Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C.

The Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C. is Sweden's diplomatic mission in the United States. The Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. is one of Sweden's largest diplomatic missions with more than fifty employees.[1] Ambassador since 2017 is Karin Olofsdotter. Sweden also has a Consulate General in New York City and a number of Honorary Consulates General in the United States.[2] Since 2006, the embassy is located in the House of Sweden building on the Potomac River.

Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C.
Address	Postal address: Embassy of Sweden 2900 K Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007-5118 USA Visiting address: Embassy of Sweden 2900 K Street, N.W. Washington
Ambassador	Karin Olofsdotter (since 2017)
Website	Official website

History

Swedish-American relations have a long history stretching back to the 17th century when Sweden in 1638 established the colony of New Sweden in the state of Delaware. In 1782, diplomatic relations were established by Samuel Gustaf Hermelin.[3] Sweden was the first country, in addition to the states that were directly involved in the American Revolutionary War (the United Kingdom and France), to recognize the United States in 1783.[4] In 1783 the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Sweden and the United States was signed.

A break in diplomatic relations occurred in 1973 when the then Ambassador Hubert de Bèsche and his newly elected successor Yngve Möller were declared undesirable in the United States as a result of a diplomatic crisis that followed Olof Palme's statement about the Hanoi bombings in December 1972.[5] In 1974 the new Swedish Ambassador Wilhelm Wachtmeister took office and held the post until 1989. Wachtmeister was eventually given the title Dean of the Diplomatic Corps (Doyen) as the longest serving Ambassador in Washington, D.C.[6] Other famous diplomats who held the Ambassador post are Jan Eliasson, Rolf Ekéus and Anders Thunborg.

The former embassy building was located at 2006 N Street, N.W.,[7] in a Victorian building at 2249 R Street, N.W.,,[8] from 1921 to 1971 and in Suite 1200, Watergate Six Hundred, 600 New Hampshire Avenue[9] along the banks of the Potomac River. When the rent in the Watergate complex became too high, the embassy was moved to a couple of floors at 1501 M Street, N.W. in Downtown.[10][11] The idea had been for several decades to acquire an own embassy building but the idea had come unstuck because of few suitable sites.[11]

In August 2006, the embassy returned to the banks of the Potomac River when the new embassy building, the House of Sweden, opened on the waterfront in Georgetown. The site was bought by the National Property Board of Sweden from the Swede Kate Novak's husband Alan Novak's development company.[11]

Buildings

Embassy building

The embassy has since 2006 been housed on the second floor of the then newly built and later the award-winning office and residential complex House of Sweden on the Potomac River in Georgetown. House of Sweden is the result after an architectural competition which the National Property Board of Sweden announced in June 2002. The winning entry was selected by the jury in January 2003 and construction began in August 2004.[12] In August 2006 the embassy staff moved in. The opening ceremony was held on 23 October 2006, in the presence of the King and Queen of Sweden.[13]

The building was designed by architects Gert Wingårdh and Tomas Hansen and Wingårdh received the Architects Sweden's (Sveriges Arkitekter) Kasper Salin Prize in 2007 for the building. The Washington Post named the House of Sweden the "Venue of the Year" in 2008. The cost of construction amounted to 482 million SEK.[14] House of Sweden houses the embassy building, embassy offices, 19 apartments and a 700 square metres (7,500 sq ft) event center with conference facilities and exhibition spaces. The building is about 6,400 square metres (69,000 sq ft) and is managed by the National Property Board of Sweden.[13] In 2009 Sweden and Iceland signed a 15-year long contract for office and a residential apartment for the Embassy of Iceland in the House of Sweden.[15]

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  Embassy of Sweden during the year 1921–1971 at 2249 R Street, N.W. Today it's used as Embassy of Kenya in Washington, D.C.
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  Embassy of Sweden from 1971 at Watergate Six Hundred.
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  Embassy of Sweden (House of Sweden) from 2006.

Residence

The ambassadorial residence is located at 3900 Nebraska Avenue, N.W.[8] The Spanish-influenced residence on Nebraska Avenue was designed by American architect Arthur B. Heaton. For several years, the building housed David F. Lawrence, one of the Washington's more well-known newspaper publishers.[16]

Theresidence is decorated with Swedish classics, including rugs by Märta Måås-Fjetterström, Gustavian furniture, art by Stellan Mörner, Olle Bærtling and Fredrik Reuterswärd. The gallery has French woven wallpapers from the late 1600s and early 1700s with landscape motifs. Thousands of guests to the Swedish ambassador and his family enjoy the Swedish decor every year.[16]

