List of ambassadors of the United States to Germany

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Ambassador of the United States to Germany
Botschafter der Vereinigten Staaten in Deutschland
US Department of State official seal.svg
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Alan Meltzer
Chargé d'Affairs ad interim
since July 26, 2024 [1]
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holder John Quincy Adams (as Minister)
Formation1797
Website U.S. Embassy – Berlin

The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany under its various forms of governments and leaders since 1871, and its principal predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice (during the First World War 1917 to 1921, under 28th President Woodrow Wilson), and again during the Second World War from 1941 to 1955, at first under 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt, continuing under 33rd President Harry S. Truman and 34th - Dwight D. Eisenhower), while Germany (first as the German Empire (Imperial Germany), 1871-1918, later under Kaiser / German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941, reigned 1888-1918), and second as Nazi Germany (National Socialist Germany, 1933-1945), under the regime of dictator / Fuhrer Adolf Hitler,1889-1945), when there was a state of war with the United States and for a continuation interval afterwards, following the 1918 Armistice or the 1945 Surrender and halting of military combat operations.

Contents

Prior to 1835, the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia in Central and Eastern Europe, had recognized one another - but did not exchange any diplomatic representatives, except for a brief period at the turn of the 18th-to-19th centuries, when minister plenipotentiary John Quincy Adams (1767-1848, future 7th U.S. President, 1825-1829) was accredited to the Prussian court in Berlin, heading the U.S. Legation there, during the reigns of two monarchs, Kings of Prussia of Frederick William II (1747-1797, reigned 1786-1797) and King Frederick William III (1770-1840, reigned 1797-1840). American Minister Adams was also accredited to and visited Scandinavia sailing across the Baltic Sea to the nearby Kingdom of Sweden in Stockholm, with U.S. Legations at both posts from 1797 to 1801, during the administration of American second president of John Adams (1735-1826, served 1797-1801), who happened to be his father, and briefly before returning to America, during the beginning of subsequent administration of third President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, served 1801-1809). During J.Q, Adams tenure in Prussia / Sweden, he re-negotiated and renewed the earlier Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Prussia-United States) of September 1785 (ratified a decade before by the old Confederation Congress and former presiding / executive officer President of the United States in Congress Assembled under previous governing document Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union of 1781-1789), renewed by Ambassador (Minister) Adams in 1799.

Current and 46th President Joe Biden nominated then University of Pennsylvania president and political philosopher Amy Gutmann for the position on July 2, 2021; by a vote of 54-42, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 8, 2022. [2] She presented her credentials to the German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin nine days later on February 17, 2022.

List of United States ambassadors to Germany

This is a list of the chief U.S. diplomatic agents to Prussia, Germany, and West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany), their diplomatic rank, and the effective start and end of their service in Germany.

Heads of the U.S. Legation at Berlin (1797–1801)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
John Quincy Adams, Minister John Singleton Copley - John Quincy Adams - 17.1077 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg December 5, 1797May 5, 1801

Heads of the U.S. Legation at Berlin (1835–1848)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
Henry Wheaton, Chargé d'Affaires Henry Wheaton.jpg June 9, 1835September 29, 1837
Henry Wheaton, Envoy Henry Wheaton.jpg September 29, 1837July 18, 1846
Andrew Jackson Donelson, Envoy Andrew J. Donelson portrait.jpg July 18, 1846September 13, 1848

Heads of the U.S. Legation at Frankfurt (1848–1849)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
Andrew Jackson Donelson, Envoy Andrew J. Donelson portrait.jpg September 13, 1848November 2, 1849

Heads of the U.S. Legation at Berlin (1849–1893)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
Edward A. Hannegan, Envoy EdwardHannegan.jpg June 30, 1849January 13, 1850
Daniel D. Barnard, Envoy D. D. Barnard.jpg December 10, 1850September 21, 1853
Peter D. Vroom, Envoy PeterDumontVroom.jpg November 4, 1853August 10, 1857
Joseph A. Wright, Envoy Joseph A Wright Portrait.jpg September 3, 1857July 1, 1861
Norman B. Judd, Envoy NormanBJudd.jpg July 1, 1861September 3, 1865
Joseph A. Wright, Envoy Joseph A Wright Portrait.jpg September 3, 1865May 11, 1867
George Bancroft, Envoy George Bancroft United States Secretary of Navy c. 1860.jpg August 28, 1867June 30, 1874
J. C. Bancroft Davis, Envoy Bancroft Davis.png August 28, 1874September 26, 1877
Bayard Taylor, Envoy Bayard Taylor.jpg May 7, 1878December 19, 1878
Andrew D. White, Envoy Andrew Dickson White 1885.jpg June 19, 1879August 15, 1881
Aaron A. Sargent, Envoy Aaron Augustus Sargent - Brady-Handy.jpg May 18, 1882June 6, 1884
John A. Kasson, Envoy JAKasson.jpg September 10, 1884June 21, 1885
George H. Pendleton, Envoy GeorgeHPendleton.png June 21, 1885April 25, 1889
William Walter Phelps, Envoy William Walter Phelps - Brady-Handy.jpg September 26, 1889June 4, 1893
Theodore Runyon, Envoy Theodore Runyon cph.3a03195.jpg June 4, 1893October 26, 1893

