# Berlin's New American Embassy



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Berlin embassy to show "warmer, fuzzier" U.S. *









_Photo Source : http://germany.usembassy.gov/ _

BERLIN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A new U.S. embassy that sits next to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin will show off America's "warmer, friendlier, fuzzier" side, U.S. Ambassador William R. Timken said on Thursday. 

Designed by California architects Moore Ruble Yudell at a cost of $130 million, the embassy is due to open this spring and will be celebrated with two days of festivities in the Pariser Platz square starting on July 4. 

Its planning was dogged by controversy as U.S. officials demanded Berlin shift two major streets in the city centre away from the embassy for security. They reached a compromise in 2000 and construction began just over three years ago. 

Unlike many other U.S. embassies around the world, the new building in Berlin does not sit behind tall barricades but is relatively exposed on one of the German capital's most visited squares -- a symbol, Timken said, of the close German-American relationship. 

"We could have built an embassy out in the woods at half the cost and twice the security," Timken told reporters. "We are here as a symbol of our desire to be a partner to Germany ... It's going to be a warmer, friendlier, fuzzier America." 

Relations between the United States and Germany grew more strained than at any time since World War Two when former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came out strongly against the U.S.-led war in Iraq. 

But his successor Angela Merkel has worked hard to repair ties and German officials are hoping to lure U.S. President George W. Bush to Berlin for the grand opening of the embassy on U.S. Independence Day. 

The embassy is across the street from Berlin's new Holocaust memorial and within metres of where the Berlin Wall once stood. The French and British embassies are also around Pariser Platz, a former border zone between East and West Berlin. 

The United States acquired a palace on the same site in 1931 with the intention of turning it into an embassy, but World War Two broke out before it was functional and the heavily-bombed building was demolished by the East German government in 1957.


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## Dallasbrink (Nov 2, 2007)

....ok


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

To give some context, many countries are building new embassies in Berlin, and Berlin itself has been transformed with many expensive and large-scale rebuilding projects to reinforce its status as the German capital. Although the spending has been criticized for bankrupting the city, the American embassy is one of many great buildings coming up in the city, although the American taxpayer should be footing this one's bill.


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## OliverChettle (Nov 18, 2007)

I hope they deliver on their promise to be good neighbours. The U.S. embassy in London behaves appallingly, with totally excessive security demands that just make Americans look cowardly, making life a misery in one of the most prestigious districts of London. If I was the PM, I'd tell the American diplomats to either accept the same risks as everyone else in London, or move the embassy to a U.S. Navy ship out at sea.


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## TheRhino (Dec 31, 2007)

Warmer, Fuzzier U.S. embassy? Whats it going to look like--Pee Wees Playhouse? 

Seriously, with the amount of people bombing our embassies (Greece, Belgrade, etc.) they should be equipped with giant lasers and robot drones. Even more seriously, glad to hear that they are doing a nice job with this embassy. Hopefully the warm and fuzzy embassy makes Europeans like us more. Europeans like warm and fuzzy, that is, unless some mustacioed man is rampaging across the continent. :lol:

Last time I checked, the Germany Embassy wasnt too warm and fuzzy in the U.S. Maybe you Krauts can return the favor, move it to Vegas, and design it to look like Neuschwanstein Castle---with a casino, the worlds largest beer hall, and another Playboy Club. The Strip needs a German themed resort IMO. Ill shut up now.


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## Overground (Apr 11, 2005)

Bit of security chaos around Grosvenor Sq because of that embassy and unfortunately a part of Canada's High Commission at MacDonald House (the other part being Canada House at Trafalgar) shares Grosvenor Sq with them too.

The US Embassy has a really nice location in Berlin anchoring the southern bit of Pariser Platz. The French are on the other side of the square with the Brits on the next street over to the east - in their original location. The Canadian Embassy is just 450m down the road from there at Leipziger Platz which is about 20m across the street from the former Reich Chancellery. What an insanely historical precinct this is.

