Czech Embassy in Berlin

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Czech RepublicCzech Republic Czech Embassy in Berlin
Small coat of arms of the Czech Republic
State level bilateral
Position of the authority Embassy
Supervisory authority (s) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Consist since 1919
Headquarters GermanyGermany Berlin
ambassador Tomáš Kafka
Website www.mzv.cz

The Czech Embassy in Berlin is the headquarters of the diplomatic mission of the Czech Republic in Germany. A diplomatic representation of Czechoslovakia in Germany has existed since 1919. The Embassy of the Czech Republic is in the Wilhelmstrasse  44 (formerly Otto-Grotewohl-Straße 21 ) in the Berlin district of Mitte of the district of the same . The building, erected from 1974 to 1978 as the embassy of Czechoslovakia in the GDR , is an outstanding example of socialist modernity .

history

In the German Empire

Vojtěch Mastný after his accreditation with Paul von Hindenburg in 1932

Until 1918 were the Czechs and Slovaks part of the Austro-Hungarian -Monarchie Austria-Hungary , whose diplomatic representation at the German Reich itself from 1890 on Kronprinzenufer 14: (today Bettina von Arnim-Ufer) in Alsen quarter was. After Austria-Hungary on Germany's side the First World War had lost, the Allies broke the Treaty of Saint-Germain Bohemia and Moravia and the Treaty of Trianon , the Slovakia from. The Czechoslovak Republic emerged from these areas . The newly formed Czechoslovak embassy moved into its domicile at Rauchstrasse 27 in the embassy district in Tiergarten .

The last envoy from independent Czechoslovakia before the Munich Agreement was Vojtěch Mastný , who was forced to leave for Prague in March 1939 . After the defeat of Czechoslovakia in 1938/1939, the German Reich confiscated the building and used it for the German Information Office, a propaganda department of the Foreign Office under Joachim von Ribbentrop in the form of a foundation. From 1939 to 1945, the former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister František Chvalkovský represented the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in the German Reich as envoy . The embassy was based at Kurfürstendamm 190/192 at the corner of Schlüterstraße. Chvalkovský practically had no function or influence; he was killed in a bomb attack at the end of the war . The building in Rauchstrasse was also destroyed by bombs at the end of the Second World War . Today the Mexican embassy is located on the corner lot .

In the German Democratic Republic

Czech Embassy in Berlin-Mitte

Beginning in October 1948, the ČSR had a commercial agency in the Soviet sector of Berlin. On October 18, 1949 - eleven days after the founding of the GDR - the ČSSR and GDR established official relations. In 1953 the ČSR converted its mission in East Berlin into an embassy. The embassy was located at Schönhauser Allee 10/11 in what was then Prenzlauer Berg , the commercial agency at Leipziger Straße 36 in Berlin-Mitte .

The new building of the embassy of the ČSSR in East Berlin was built from 1974 to 1978 and inaugurated in February 1979. The design comes from the Czech architect couple Věra and Vladimír Machonin in collaboration with Klaus Pätzmann. The building has a square floor plan with an edge length of 48 meters. The first floor cantilevers over the ground floor and the driveway, the structure seems to float due to the elevation. The angular kinked ribbon windows with the dark mirroring look futuristic. The building is attributed to brutalism and is often jokingly referred to as a UFO . The furniture specially designed for the new building - red and orange artificial leather armchairs and lights in the 1970s style - is still there and, like the interior design with colored wood paneling, has hardly changed since it opened.

In reunified Germany

Originally, the Czech Republic's commercial agency was located next to the embassy, ​​but the premises have since been rented out. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992, the Czech Republic took over the property and the Slovak embassy moved to Friedrichstrasse 60. After the capital city resolution , the embassy was relocated from Bonn to Berlin in 1999 . The Bonn embassy was declared a branch of the embassy in Berlin. After the move of the most important institutions from Bonn to Berlin was completed in 2004, the Bonn branch became a normal consulate general , which was finally closed in 2008 (see Embassy of Czechoslovakia (Bonn) ). The residence of the Czech ambassador is located in a villa in Grunewald that was converted in 2001 . In 2009, as part of the ARCHICZECH festival, a retrospective on Věra and Vladimír Machonin's architectural work took place in the embassy building.

See also

Web links

Commons : Czech Embassy in Berlin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Kronprinzenufer . In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
  2. authorities . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1913, part 2, p. 15.
  3. authorities . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1924, part 3, p. 7.
  4. a b c d History of the diplomatic mission on the website of the Czech Embassy in Berlin (accessed on June 20, 2015)
  5. Rauchstrasse . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1941, part 4, p. 706.
  6. Peter Longerich: Propagandists in War - The press department of the Foreign Office under Ribbentrop . Oldenbourg, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-486-54111-0 , p. 52.
  7. Messages . In: Telephone book for the capital of the GDR , 1972, p. 62.
  8. New embassy building of the ČSSR in Berlin inaugurated . In: Neues Deutschland , February 7, 1979, p. 2.
  9. Ufo for rent . (PDF; 500 kB) In: fivetonine , supplement to Wirtschaftswoche , No. 3/2007.
  10. ^ Gerwin Zohlen: Reconstruction of the residence of the Czech ambassador . In: Baumeister , Vol. 98, No. 3, March 2001, ISSN  0005-674X , pp. 74-79.
  11. ARCHICZECH 3G + . (PDF; 2.5 MB) In: Baunetzwoche , No. 119, March 2009.

Coordinates: 52 ° 30 '39.9 "  N , 13 ° 23' 2.1"  E