Embassy of the United States, Vienna

The Embassy of the United States of America in Vienna is the main United States diplomatic mission to Austria. Since 1947 the embassy building is located on Boltzmanngasse 16, in the Alsergrund district of Vienna.

Embassy of the United States, Vienna
U.S. Embassy building, Vienna
LocationVienna, Austria
AddressBoltzmanngasse 16
Coordinates48.222789°N 16.356223°E / 48.222789; 16.356223
OpenedJune 30, 1947 (1947-06-30)[1]
AmbassadorVictoria Reggie Kennedy

History

The United States first established diplomatic relations with Austria when Henry A. P. Muhlenberg was appointed first U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Austrian Empire on February 8, 1838. When according to the Compromise of 1867 the empire became the union of Austria-Hungary, the Ministers were so commissioned. The legation officially was elevated to the status of an embassy on May 14, 1902, with Robert Sanderson McCormick as first U.S. Ambassador.[2]

When upon the American entry into World War I the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary in April 1917, Spain handled the representation of U.S. interests in Vienna for the duration of the war.[3] In 1921 the U.S. diplomatic mission reopened as a legation.[4]

The Neo-baroque embassy building at Boltzmanngasse 16 was constructed from 1902 to 1904 according to plans designed by architect Ludwig Baumann. It was originally built as the new location of the K.k. Akademie für Orientalische Sprachen, which had been established in 1754 (the precursor of the present-day Diplomatic Academy of Vienna). The studying conditions were severely restricted after the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany, and the building was temporarily used as a Wehrmacht military hospital. At the conclusion of World War II, U.S. occupation troops seized the building until 1946.

The U.S. Government finally purchased the building on June 30, 1947, at the intercession of Eleanor Lansing Dulles and with the consent of the Austrian National Council. The U.S. Mission in Austria held the status of a legation from 1947 until 1951, when it officially became an embassy, with Walter J. Donnelly as the first U.S. ambassador to serve in Vienna since Frederic Courtland Penfield departed in World War I.[5]

The current Ambassador of the United States to Austria is Victoria Reggie Kennedy.[6]

See also

Notes and references
  1. "History of the Consular Academy at Boltzmanngasse 16". at.usembassy.gov. United States Department of State. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  2. "Ambassadors to Austria". United States Department of State. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  3. Kroeger, Brooke. ""Nellie Bly: She Did It All"". Quarterly of the National Archives, Spring 1996, Vo. 28, No. 1. pp. 7–15. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  4. "LEGATION OPEN IN VIENNA". The New York Times. December 2, 1921. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  5. "History of the Consular Academy at Boltzmanngasse 16". Embassy of the United States in Vienna. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  6. "Ambassador Victoria Reggie Kennedy". U.S. Embassy in Austria. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
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