Berlin paid for the new US Embassy??


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## 1878EFC (Jun 24, 2006)

I walked past the US embassy when i was in Berlin. No cars could get down the road because there was massive concrete slabs on the road, and also the entrance was heavily guarded. I think its a great symbol of America, they act that bad and treat other countries so shit that they have to have these precautions.


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## canadave87 (Oct 8, 2007)

OliverChettle said:


> I hope they deliver on their promise to be good neighbours. The U.S. embassy in London behaves appallingly, with totally excessive security demands that just make Americans look cowardly, making life a misery in one of the most prestigious districts of London. If I was the PM, I'd tell the American diplomats to either accept the same risks as everyone else in London, or move the embassy to a U.S. Navy ship out at sea.


The US Embassy in Ottawa is the same, with huge fences, a lane of Sussex Drive blocked off, and a terribly ugly building that nearly ruins one side of an historic neighborhood. I hope it works out better in Berlin.


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

*bayernernst at http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2262578898/*


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## Maelstrom (Mar 1, 2008)

The embassy will still be surrounded by gunmen though. Not exactly 'warm and fuzzy'. 

I remember a few years ago, the US wanted the roads around one of its embassies in either London or Berlin to all be closed to traffic. Of course it never went ahead. but it was considered a very arrogant demand at the time..


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Considering the extremist activity in Europe extra security is not surprising.


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## Unionstation13 (Aug 31, 2006)

You know what would REALLY show their hope to build a better relationship with Germany? Is if the US payed to rebuild the palace that once stood there. With a lot of US hatred right now the security doesn't suprise me either.


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Unionstation13 said:


> You know what would REALLY show their hope to build a better relationship with Germany? Is if the US payed to rebuild the palace that once stood there. With a lot of US hatred right now the security doesn't suprise me either.


I believe it was the East Germans who demolished it.


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## Unionstation13 (Aug 31, 2006)

OakRidge said:


> I believe it was the East Germans who demolished it.


I never said they didn't.
But I think it would really say something about the loyalty towards Germany if the US payed to rebuild a palace destroyed in WWII. The East Germans demolished the ruines of it.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Looks like a 2nd rate office building. At least the French Embassy stands out a bit more even though I don't particularly like it either.


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

It looks like a hospital...somewhere in Hintertupfingen.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

This building is utter shite. It downrates the whole Pariser Platz (where the Brandenburg gate stands in front of).

But in the end it may fit an American embassy the best. At least it's safer than Fort Knox, I presume.


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Its nothing special, but its not ugly either. 

Regarding the security measurements, if the USA deems such a location with a functional street to be too insecure, maybe it should build its embassy in the middle of nowhere instead of right in the center of Berlin? To choose first a location and then demand that the environment has to change for the embassy is arrogance at its best.


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Wow, thats some boring embassy. Looks like a motorway Motel.


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## storms991 (Mar 28, 2006)

They always have to build modern crap like this. Do people not enjoy the graceful beauty of Gothic or classical style buildings?

It seems the US is exporting its chiefly utilitarian style of architecture that I see whenever I cross the pond. At least it wasn't designed by Frank Gehry or Renzo Piano, as its so popular to do so these days.


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## Unionstation13 (Aug 31, 2006)

I have to agree with you. I don't think we should try and 'mimick' styles from previous eras but we should use details to create beautiful designs. We can't keep building structures that become eyesores after a few years. There is reason behind the insanity of classic design.


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## GEwinnen (Mar 3, 2006)

Unionstation13 said:


> You know what would REALLY show their hope to build a better relationship with Germany? Is if the US payed to rebuild the palace that once stood there. With a lot of US hatred right now the security doesn't suprise me either.












The last U.S. Embassy at this place was in "Palais Blücher". In 1941, when the U.S. steped into WW2, Switzerland managed diplomatic affairs for the U.S.

The "Palais Blücher" was destroyed by the east German government, because it was located in the death strip just beside the Berlin wall.


