Consulate General of the United States in Hamburg | |
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General information | |
Type | Diplomatic mission |
Architectural style | Historicism |
Location | Hamburg, Germany |
Address | Am Alsterufer 27/28 20254 Hamburg Germany |
Coordinates | 53°33′43″N9°59′48″E / 53.561944°N 9.996667°E |
Construction started | 1882 and 1893 |
Owner | U.S. Government |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Martin Haller |
The Consulate General of the United States of America in Hamburg is a diplomatic mission representing the United States of America to the city of Hamburg and the State of Schleswig Holstein in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Government of Hamburg counts the promotion of the then Vice-Consul John Parish to the rank of a consul in 1793 as the establishment of the first mission. [2] The consulate-general represents the interests of the United States government in the German states of Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Schleswig-Holstein. [3]
I do hereby pray and request the Governors, Burgomasters and Senate of the Imperial free City Hamburgh, to permit the said John Parish fully and peaceably to enjoy and exercise the said Office (Vice Consul), without giving or suffering to be given unto him any Molestation or Trouble, but on the contrary to afford him all the proper Countenance and Assistance; I offering to do the same for all those who in like manner be recommended to me by the said Governors, Burgomasters and Senate of the Imperial free City Hamburgh.
The first American mission to Hamburg was established in 1790 and John Parish was named Vice Consul. In 1793 Parish was promoted to the rank of a consul. In 1897, Hugh Pitcairn was appointed to the consulate, and in 1903 appointed to be Consul General by President Roosevelt. [5]
During the participation of the US in the First and Second World War all consulates in the German Empire were closed. On 1 March 1946 the US Government reopened the consulate in Hamburg, and in 1950 purchased the building at Alsterufer on the shore of Lake Außenalster. [4]
In 2007 Ms. Karen E. Johnson succeeded Duane C. Butcher as consul general in Hamburg. [6] As of 2009, 31 consuls and 22 consuls general had served in Hamburg. [4] The current Consul General is Darion Akins, who began serving in July 2019. [7]
In 1882 the larger one of the two houses was built, and in 1893 the smaller building was finished by architect Martin Haller, who also designed the Hamburg Rathaus. From 1933 until 1945 the Nazi Party used the houses as Hamburg headquarters. [4] After the war, the British forces confiscated the houses, and in 1950 the US Government bought them from the heirs of the original owners. [4] Eventually a structure was built between the two houses to create one single building.
After a renovation the consulate moved into the house in 1951. [4] The Consulate General is commonly called das Weiße Haus an der Alster (the White House on the Alster) in Hamburg. [1] [8] Since threats against American embassies, 9/11, and a direct threat against the consulate in Hamburg, the security of the US Consulate General in Hamburg was often strengthened. [8] [9] [10] On 1 April 2009, the Hamburger Morgenpost used the consulate for an April Fools' Day news, that because of security reasons the consulate will move to a WW II shelter at Heiligengeistfeld. [1] In the late 1990s portions of what used to be a larger property belonging to and surrounding the Consulate were sold off to raise needed cash for the US Embassy in Berlin. The Consulate is known for placing a large Christmas tree every year on the balcony over the entrance.
The artificial lake Außenalster is in front of the American consulate in the Rotherbaum quarter. The railway station Dammtor is nearby to the South.
Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin, as well as the overall 7th largest city and largest non-capital city in the European Union with a population of over 1.84 million. Hamburg's urban area has a population of around 2.5 million and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, which has a population of over 5.1 million people in total. The city lies on the River Elbe and two of its tributaries, the River Alster and the River Bille. One of Germany's 16 federated states, Hamburg is surrounded by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south.
The Alster is a right tributary of the Elbe river in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows somewhat southwards through much of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and joins the Elbe in central Hamburg.
Außenalster or Outer Alster Lake is the larger one of two artificial lakes, which are formed by the Alster River and are both located within the city limits of Hamburg, Germany. The other „lake“ is the Binnenalster. The Außenalster and its shores are used by the inhabitants of Hamburg for many sport and recreational purposes, such as sailing and rowing.
St. Georg is a central quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population was 11,349.
Herbertstraße is a street in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, located near the Reeperbahn, which is the main red-light district. It is the only street in the city where it is still possible to find prostitutes in windows as in the famous De Wallen district of Amsterdam. It is reputed to have Hamburg's most expensive prostitutes. At its peak about 250 women worked there.
The city of Hamburg in Germany is made up of seven boroughs and subdivided into 104 quarters. Most of the quarters were former independent settlements. As of 2008 the areal organisation is regulated by the constitution of Hamburg and several laws.
AKN Eisenbahn GmbH operates railway lines, commuter trains and freight trains in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Its headquarters is in Kaltenkirchen. It is a member of the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV), which organises public transport in and around Hamburg.
Rotherbaum is a quarter of Eimsbüttel, a borough of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020 the population was 17,114.
Winterhude is a quarter in the ward Hamburg-Nord of Hamburg, Germany. As of 2020 the population was 56,382.
The number of elections in Hamburg varies. Hamburg has a state election every five years, the elections for the state parliament. There are also elections to the federal diet of Germany, the local elections of the diet of the boroughs (Bezirksversammlungen) and every five years to the European Parliament. All elections take place by universal adult suffrage and are regulated by law.
The Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is the basic governing document of the German city-state of Hamburg. It was approved on 6 June 1952. It is the fourth constitution that the state has had, consists of 76 articles, and has been amended 34 times.
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a state-level security agency in Germany.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Hamburg, Germany.
The Consular Agency of the United States in Bremen, also referred to as Consular Agency Bremen, was one of the American diplomatic missions to Germany until 2018. The unit offers limited services for U.S. citizens in areas including Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Lower Saxony. Despite that, services such as the issuing of visas or emergency passports are not provided, but can be obtained only from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the Consulate General in Frankfurt or Munich. It was the end of a diplomatic presence that the United States has in the city since 1794.
Neustadt is one of the inner-city districts of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany.
The Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht is the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany, and thus part of the Hamburg ordinary jurisdiction. It is located at the square of Sievekingplatz in the St. Pauli quarter. The square is named after the first president of the OLG, Ernst Friedrich Sieveking.
Alexander-Martin Sardina is a former member of parliament for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).