Iraqi embassy in the GDR

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Iraqi Embassy in Berlin-Niederschönhausen , 1990

The Iraqi embassy in the GDR was located between 1974 and 1991 at Tschaikowskistraße 51 in the Berlin district of Niederschönhausen ( Pankow district ).

history

The embassy of Iraq in the GDR was planned in 1974 by a German-Iraqi architects' collective headed by Horst Bauer with the help of the collective of the Bau- und Montagekombinat Ingenieurhochbau Berlin (IHB). The building is essentially made of standardized prefabricated prefabricated elements of the type IHB II of the type SK Berlin 72 and was realized by VEB BMK Ingenieurhochbau Berlin. A facade made of Carrara exposed aggregate concrete is characteristic of the building . The protruding parapet elements and the large terrace above the ground floor are striking. The building was also equipped with a spacious, artistically designed garden. Parts of the clinker- facade are from the HB workshops for ceramics of Hedwig Bollhagen .

In addition to the Iraqi embassy, the embassies of France , Italy , Australia (see Australian embassy to the GDR ) and the residence of the Polish ambassador to the GDR were located in similarly designed buildings in the diplomatic quarter of Pankow .

Iraq was the first non-socialist state to recognize the GDR under international law in 1969 . At the end of the Second Gulf War in 1991, the Iraqi diplomats withdrew completely from Germany. The embassy building is no longer used and is in ruins. The real estate including the building belongs to the Federal Republic of Germany , for the Republic of Iraq an unlimited and free right of use to the property is entered in the land register. Since 2010, the Iraqi embassy is located in the former mansion of the textile manufacturer Richard Semmel at the Pacelliallee 19-21 ( ⊙ ) in the Berlin district of Dahlem , before she was from 2002 in Riemeisterstraße 20 in Zehlendorf.

Suspicion as a source of terror

In 1980, several employees of the Iraqi embassy were arrested because of the threat of possible attacks against opposition Iraqis in West Berlin . The Junge Welt reported in 1990 that there was an explosives store in the embassy for potential attacks. During the Iraq war in 1991, the German government asked all personnel to leave the country immediately.

The Iraqi embassy was suspected of being a terrorist retreat. In 1991, Der Spiegel reported that in addition to Iraqi secret agents from the Mukhabarat , Arab terrorists were also taking refuge in the embassy. In later years, too, rumors of this kind kept coming up.

Condition of the building since 1991

Later ruinous condition of the building

Some furniture and documents were left in the building after moving out. It has been the target of vandalism , graffiti sprayers, metal thieves , tourists and souvenir hunters since 1991 . The New York Times reported on the abandoned embassy in 2003. Parts of the interior were destroyed in a fire.

After the poor condition of the building and the careless circumstance with the files were also brought up in the Iraqi media, the Iraqi ambassador declared that the building should be preserved. A permit from the Foreign Office for use as a cultural center has been obtained.

But nothing happened on site until 2017. In response to an official request, the Federal Real Estate Agency stated that it was only the owner of the property. The building of the former Iraqi embassy, ​​however, still belongs to the Republic of Iraq. During the GDR era, this state was granted a sole, unlimited right to use the property.

additional

The music video Eutechnik (Aka Nexus) - Collapsible Structures was shot in the former embassy building.

Web links

Commons : Iraqi Embassy in the GDR  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martin Petsch: Embassies in the GDR. Urban planning and architecture. In: Kerstin Englert, Jürgen Tietz (Hrsg.): Embassies in Berlin. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-7861-2472-8 , p. 50 ff.
  2. ^ Special message in Pankow. In: New Germany . August 7, 2010.
  3. ↑ Old Brothers. In: Der Spiegel . February 11, 1991.
  4. ↑ Sadam's last message. In: The daily newspaper . June 14, 2010.
  5. ↑ No reason. Saddam in Berlin. In: The time . May 8, 2003.
  6. ↑ Katharina Buess: The magic of the abandoned. Ciarán Fahey visits ruins in Berlin and Brandenburg and blogs about them. In: Berliner Zeitung . August 14, 2014, p. 22.
  7. ↑ Saddam Hussein Is in My Kitchen. In: The New York Times . September 26, 2003.
  8. ↑ One day: Forgotten Places: The Ghostly Message from Berlin. In: Spiegel online . April 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ Mysterious haunted house in Berlin. Iraq's ex-embassy rotten. At: n-tv , May 10, 2010.
  10. ^ Press release from the Iraqi embassy in Germany on the use of the former Iraqi embassy in the GDR .
  11. ^ The Embassy of Iraq in the GDR , on www.rbb88, year 2017; accessed on April 19, 2020.

Coordinates: 52 ° 34 '32.2 "  N , 13 ° 23' 40.9"  E