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## Dallasbrink (Nov 2, 2007)

storms991 said:


> They always have to build modern crap like this. Do people not enjoy the graceful beauty of Gothic or classical style buildings?
> 
> It seems the US is exporting its chiefly utilitarian style of architecture that I see whenever I cross the pond. At least it wasn't designed by Frank Gehry or Renzo Piano, as its so popular to do so these days.


Hypocrite

Europe pretty much invented the "Modern Crap" and the "Utilitarian" style of Architecture. American architecture would be Georgian


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## cardiff (Jul 26, 2005)

Europeans also invented Georgian architecture, as well as classical, art deco etc etc. its just the time of construction rather than continental derived style.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Pics courtesy of Floydian



> American architecture would be Georgian


Named after a British king... :|


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## Singidunum (Jul 25, 2004)

Hideous...


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## Msradell (Oct 28, 2007)

Very European design, it wouldn't work in a U.S. city but it looks good where it is. It fits well between ultramodern and old designs that are prevalent in Berlin. Maybe not a great design in everyone's opinion but. . . .


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## Thorgeirr (Oct 3, 2007)

Fugly. And WTF is an American building doing so close to the Brandenburg Gate. There should be a German museum or something.

I protest. :banana:


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## Thorgeirr (Oct 3, 2007)

1878EFC said:


> I walked past the US embassy when i was in Berlin. No cars could get down the road because there was massive concrete slabs on the road, and also the entrance was heavily guarded. I think its a great symbol of America, they act that bad and treat other countries so shit that they have to have these precautions.


Oh no, big bad America treats you like shit? I'm no fan of US but this kinda whiners is also kinda funny.

I have no problems with Americans and their security measures as long as their simplistic eyesore structures are far away from anywhere that matters and well hidden, like an industrial park or something.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

It's ugly. 

What do they mean by a "warmer, fuzzier" US and how is that signified by this building?
It's just the location, right?


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## Msradell (Oct 28, 2007)

Thorgeirr said:


> Fugly. And WTF is an American building doing so close to the Brandenburg Gate. There should be a German museum or something.
> 
> I protest. :banana:


Maybe because if America hadn't come to Europe's defense during WWII there would have ever been a Brandenburg Gate? Instead Germany would have remained in control of most of Europe.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

So there wouldn't have been a Brandenburg Gate if Germany had remained in control of Europe?

Anyway, the design and location stink. The Pariser Platz (ie the square next to the Brandenburg Gate) is supposed to be one of the centers of Berlin yet it'll now be full of policemen and road blocks. Wouldn't surprise me if you were arrested for taking pics in that area. :|


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## Alphaville (Nov 28, 2007)

I'm the last person to ever stick up for United States policy -- but you cannot deny that the US has had a truly involved relationship with the city of Berlin. After the Allies (including my country Australia) fought against Nazi Germany in WW2 -- there was generally an enourmous amount of compassion and sympathy for former enemy and the hideous division of a their society. 

Aside from that -- I thing the placement of the US embassy so close to the gate is wrong -- not for politcal reasons -- but in regards to urban planning.

I am aware that buildings once came should to shoulder with the gate in the past -- but it was not until I visited Berlin last year that I realised how close they were. The gate should have had the space around it maintained after the wall fell --- it allowed the Gate to stand on it's own. The buildings so close to it dramatically diminish its effect. I found the Brandenburg Gate itself spectacular from Tiergarten-- but from Unter den Linden its extremely underwhelming.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

That's what Albert Speer had planned. He would have even removed the "Torbauten" from the gate:


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## Msradell (Oct 28, 2007)

Kampflamm said:


> So there wouldn't have been a Brandenburg Gate if Germany had remained in control of Europe?



Well since the entire city (and country for that matter) would've been under one person's control their would've been no need for gate between the sections.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

There was no need for the gate in the 1910s, 20s etc either. It's a relict of the 18th century.


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## Alphaville (Nov 28, 2007)

Msradell said:


> Well since the entire city (and country for that matter) would've been under one person's control their would've been no need for gate between the sections.


