The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will reconstruct the embassy in Berlin

photo: Lukáš Beran

Prague - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will reconstruct the building of the Czech embassy in Berlin. The materials for the embassy's reconstruction are currently being prepared and will still need to be approved by the government, wrote the server Euro.cz today. In the past, there were speculations about the possibility of demolishing the building from the 1970s in central Berlin and constructing a new embassy on its site.

Berlin's conservationists protested against the demolition of the brutalist-style building, which is an architectural unique in the German metropolis. Euro.cz reported that Czech diplomacy decided to yield to their pressure and renovate the embassy. The expected costs of the reconstruction were not specified by the office.

Czech Ambassador to Germany Tomáš Jan Podivínský previously told CTK that the building's technical facilities are far behind the ability to ensure its functions. There have been issues such as poor thermal insulation, making it difficult to adequately heat many offices in winter, while in summer they were too hot.

Podivínský also pointed out that for the current needs of Czech diplomacy, the building is oversized. During the Cold War, it accommodated between 350 and 500 employees, while today about a tenth of that number works at the embassy.

The embassy is located near the former border crossing Checkpoint Charlie, close to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance, the European Commission's representation, and the embassies of Britain, France, and the United States. Also due to its location at a prestigious address, Czech diplomacy previously backed away from the earlier considered relocation of the embassy to the Berlin district of Tiergarten.