The large garden is said to be Washington's most beautiful. In addition to beautiful nature, a small greenhouse, well-kept shrubs and stately trees, there is a famous tennis court within the diplomatic world. There, former Ambassador Wilhelm Wachtmeister used to play tennis with President George H. W. Bush.[16] In June 2019, a decision was taken to sell the residence and that the Swedish ambassador would move into House of Sweden.[17]

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  Residence of the Ambassador of Sweden in Washington, D.C
• 
  Residence of the Ambassador of Sweden in Washington, D.C
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  Detail of the doorway to the residence of the Ambassador of Sweden in Washington, D.C

Heads of Mission

Name	Period	Title
Johan Albert Kantzow	1812–1819	Resident Minister
Berndt Robert Gustaf Stackelberg	1819–1831	Chargé d’affaires
David Gustaf Anckarloo	1831–1833	Chargé d'affaires
Severin Lorich	1834–1837	Chargé d'affaires
Gustaf af Nordin	1838–1845	Chargé d'affaires
Adam Christopher Lövenskiöld	1845–1850	Chargé d'affaires
Georg Sibbern	1850–1854	Chargé d'affaires
Georg Sibbern	1854–1858	Resident Minister
Nils Erik Wilhelm af Wetterstedt	1858–1860	Resident Minister
Carl Edward Vilhelm Piper	1861–1864	Resident Minister
Nils Erik Wilhelm af Wetterstedt	1864–1870	Envoy
Oluf Stenersen	1870–1875	Envoy
Carl Lewenhaupt	1876–1884	Envoy
Gustaf Lennart Reuterskiöld	1884–1888	Envoy
Johan Anton Wolff Grip	1889–1906	Envoy
Herman Lagercrantz	1907–1910	Envoy
Albert Ehrensvärd	1910–1911	Envoy
August Ekengren	1912–1920	Envoy
Axel Wallenberg	1921–1925	Envoy
Wollmar Boström	1925–1945	Envoy
Herman Eriksson	1945–1947	Envoy
Herman Eriksson	1947–1948	Ambassador
Erik Boheman	1948–1958	Ambassador
Gunnar Jarring	1958–1964	Ambassador
Hubert de Bèsche	1964–1973	Ambassador
Yngve Möller	1972–1972	Never took office[note 1]
Wilhelm Wachtmeister	1974–1989	Ambassador
Anders Thunborg	1989–1993	Ambassador
Henrik Liljegren	1993–1997	Ambassador
Rolf Ekéus	1997–2000	Ambassador
Jan Eliasson	2000–2005	Ambassador
Gunnar Lund	2005–2007	Ambassador
Jonas Hafström	2007–2013	Ambassador
Björn Lyrvall	2013–2017	Ambassador
Karin Olofsdotter	2017–present	Ambassador

Footnotes

1. Yngve Möller was appointed Swedish ambassador in 1972 but never took office because of a temporary break in Swedish-American relations.[18]

References

1. "Ambassaden" [The Embassy] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
2. "Ambassaden & konsulat" [The Embassy & Consulate] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
3. "Title: Map of Sweden - Description". World Digital Library. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
4. "Amerikas Förenta Stater (USA)" [United States of America (USA)] (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 4 March 2008. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
5. Thorsell, Staffan (2004). Sverige i Vita huset [Sweden in the White House] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier fakta. ISBN 91-85015-40-7. SELIBR 9649081.
6. Sciolino, Elain; Greenhouse, Linda (4 November 1988). "WASHINGTON TALK: BRIEFING; Transition Note (2)". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
7. Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1915. p. 168. SELIBR 8261599.
8. Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1964. p. 306. SELIBR 8261599.
9. Sveriges statskalender. 1984 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1984. p. 341. ISBN 91-38-90400-4. SELIBR 3682782.
10. "Groundbreaking". Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
11. Mattsson, Britt-Marie (15 May 2006). "Svenskt nybygge granne med Watergate" [New Swedish building next door to the Watergate]. Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 February 2017.
12. "House of Sweden – en ny svensk arena i USA" [House of Sweden - the new Swedish arena in the United States] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
13. "House of Sweden, Washington D.C." (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
14. "Full aktivitet i House of Sweden" [Full activity in the House of Sweden] (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 16 May 2006. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
15. "SFV välkomnar Island till House of Sweden" [SFV welcome Iceland to the House of Sweden] (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
16. "Washington D.C, ambassadörens residens" (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
17. "House of Sweden blir ny chefsbostad för Sveriges ambassadör i Washington" (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
18. Janzon, Beatrice; Sjöström, Sten (14 May 2007). "Reinfeldts inbjudan en tidig invit" [Reinfeldt's invitation an early invite]. Dagens Eko (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 19 September 2012.

External links

• Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C.