Heads of the U.S. Embassy at Berlin (1893–1917)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
Theodore Runyon, Ambassador Theodore Runyon cph.3a03195.jpg October 26, 1893January 27, 1896
Edwin F. Uhl, Ambassador Edwin F. Uhl.jpg May 3, 1896June 8, 1897
Andrew D. White, Ambassador Andrew Dickson White 1885.jpg June 12, 1897November 27, 1902
Charlemagne Tower, Ambassador CTower.jpg December 19, 1902June 8, 1908
David Jayne Hill, Ambassador Ambassador David Jayne Hill by Anders Zorn (1860-1920).jpg June 14, 1908September 2, 1911
John G. A. Leishman, Ambassador John George Alexander Leishman.jpg October 24, 1911October 4, 1913
James W. Gerard (1867-1951), Ambassador JamesWGerard.jpg October 29, 1913February 5, 1917

Heads of the U.S. Embassy at Berlin (1921–1941)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
Ellis Loring Dresel, Chargé d'Affaires Ellis Loring Dresel cropped.jpg December 10, 1921April 18, 1922
Alanson B. Houghton, Ambassador AlansonBHoughton.jpg April 22, 1922February 21, 1925
Jacob Gould Schurman, Ambassador June 1925 photo, Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09830, Jacob Gould Schurman (cropped).jpg June 29, 1925January 21, 1930
Frederic M. Sackett, Ambassador Senator-Elect Frederick M. Sackett of Kentucky, December 11, 1924.jpg February 12, 1930March 24, 1933
William E. Dodd, Ambassador William Dodd (US Ambassador to Germany).jpg August 30, 1933December 29, 1937
Hugh R. Wilson, Ambassador Wilson, Hugh Robert, 1885-1946.jpg March 3, 1938November 16, 1938
Alexander C. Kirk, Chargé d'Affaires AlexanderComstockKirk.jpg May 1939October 1940
Leland B. Morris, Chargé d'Affaires Leleand B. Morris.jpg October 1940December 11, 1941

Heads of the U.S. Embassy at Bonn (1955–1999)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of credentialsTermination of mission
James B. Conant, Ambassador James B Conant 1948 cropped.jpg May 14, 1955February 19, 1957
David K. E. Bruce, Ambassador David K. E. Bruce.jpg April 17, 1957October 29, 1959
Walter C. Dowling, AmbassadorDecember 3, 1959April 21, 1963
George C. McGhee, Ambassador Portrait of George C. McGhee.jpg May 18, 1963May 21, 1968
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge II.jpg May 27, 1968January 14, 1969
Kenneth Rush, Ambassador Kenneth-Rush-1977.jpg July 22, 1969February 20, 1972
Martin J. Hillenbrand, Ambassador Martin J. Hillenbrand (US diplomat).jpg June 27, 1972October 18, 1976
Walter J. Stoessel Jr., Ambassador Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.jpg October 27, 1976January 5, 1981
Arthur F. Burns, Ambassador ArthurBurns USArmyPhoto 1955.jpg June 30, 1981May 16, 1985
Richard R. Burt, Ambassador Msc2012 20120204 609 Burt Frank Plitt.jpg September 16, 1985February 17, 1989
Vernon A. Walters, Ambassador Ambassador Vernon A. Walters.jpg April 24, 1989August 18, 1991
Robert Michael Kimmitt, Ambassador Robert Kimmitt, official Treasury photo.jpg September 5, 1991August 28, 1993
Richard Holbrooke, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.jpg October 19, 1993September 12, 1994
Charles E. Redman, Ambassador Charles E. Redman 1994 (cropped).jpg October 31, 1994June 17, 1996
James D. Bindenagel, Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel (cropped).jpg June 17, 1996September 10, 1997
John C. Kornblum, Ambassador John Kornblum, KAS Berlin, 2014.jpg September 10, 1997July 7, 1999

Heads of the U.S. Embassy at Berlin (1999–present)

Name and titlePortraitPresentation of
credentials
Termination of
mission
John C. Kornblum, Ambassador John Kornblum, KAS Berlin, 2014.jpg July 7, 1999January 16, 2001
Daniel R. Coats, Ambassador Daniel Coats.jpg September 12, 2001February 25, 2005
William R. Timken, Ambassador William R Timken.jpg September 2, 2005December 5, 2008
John M. Koenig, Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador John Koenig.jpg December 6, 2008September 2, 2009
Philip D. Murphy, Ambassador Philip D. Murphy.jpg September 3, 2009August 26, 2013
John B. Emerson, Ambassador John B. Emerson.jpg August 26, 2013January 20, 2017
Kent Logsdon, Chargé d'Affaires Kent D. Logsdon.jpg January 20, 2017May 8, 2018
Richard Grenell, Ambassador Richard Grenell official photo.jpg May 8, 2018June 1, 2020
Robin Quinville, Chargé d'Affaires Robin S. Quinville.jpg June 1, 2020July 1, 2021
Woodward Clark Price, Chargé d'Affaires Clark Price in 2021 (cropped).jpg July 1, 2021February 17, 2022
Amy Gutmann, Ambassador Amy Gutmann, U.S. Ambassador 3.jpg February 17, 2022July 13, 2024
Woodward Clark Price, Chargé d'Affaires Clark Price in 2021 (cropped).jpg July 13, 2024July 26, 2024
Alan Meltzer, Chargé d'AffairesJuly 26, 2024Incumbent

See also

Prussia-United States relations

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References

  1. "Alan Meltzer, new Chargé d'Affaires". July 26, 2024.
  2. Zengerle, Patricia (February 8, 2022). "U.S. Senate votes to confirm Biden's ambassador to Germany". Reuters. Retrieved February 11, 2022.