Empty embassies
November 19, 2009
Before German reunification, some 6000 diplomats lived and worked along the leafy avenues of the Bonn suburb of Bad Godesberg.
When the government moved to Berlin in 1999, many of them stayed put. For African embassies, for example, relocating was simply too costly an option.
But over the years, the need to be close to the action in the hauptstadt has prevailed, and one by one the foreign embassies in Germany have packed their bags and made the move.
The Sierra Leonean embassy, housed in an attractive 19th century villa, was the last one standing, and last month it too upped sticks - just months after the Cameroon embassy.
Ramshackle remains
With all eyes on the future, the vacated premises are often left to rack and ruin.
Even though the Thai embassy moved to Berlin in 2000, a buyer for the former premises has only just been found - after years of negotiations with Thailand's King Bhumibol, during which the house became increasingly dilapidated.
South Africa, meanwhile, is still looking for a buyer for the building it vacated in 2003 when it became the first African embassy to open in Berlin.
According to Bonn tour guide Michael Wenzel, the story of the former embassy premises in Bonn is a tale of "bankruptcy, bad luck and mishaps."
Portugal has been more fortunate - its stately former embassy occupies a prime spot on the Rhine and has long since found a private owner. The erstwhile South Korean embassy is now an upscale retirement home, while the building that once served as the Soviet embassy before becoming the Russian mission is now still in use as a consulate - allegedly the world's largest.
Political considerations
"As real estate, former embassies are tricky," explains Michael Wenzel.
When it comes to potential buyers, one frequent difficulty is identifying who exactly is responsible for the building. This is especially problematic when the country is distracted by political upheavals -as the broken windows and peeling paint on the façade of the building that once served as the Zaire embassy can attest to.
Politics are indeed more often than not the reason why so many former embassies seem to be damned to be derelict.
The former Yugoslavian embassy has been empty ever since the state was formally dissolved in 1992. But no one knows who would pocket the earnings, were the building to sell.
"The Foreign Ministry needs to find a solution with the successor countries," stresses Wenzel, conceding that the issue is never likely to be a top priority.
Unrealistic expectations
It certainly wouldn't be high on Iran's to-do list either, even though its former embassy on Godesberger Allee has been empty for almost ten years. Experts say that countries tend to have unrealistic expectations as to the building's worth, and that disputes between the embassy owners, the foreign ministry and the finance ministry all too often put the brakes on any deal.
In an interview with the Koelner Stadt Anzeiger newspaper earlier this year, Wieland Muench, CEO of the Bonn-based Limbach real estate company, said that Tehran wanted some 3.5 million euros ($5.2 million) for its former embassy - a price he described as "completely extortionate."
And ultimately, little can be done on the German side, since as embassies, these buildings are not within German jurisdiction.
"For safety reasons it's forbidden to go in (the former Iranian embassy) because the building is about as run-down as diplomatic relations between Europe and Iran," says Wenzel. "One day it will all come crashing down and the problem will be resolved."
Author: Cornelia Rabitz (jp)
Editor: Michael Lawton