Vladimír and Věra Machonin, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Berlin, 1978; (chief designer: Project Institute of the capital city of Prague - project 1970 - 1972)
Berlin - The building of the Czech Embassy in Berlin is set to undergo reconstruction in the near future. In an interview with ČTK, Czech Ambassador to Germany Tomáš Jan Podivínský stated that there will be no relocation of the embassy to a new building at a different location in Berlin, as previously speculated. "The technical equipment of the building, and this is a technical assessment, not my opinion, is far beyond the ability to ensure its functions," Podivínský said. According to him, preparations for the reconstruction need to begin soon. "Rather in a matter of months than years. Because waiting for it to technically collapse would be wrong," the ambassador stated. "After 40 years of the existence of this building, during which nothing has been invested here, it needs to be fundamentally changed," Podivínský said. "The building was constructed in 1977 during the Cold War, when there were sometimes 350 and sometimes 500 people present. I can only assume that a large part of them were actually engaged in activities that cannot be classified as diplomacy from today's perspective," the ambassador pointed out, emphasizing that currently only about one-tenth of the staff from the Cold War era works at the embassy. "It is important that we have our representation here that is dignified, welcoming to the environment and that we also represent the Czech Republic for the coming decades as a partner country, a neighboring country, a friendly country," the ambassador said. According to him, the current appearance of the building does not fulfill this purpose. "We cannot have reflective glass here, because one cannot see inside. That alone evokes the impression that people inside must be doing something wrong if they want to be hidden," he noted. However, he considers the location of the embassy to be exceptionally good. The diplomatic mission is located near the former border crossing Checkpoint Charlie, not far from the ministries of foreign affairs and finance, the representation of the European Commission, as well as the embassies of Britain, France, and the United States. This is also one of the reasons why there will be no relocation of the embassy to the Tiergarten district, where Berlin had reserved land for a new diplomatic mission for the Czech Republic. "The land was reserved for us by the city of Berlin until the end of last year, and this deadline has passed," Podivínský said. The relocation of the embassy to a new location in Berlin was supposed to be part of a political agreement between the Czech Republic and Germany, based on which Germany wanted to purchase the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague, where its diplomatic mission is located. However, after an agreement on a fifty-year lease of the palace to the federal republic, the agreement fell through. According to Podivínský, however, relocating the Czech embassy would not be an ideal solution even if Germany had purchased the Lobkowicz Palace. He stated that Slovakia built its diplomatic mission in an area where the Czech Republic had reserved land and faced problems with unstable ground. "For us, it would not be clear cost-wise what that would mean. It would be a huge risk," the ambassador said.
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