republic of Germany towards the Republic of Austria .

Current official seat

Entrance area to the former ambassador's residence

Since August 2014, the official headquarters of the embassy have been temporarily located at Gauermanngasse 2-4, in the 1st district of Vienna , in the immediate vicinity of the Academy of Fine Arts .

Metternichgasse location

The old embassy building in Metternichgasse was demolished and will be replaced by a new building in the same place by 2022.

The property is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and is bordered by Metternichgasse, Jauresgasse and Reisnerstraße in the 3rd district of Vienna and is located between the Chinese and Russian embassies . The embassy building, which is due to be demolished, was built between 1959 and 1964 by the Stuttgart architect Rolf Gutbrod . The embassy opened on December 1, 1964. A year later, on September 1, 1965, the first German ambassador moved into the integrated ambassador's residence.

The Vienna embassy building by Rolf Gutbrod formed an ensemble of light-flooded, transparent buildings with a terraced inner courtyard. The surfaces were made of glass and exposed concrete, quartzite and shell limestone, chrome and teak. Works by the Munich artist Blasius Spreng equipped the cultural center with an event hall, which was not initially fenced off from the street. The Viennese house was considered one of the most modern and beautiful embassies in the Federal Republic.

residence

Until 1998 the German ambassador resided in the Metternichgasse in the 3rd district, Landstrasse . 1996–1998 the villa of the former commercial agency or consulate of the GDR (1978–1990) in Auhofstrasse in Hietzing was converted into a residence. This building was built in 1899 by the Viennese architect Rudolf Feldscharek for a Viennese businessman. When the former German Democratic Republic acquired the property in 1978, the house was converted into an embassy building. After the building had no function after reunification, it was restored with the greatest possible restoration or preservation of the original historical substance. The existing rear annex was demolished in favor of a terrace. The GDR embassy was located in the neighboring Frimbergergasse in Hietzing. In addition, the GDR also owned a few residential buildings in Steckhovengasse and Feldmühlgasse.

history

Entrance to Palais Metternich, seat of the German legation

German Embassy, ​​1908, reception room

Until the establishment of the German Empire in 1871 , the Prussian legation was located at Schenkenstrasse 10 in the city center of Vienna. The building was in close proximity to the Burgtheater .

The German Empire acquired in 1877 a plot of land along the Rennweg, which belonged to Prince Metternich to the Palais. The embassy palace of the imperial German embassy was built there by 1879 . The architect Viktor Rumpelmayer planned the building in the style of the Italian Renaissance with French echoes. The representative rooms, on the other hand, were designed in the Viennese Baroque style. The palace had guest rooms for so-called "senior guests and their entourage", as well as a silver and porcelain chamber, horse stables and saddle rooms.

From 1938 to 1945 the building was rebuilt according to plans by the Viennese architect Josef Hoffmann and the building was used as a branch of the Foreign Office as well as the "House of the Wehrmacht " and officers' mess. The United Kingdom owned the building between 1945 and 1955 . After the signing of the Austrian State Treaty on May 15, 1955, power of disposal passed to Austria. On March 22, 1957, Austria transferred the building to the Federal Republic of Germany .

The building was finally demolished in 1957/58 due to severe bomb damage.

Current ambassador

→ Main article : List of German ambassadors in Austria

Since September 2019 Ralf Beste has held the office of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Austria and to the United Nations offices in Vienna .

Individual evidence

1. ^ German Embassy Vienna: Farewell to Metternichgasse ( Memento of July 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 3, 2015
2. ↑ BASICS09: German Embassy in Vienna - Schulz and Schulz. Retrieved on May 3, 2020 (German). 
3. ^ Die Presse (August 9, 2014): "Openness on demand" , by Iris Meder, accessed on July 3, 2015
4. ↑ Foreign Office: The residence of the German Ambassador in Vienna. Retrieved May 3, 2020 . 
5. ^ Professor at the Imperial and Royal State Trade School in Vienna (born 1845)
6. ^ Die Presse: Wohnen im Erbe der DDR , November 7, 2009, accessed on August 20, 2010
7. ↑ Foreign Office: The former palace of the German embassy. Retrieved May 3, 2020 . 

Web links

Commons : German Embassy Vienna  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Internet presence of the embassy
• Website of the Federal Foreign Office

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 52 "  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 58"  E