The gate was over 150 years old when the city was divided.. .


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## Msradell (Oct 28, 2007)

Alphaville said:


> The gate was over 150 years old when the city was divided.. .


True, but the historical importance of the gate developed when the city was divided. Before that the only historical importance it had was its age.


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## Thorgeirr (Oct 3, 2007)

Kampflamm said:


> So there wouldn't have been a Brandenburg Gate if Germany had remained in control of Europe?
> 
> Anyway, the design and location stink. The Pariser Platz (ie the square next to the Brandenburg Gate) is supposed to be one of the centers of Berlin yet it'll now be full of policemen and road blocks. Wouldn't surprise me if you were arrested for taking pics in that area. :|


It's Germans fault for letting this.


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## Iluminat (Jan 16, 2008)

> Very European design


It's too amercian for me...


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Iluminat said:


> It's too amercian for me...


Too "modern" for me. They should have went full on neo classical.


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Looks like a prison. hno:


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## LMCA1990 (Jun 18, 2005)

I like it :dunno:


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## Terculum (May 3, 2008)

I don't care for the building, but in comparison to most of the other high-security buildings the US has been putting out recently it looks relatively okay. At least it has windows on the lower floors. I'm glad to see that they didn't make the design any worse than it is.


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## eyrie (Dec 21, 2006)

"warmer and fuzzier" sound like toilet seat covers


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## mitchikoi (Aug 8, 2006)

It looks like a typical office building, nothing special... i think the new turkish embassy is much more better...


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## melbguy (Jan 23, 2007)

goschio said:


> Looks like a prison. hno:


i agree, it seriously looks like a prison. they really could have done something better. but too late now i guess? who on earth would have approved this in the first place tho :nuts:


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## bixa louca (Feb 22, 2008)

Typical. Boring. American architecture. Bleh.

And I'm American...


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## channel (Apr 24, 2008)

horrible looking building


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*U.S. Embassy moving back to location it held in German capital before the Second World War*
19 May 2008

BERLIN (AP) - The U.S. Embassy in Berlin moves back this week to its historic location in the center of the German capital, which it abandoned after Nazi Germany declared war on the United States in 1941.

Ambassador William Timken told reporters Monday that the embassy's return to Pariser Platz will be officially marked on the Fourth of July with speeches by Chancellor Angela Merkel and former President George H.W. Bush, followed by traditional Independence Day fireworks over the Brandenburg Gate.

The actual move, however, comes this weekend and the building will be opened Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day, Timken said.

"This is the closing of a long circle dating back to before 1940..." Timken told reporters. "This is not simply turning a key on a new facility -- this is history in the making."

The original embassy building was damaged in a fire in 1931. By the time U.S. diplomats moved into it in April 1939, Washington had already recalled its chief envoy to protest an anti-Semitic pogrom.

Remaining diplomats left in 1941 after Germany declared war on the United States, a few days after the Nazi's ally Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and Washington responded in kind.

Like many buildings in downtown Berlin, the building was heavily damaged during World War II and then later razed by communist East Germany. For nearly three decades during the Cold War, the site stood in the heavily fortified no man's land behind the Berlin Wall.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood just a few yards (meters) away on the western side as he urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

World War II allies France and Britain already have built their embassies in the same area as the U.S. site, while America has been operating out of a temporary facility a few blocks away. Germany's national Holocaust memorial is across the street.

One hurdle to the new U.S. mission was a law passed after the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, requiring all new American embassies to be built at least 100 feet (30 meters) from the nearest road. Berlin officials balked at agreeing to the demand, saying it would cut into the city's main park. Washington broke the logjam in 2001, by easing the law's requirements for the Berlin project.

Another stumbling block came after the Congress slashed the original $180 million budget to $130 million, which meant the embassy design had to be modified -- losing a planned basement, among other things, Timken said.

