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Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C.

Coordinates: 38°54′5.29″N 77°3′31.88″W / 38.9014694°N 77.0588556°W / 38.9014694; -77.0588556
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Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C.
Map
LocationWashington, D.C.
AddressPostal 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
Coordinates38°54′5.29″N 77°3′31.88″W / 38.9014694°N 77.0588556°W / 38.9014694; -77.0588556
AmbassadorBjörn Lyrvall
(since 2013)
WebsiteOfficial website

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 2013 is Björn Lyrvall. Sweden also has a number of Honorary Consulates General in the United States.[2] The embassy is located since 2006 in the building House of Sweden on the Potomac River.

History

The Swedish-American relations have a long history stretching back to the 1600s 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, which in 1783 recognized the United States of America.[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 the diplomatic crisis that followed Olof Palme's statement about the Hanoi bombings in December 1972.[5] Only in 1974 the new Swedish Ambassador Wilhelm Wachtmeister took office, and who came to hold the post until 1989, and 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 had 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] the years 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 ideas 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] The Swedish ambassadorial residence is located at 3900 Nebraska Avenue, N.W.[8]

Building

Main article: House of Sweden
House of Sweden.
Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. during the year 1921–1971 at 2249 R Street, N.W. Today it's used as Embassy of Kenya in Washington, D.C.

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]

Heads of Mission

The Swedish ambassadorial residence at 3900 Nebraska Avenue, N.W.
Main article: List of ambassadors of Sweden to the United States
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–present Ambassador

Footnotes

  1. ^ Yngve Möller was appointed Swedish ambassador in Washington in 1972 but never took office because of a break in the Swedish-American relations.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Ambassaden" [The Embassy] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Ambassaden & konsulat" [The Embassy & Consulate] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Washington, D.C. 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  13. ^ a b "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. ^ 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.
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