Embassy of Germany in Saint Petersburg
Encyclopedia
The Embassy of Germany in Saint Petersburg was the diplomatic mission
of the German Empire
to the Russian Empire
in Saint Petersburg
. After the relocation by the Bolshevik
s of the Soviet
capital from Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then known) to Moscow
, it served as a consulate of the Weimar Republic
and Nazi Germany
. Located at 11/41 Saint Isaac's Square in the Tsentralny District
of Saint Petersburg, the building now houses the offices of two Russian government
agencies.
of the Russian Empire
. From 1815-1820, renowned Russian architect
Vasily Stasov
redesigned the house in the Empire style common in Russia during this period.
In 1832 General-Adjutant Pavel Konstantinovich Aleksandrov, the illegitimate son of Grand Duke
Konstantin Pavlovich
, purchased the building and lived there with his wife Anna Alexandrovna. The couple regularly held balls in the residence, with frequent visitors including Alexander Pushkin. The house was passed onto their daughter Princess Alexandra Pavlovna Lvova, wife of Prince Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lvov, and between 1870-1871 the facade
of the building was designed in Eclecticism style
by Ferdinand Müller.
for housing the German Embassy
to the Russian Empire
that same year. The Germans commissioned architect Rudolf Bernhard to redecorate the buildings interiors, and in 1889 Ivan Schlupp redesigned the building by adding a second floor over a part of the facade on Bolshaya Morskaya Street.
In 1911-1913 the building was again redesigned, this time in Neoclassical style
by German architect Peter Behrens
, as a grandiose monument the power of a unified Germany. Behrens' design, which Albert Speer
reported Adolf Hitler
admired, saw the facade
of the building being built in red granite, the frontispiece
, reminiscent of Ancient Greek architecture, was completed with 14 columns, and decorated with pilaster
s. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
served as construction manager on the project, and sculptor Eberhard Enke created the Castor and Pollux
sculpture, symbolising the reunion of the German nation, which adorned the tympanum
. Other prominent German masters
created paintings, sculptures and fretwork
to adorn the building. The Embassy building was officially opened on 14 January 1913.
The artistic community in Saint Petersburg held negative opinions of the building, with prominent members of the community, Alexandre Benois
, Nikolay Wrangel and Georgy Lukomsky, criticising the Teutonic style of the building as being hostile to the architectural style of the city, and due to it differing greatly from the Russian neoclassical revival style
.
It was rumoured at the time that the Embassy was linked to the German–owned Hotel Astoria
via an underground tunnel, and on 1–2 August 1914, after Germany declared war on Russia
, crowds stormed the building as anti-German sentiment
took hold in the city. The building sustained considerable damage, with crowds torching the throne room
of Kaiser
Wilhelm II, destroying Greek
and Italian
art work and a collection of Sèvres
porcelain
. The Dioskouroi sculpture from the roof disappeared during this time, and rumours abounded that it was dumped in the Moika River
by the crowd, however, researchers have been unable to find any fragments of the sculpture in the river.
After the war, the Germans returned to the city in 1922, at the time known as Petrograd, and operated a consulate from the building, representing the Weimar Republic
and later Nazi Germany
, until 1939. During the Siege of Leningrad
, the Red Army
operated a hospital in the premises, and after the Great Patriotic War it housed the Institute of Semiconductor Physics. Later tenants of the building have included Intourist
, Dresdner Bank
and the Committee for the Management of City Property of the Saint Petersburg City Administration
. Today the building houses the Administration Board of the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Technical Commission to the President of the Russian Federation
for the Northwestern Federal District
.
Restoration of the building began in 2001, and with the support of Rossvyazokhrankultura
and Governor Valentina Matvienko, in a project estimated at 170 million rubles
, a group of restorers led by OOO «StroyTREST» are planning to recreate the Dioskouroi sculpture for placement on the tympanum of the building. Plans have been in the works for several years to replace the sculpture, and the warm relations between Russia and Germany have created the right political atmosphere for the restoration of the building to its former glory.
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. After the relocation by the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
capital from Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then known) to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, it served as a consulate of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Located at 11/41 Saint Isaac's Square in the Tsentralny District
Tsentralny District, Saint Petersburg
Tsentralny District is a district of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It borders the Neva River in the north and in the east, Obvodny Canal in the south, and areas around the Gorokhovaya Street in the west...
of Saint Petersburg, the building now houses the offices of two Russian government
Government of Russia
The Government of the Russian Federation exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister , the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers...
agencies.
History of the site
In the 1740s a two-storey building was erected by Nikita Shestakov on the site which is today at 11/41 Saint Isaac's Square. In 1743 Shestakov sold the building to merchant Fedot Stepanov and from the 1760s to 1812 it was owned by a jeweller to the courtNoble court
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. From 1815-1820, renowned Russian architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Stasov
Vasily Petrovich Stasov was a Russian architect.-Biography:Stasov was born in Moscow....
redesigned the house in the Empire style common in Russia during this period.
In 1832 General-Adjutant Pavel Konstantinovich Aleksandrov, the illegitimate son of Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
Konstantin Pavlovich
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia
Constantine Pavlovich was a grand duke of Russia and the second son of Emperor Paul I. He was the Tsesarevich of Russia throughout the reign of his elder brother Alexander I, but had secretly renounced his claim to the throne in 1823...
, purchased the building and lived there with his wife Anna Alexandrovna. The couple regularly held balls in the residence, with frequent visitors including Alexander Pushkin. The house was passed onto their daughter Princess Alexandra Pavlovna Lvova, wife of Prince Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lvov, and between 1870-1871 the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the building was designed in Eclecticism style
Eclecticism in architecture
Eclecticism is a term used to describe a single piece of work, which incorporates a mixture of elements from previous historical styles to create something that is new and original...
by Ferdinand Müller.
