Embassy of the United Kingdom (Bonn)

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The UK embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany was located in Bonn's parliamentary and government district from 1955 to 1999 . The former office building of the embassy , built in 1952/54, was on the east side of Friedrich-Ebert-Allee ( Bundesstrasse 9 ) north of the intersection with the A562 in the Gronau district . In 2003 it was canceled.

history

As an allied control and occupation power , the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland initially did not maintain an embassy at the seat of government in Bonn after the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949 . The British high commission had its seat in 1950 in Cologne-Wahn . In anticipation of the approaching repeal of the occupation statute, planning began at an early stage for the associated transformation of the High Commission into an embassy with less staff. Construction of the future British embassy building began in 1952 and the topping-out ceremony took place on November 6th .

Villa Heisterbachstrasse 39, residence of the embassy
Hasenhof, Rheinstrasse 33/35, since 1972 part of the British embassy

In October 1953 the official opening of the simple new building took place. It initially served as the seat of the British High Commission, which was now moving from Wahn. In 1954 an extension was built to the rear. It was not until the Paris Treaties came into force on May 5, 1955 that the High Commission was transformed into an embassy of the United Kingdom. It was the only one of the three western allied powers that arose in the area of ​​the developing, but initially largely undeveloped parliament and government district . Initially, the embassy employed around 170 people who were housed in 85 offices. The culture department ( Universities Section ) was initially located in the Villa Wilhelma in Bad Godesberg as a former location of the British High Commission. Villa Heisterbachstrasse 39 on the banks of the Rhine in Bad Godesberg served as the residence of the embassy, ​​the residence of the ambassador ; A house in the Bad Godesberg district of Rüngsdorf (Fasanenstrasse 25) was reserved and acquired for the envoy . A liaison staff of the British armed forces - but not assigned to the embassy - was located in the Villa Spiritus . The British Embassy Preparatory School and the British High School (since 1997 Bonn International School ) existed as schools for the children of members of the British Embassy . From 1972 the Hasenhof in the Bad Godesberg district of Rüngsdorf also belonged to the British embassy.

In the course of the relocation of the seat of government , the embassy moved to Berlin in late summer 1999 , and the last employees left the building in November 1999 (→ British Embassy in Berlin ). In Bonn , a branch office of the embassy for the areas of agriculture as well as research and technology with two diplomats and eleven local staff remained in the rented rooms of the former Lithuanian embassy in Südstadt (Argelanderstraße 108a) , which was closed in August 2002. The former British embassy building had been vacant since moving to Berlin and, like some neighboring buildings (including the CDU party headquarters to the north ), was bought by Deutsche Telekom and demolished in autumn 2003 to house the Port Bonn office from 2006 to 2008 (one Expansion of the corporate headquarters). The site of the former embassy itself is currently still undeveloped.

building

The British Embassy Chancellery was a three- story, plastered , flat-roofed office building on a U-shaped floor plan . On the projecting south side of the street front it was clad in slate , adorned with the coat of arms of the United Kingdom and provided with a balcony . The entrance was located at the transition to this southern wing of the building, which last housed the building services . The usual representation elements for an embassy building were largely absent.

British Embassy Preparatory School

Villa Am Büchel 100, until 1978 school of the British Embassy

As a school of the British Embassy, ​​which was also open to children from other countries, the British Embassy Preparatory School (BEPS) was founded in 1963 on the initiative of a group of parents and can be considered the oldest international private school in Bonn. It was initially located in the Bad Godesberg district of Friesdorf and later in a villa in the district of Plittersdorf (Am Büchel 100), before moving to a school building provided by the city of Bonn in the district of Heiderhof (Tulpenbaumweg) in 1978 . A one-story extension was inaugurated on November 3, 1987 by Prince Charles and Princess Diana ; In 1989 a two-story extension followed. In 1996, 203 children from 35 nations attended the school. In 1997, due to the upcoming move of the British Embassy to Berlin (1999), the school was renamed Independent Bonn International School (IBIS) , which has been supported by the sponsoring association of the same name since 2001 and received the status of a substitute school for the primary level . It is still a recognized member of the Council of British Independent Schools (COBIS) and is therefore inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) .

See also

Web links

literature

  • Angelika Schyma : With diplomatic restraint: Embassy architecture of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn from the founding of the state to the fall of the wall . In: Embassies in Berlin . Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-7861-2472-8 , pp. 29–41 (here: pp. 32–33).
  • Helmut Vogt : Guardians of the Bonn Republic: The Allied High Commissioners 1949–1955 . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2004, ISBN 3-506-70139-8 , pp. 225-226.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Foreign Office : List of the diplomatic corps in Bonn (as of March 1962)
  2. ↑ Foreign Office : List of diplomatic missions and other representations in Bonn (as of November 1981)
  3. ↑ a b The British now reside in the Südstadt , General-Anzeiger , July 11, 2000, Bonn city edition, p. 7
  4. ↑ On the way to an international school , General-Anzeiger , January 24, 1997, Bonn city edition, p. 10
  5. ^ Walter Haentjes: Walk through Bad Godesberg-Rüngsdorf . In: Godesberger Heimatblätter. Annual booklet of the Association for Homeland Care and Local History Bad Godesberg . Issue 13 , 1975, ISSN  0436-1024 , pp. 90-101 (here: p. 92).
  6. ↑ Goodbye, Waiting Room , Der Spiegel , July 12, 1999
  7. ^ Brits close Bonn branch , General-Anzeiger, November 8, 2001
  8. ^ Arsonists in the embassy , Kölnische Rundschau / Bonner Rundschau, September 19, 2003
  9. ↑ Private school moves into former embassy in villa district , General-Anzeiger, November 16, 2011
  10. ↑ a b Where German is for one foreign language , General-Anzeiger , February 10, 1996, Bonner Stadtausgabe, p. 10
  11. ^ Karl Gutzmer : Chronicle of the city of Bonn . Chronik-Verlag, Dortmund 1988, ISBN 3-611-00032-9 , p. 176
  12. ^ Princess Diana in Bonn and Cologne, Germany , Youtube
  13. ^ History , IBIS
  14. ^ School Organization , IBIS
  15. ↑ Welcome , IBIS

Coordinates: 50 ° 42 '27.41 "  N , 7 ° 7' 51.74"  E