Bonn's First Man in London

When the Federal Republic of Germany was constituted in September 1949, its foreign representation became a priority. Consular and trade offices were authorised at first by the three Western occupation powers in the countries of the Marshall Plan. An "Organisational Office for Consular and Economic Representations" was set up in Bonn in November 1949 for the preparations concerning personnel and equipment. As there was no German Foreign Office yet, its establishment had to be anticipated. There ensued a demarcation dispute over the respective consular and economic responsibilities between Dr. Adenauer's Vice Chancellor and Minister for the Marshall Plan, Fritz Blücher, and Professor Ludwig Erhard, the Minister for Economics.

The man whom Dr. Adenauer appointed as Consul General in London was the former Minister for Agriculture and Food in the British Zone, Dr.h.c. Hans Schlange-Schöningen. He arrived on 16 June 1950. Twelve days later the Consulate General in New York was opened, three weeks later Paris. Soon a "Modified Occupation Statute" (of 6 March 1951) authorised the Federal Government to start the Foreign Ministry and set up diplomatic representations in those states in which it had already been authorised, before the March Statute, to start consular offices. The United States, France and the United Kingdom were, however, explicitly excluded from this decision, though this was abolished on 13 June 1951. The Consulates General in London and Paris were then given diplomatic status and the Consulate General in Washington became a diplomatic representation. The Federal Republic's London representation was given diplomatic status in June 1951, and on 7 July 1951 Dr. Hans Schlange-Schöningen received the personal title of Ambassador which signified also that the state of war that had existed between Great Britain and the German Reich was officially ended.

Dr. Schlange-Schöningen's position was comparable to that of Dr. Sthamer's after World War One. Both were 64 and diplomatic outsiders. Apart from that, the conservative Christian, Pomeranian landowner and politician, a consistent opponent of Hitler, Minister under Brüning in the Weimar Republic, but with no experience of foreign affairs - he learned to speak English only late in life - had little in common with the Hamburg Senator, his predecessor in the twenties. Dr. Schlange-Schöningen said on his arrival "I'll be different from Ribbentrop". He fulfilled his difficult London mission with great restraint and dignity knowing that, as Dr. Adenauer reminded him, he was in London only as German Consul but expected to do far more.

In his first official dispatch dated 23 June 1950 he reported that he had taken up temporary residence in a two-room suite at Brown's Hotel, Dover Street, W l, and that, since no office accommodation was available, he used his lounge as an office. The men and women of his staff, among them his Number Two, Dr. Rosen, and the Press Attaché Dr. Bruno Richter were staying at the Regent Palace Hotel and did likewise, using their bedrooms as offices. "The high prices in London have made it impossible so far to find suitable office accommodation. We have a great choice of freehold property, but the prices (between 50,000 and 60,000 Pounds) are obviously not within the financial scope of the Federal Government - this applies also to leased property, about 5,000 Pounds p.a., which is not realistic either." Dr. Schlange-Schöningen added: "I can hardly keep away the press representatives who want to see me."

While the first press reports were generally favourable there were discordant voices. The left-wing Daily Mirror (with a then circulation of 4 million copies) greeted Dr. Schlange-Schöningen's arrival with a banner headline "Mr. Schöne Schlange -- do we want him in Britain?" The paper quoted alleged nationalist and anti-semitic utterances of his from the 1920s and his association with Hugenberg's German National Party. These were rejected as false and deplored by the Foreign Office which repeated its unqualified welcome for the first representative of the new Germany. And when soon afterwards Dr. Schlange-Schöningen attended his first official function at a London meeting of the World Wheat Council, the warm applause for the German Federal delegation indicated that the British capital was capable of very diverse reactions. There was, however, no presentation of credentials to the King, customary only in the case of Ambassadors accredited to the Court of St. James's. His first invitation to Buckingham Palace came over a year after his arrival - to a Reception for diplomats given by Queen Elizabeth (the present Queen Mother) and the then Princess Elizabeth, when her father King George VI was ill.

In October 1950 the German Consulate General was opened at Nos. 4 and 6 Rutland Gate, two simple three-storeyed brick-built blocks of flats with tiny rooms. The staff of twenty had to deal with consular and trade matters. Soon a passport section with a staff of 27 was needed. Among the first callers at Rutland Gate were a German technician, resident in Britain, who wanted to know whether an invention of his could be patented in both countries; a German au-pair girl who wanted to marry an Italian enquired about her future legal status, and a woman from Cologne arrived who had not heard from her husband, a prisoner of war, but who believed him to be married to an Englishwoman without having been divorced. There was a coin-dealer wanting to know whether the German Government was prepared to buy back a German Knights Cross with swords and oak-leaves studded with jewels.

A great deal of work awaited the new Consulate General, much of it had been left in abeyance by the German Section of the British Foreign Office, concerning former German property, returnees and emigres. The British Government departments showed "extraordinary friendliness", Dr. Schlange-Schöningen reported back. "I have the impression that beyond purely personal courtesy there is a genuine readiness for good cooperation and a friendly understanding of the German situation. There is particular personal regard for the Federal Chancellor."