German Embassy
In 1873 the German Ambassador declared an intention to acquire the building from Princess Lvova and the building was bought by the German EmpireGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
for housing the German Embassy
Diplomatic missions of Germany
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Germany. Historically, the German state of Prussia and several smaller German states, had sent emissaries abroad prior to the establishment of the North German Confederation, the precursor to the modern State of Germany.In 1874 Germany had only four...
to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
that same year. The Germans commissioned architect Rudolf Bernhard to redecorate the buildings interiors, and in 1889 Ivan Schlupp redesigned the building by adding a second floor over a part of the facade on Bolshaya Morskaya Street.
In 1911-1913 the building was again redesigned, this time in Neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
by German architect Peter Behrens
Peter Behrens
Peter Behrens was a German architect and designer. He was important for the modernist movement, as several of the movements leading names worked for him when they were young.-Biography:Behrens attended the Christianeum Hamburg from September 1877 until Easter 1882...
, as a grandiose monument the power of a unified Germany. Behrens' design, which Albert Speer
Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
reported Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
admired, saw the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the building being built in red granite, the frontispiece
Frontispiece (architecture)
In architecture, a frontispiece is the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main, or front, door to a building. The term is especially used when the main entrance is the chief face of the building rather than being kept behind columns or a portico. Early German churches often...
, reminiscent of Ancient Greek architecture, was completed with 14 columns, and decorated with pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
served as construction manager on the project, and sculptor Eberhard Enke created the Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
sculpture, symbolising the reunion of the German nation, which adorned the tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
. Other prominent German masters
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
created paintings, sculptures and fretwork
Fretwork
Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly used are wood and metal. Fretwork is used to adorn...
to adorn the building. The Embassy building was officially opened on 14 January 1913.
The artistic community in Saint Petersburg held negative opinions of the building, with prominent members of the community, Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois , an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva , an art movement and magazine...
, Nikolay Wrangel and Georgy Lukomsky, criticising the Teutonic style of the building as being hostile to the architectural style of the city, and due to it differing greatly from the Russian neoclassical revival style
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
.
It was rumoured at the time that the Embassy was linked to the German–owned Hotel Astoria
Hotel Astoria
Hotel Astoria is a five-star hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia opened in 1912. It has 213 bedrooms, including 52 suites.It is located on Saint Isaac's Square, next to Saint Isaac's Cathedral and across from the historic Imperial German Embassy...
via an underground tunnel, and on 1–2 August 1914, after Germany declared war on Russia
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, crowds stormed the building as anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment
Anti-German sentiment is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia.-Russia:...
took hold in the city. The building sustained considerable damage, with crowds torching the throne room
Throne room
A throne room is the room, often rather a hall, in the official residence of the crown, either a palace or a fortified castle, where the throne of a senior figure is set up with elaborate pomp— usually raised, often with steps, and under a canopy, both of which are part of the original notion of...
of Kaiser
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
Wilhelm II, destroying Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
art work and a collection of Sèvres
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres
The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
. The Dioskouroi sculpture from the roof disappeared during this time, and rumours abounded that it was dumped in the Moika River
Moika River
The Moyka River is a small river which encircles the central portion of Saint Petersburg, effectively making it an island. The river, originally known as Mya, derives its name from the Ingrian word for "slush, mire"...
by the crowd, however, researchers have been unable to find any fragments of the sculpture in the river.
After the war, the Germans returned to the city in 1922, at the time known as Petrograd, and operated a consulate from the building, representing the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and later Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, until 1939. During the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
, the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
operated a hospital in the premises, and after the Great Patriotic War it housed the Institute of Semiconductor Physics. Later tenants of the building have included Intourist
Intourist
Intourist is a Russian travel agency, 66%-owned by Moscow-based holding company Sistema.Before privatisation in 1992, Intourist was renowned as the official state travel agency of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1929 by Joseph Stalin and was staffed by NKVD and later KGB officials...
, Dresdner Bank
Dresdner Bank
Dresdner Bank AG was one of Germany's largest banking corporations and was based in Frankfurt. It was acquired by competitor Commerzbank in December 2009.- 19th century :...
and the Committee for the Management of City Property of the Saint Petersburg City Administration
Saint Petersburg City Administration
Saint Petersburg City Administration is the superior executive body of Saint Petersburg , Russian Federation. It is located in a historic building, Smolny....
. Today the building houses the Administration Board of the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Technical Commission to the President of the Russian Federation
President of the Russian Federation
The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation...
for the Northwestern Federal District
Northwestern Federal District
Northwestern Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. It consists of the northern part of European Russia. Its population was 13,583,800 according to the 2010 Census, living on an area of...
.
Restoration of the building began in 2001, and with the support of Rossvyazokhrankultura
Rossvyazokhrankultura
Rossvyazokhrankultura was the short name for the Russian Federal Surveillance Service for Mass Communications, Communications and Cultural Heritage Protection , a state governing service entrusted with monitoring compliance in two unrelated areas - communications and mass media and preservation of...
and Governor Valentina Matvienko, in a project estimated at 170 million rubles
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
, a group of restorers led by OOO «StroyTREST» are planning to recreate the Dioskouroi sculpture for placement on the tympanum of the building. Plans have been in the works for several years to replace the sculpture, and the warm relations between Russia and Germany have created the right political atmosphere for the restoration of the building to its former glory.