The bustling Pariser Platz will be shut off to the public for the July 4th celebration, which some 4,500 invited guests are expected to attend. In addition to Merkel and Bush -- who was president at the time of German reunification in 1990 and is President Bush's father -- a group of U.S. pilots who flew missions in the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift will also be on hand, Timken said.

The airlift came after the Soviets blockaded all land and water traffic to Berlin in an attempt to squeeze the allies out of the city in 1948. In one of the most significant Cold War confrontations, the Western allies flew some 280,000 flights keeping the 2 million citizens of Berlin supplied with fuel and food until the Soviets backed down 11 months later.

"Those pilots were most certainly all too familiar with the original embassy ... as it stood in ruins beside the Brandenburg Gate," Timken said. "I can imagine how moving the grand opening of our new embassy on the same site will be for these pilots who will be returning. Their sacrifice has come full circle."


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

Omg - what a shame. Looks disgusting.hno:


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## Alvar Lavague (Aug 24, 2006)

Huh! Looks like a mundane suburban office building.
British and French embassies look much better :


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## Alvar Lavague (Aug 24, 2006)

*www.dw-world.de*, 11.05.2008 :



> *New US Embassy in Berlin Triggers Architecture Debate*
> 
> *Removal of the scaffolding from the US embassy construction site in Berlin has triggered fresh debate about this symbol of Washington's power on the site of the former Berlin Wall.
> *
> ...


http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3325836,00.html


















_The American embassy is on the right_.


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Its not my cup of tea but oh well!


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## Kikab (Oct 9, 2005)

Could be worst. At least it has windows, and no walls as in other parts of the world.


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

It's better looking than the German embassy in Washington D.C.


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## Kevlargeist (Jun 11, 2008)

Such an eyesore. Totally wrong location. But as said, it could be even worse. If it were located in some more suitable place it wouldn't look nearly as hideous as it does now.


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## Icantthinkofaname (Apr 28, 2008)

This builing looks like a prison.


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Icantthinkofaname said:


> This builing looks like a prison.



It is a prison. A prison for americans.


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## Big Texan (Jun 4, 2008)

^^ So funny i forgot to laugh!


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

^^ Well aren't we original lol


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## Basincreek (Mar 10, 2008)

Considering the enormous loss of life when US embassies were attacked in Lebanon and Africa I perfectly understand the need for security. That said it could have looked worse and speaking of dreadful, the next door Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is incredibly depressing............of course I think that was the point.


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## World 2 World (Nov 3, 2006)

goschio said:


> It is a prison. A prison for americans.


lol:lol:


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

They shouldn't have build another embassy there. Why not a... Supermarket or something?
In the reconstructed pre-war building, of course:









"Palais Blücher" at Pariser Platz, Berlin around 1900. Click here for a high-res version of the pic. 
You may find some thousands of other German postcards, just type a city name on top and go for it.


The same building as seen from todays "Platz des 18. März", to the right.











Wouldn't that have been a way classier embassy? It's not like you couldn't have classical architecture and high security
at the same time - just take a look at the White House.

It wouldn't have been way more expensive as well.


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## Dimension (Aug 18, 2007)

^^The embassy should have looked looked like the building above so it fit in with its surroundings.



erbsenzaehler said:


> This building is utter shite. It downrates the whole Pariser Platz (where the Brandenburg gate stands in front of).
> 
> But in the end it may fit an American embassy the best. At least it's safer than Fort Knox, I presume.


Does the US embassy have tanks, airplanes, helicopters, a mini army of some 5,000(?) men and women on the grounds? All to guard a building that might not have anything in it.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Perhaps the embassy needs to look plain and ugly to deter enthusiasts and architects from stopping by and taking photos. They're probably very wary of that kind of stuff in today's geopolitical reality.


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## Iluminat (Jan 16, 2008)

> It's not like you couldn't have classical architecture and high security
> at the same time


But why should they build something like that in XXI century :dunno:


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Because modern architecture completely fails right next to the Brandenburg Gate.

As you may clearly see in the result of the US Embassy.


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