Embassy of Germany - Celebrate with Germany and France

Our last embassy visit was at the German Embassy.  Apparently Germany and France have a combined event and they alternate which embassy it is held at each year.  In 2019 it was held at the German embassy, which was a slight adventure as it is located out of the area of DC served by the Metro.

Germany and France showcase their friendship and highlight the best of both countries at their shared Open House. This year, the German Embassy in Washington, DC, will host this popular annual event. Visitors can discover the food, culture, language and diplomatic life of two major European nations.
-from EU in the US website

We started out at the main EU headquarters for the event where we waited to board a bus for the Germany embassy.  When we got off we found a long line of people.

The sign assured us we were in the right place.

Further ahead we came to the main gates.

Here we found another large ground waiting.

Once we got inside we came to an area with a number of booths set up where you could learn more and get free stuff.

This handy map helped us plan our route across the grounds, but it was pretty obvious where we were to go once we got started.

One of the things we noticed throughout our visit was that there were plenty of Haribo gummy bears being given away.

We headed inside for a bit, but didn't find too much there that we wanted to explore, though they did seem to have some activities for kids.

Next we headed along the side of the chancery building towards the rest of the experience.

I'm not sure what kind of cars parked down these stairs.  ;-)

We saw part of the Berlin wall.

These handy signs told us that we were on the correct route.

And these red signs told us not to go past them.

The chancery building was very interesting to look at.

We passed a bust of Baron von Steuben who came from Prussia to serve in the American Revolution.

We passed this sign talking about the past century of relations between France and Germany.  If you go further back than World War I you'll find quite a few conflicts between the two nations, but relations have gotten much better over the years.

This display is a replica of the Berlin Wall and is permanent, but also something you could stand in front of for a picture if you wanted.

There were also backgrounds for photographs, so Amy went to Paris.

More samples were available in these tents.

It was late in the day so there wasn't as much as there had been earlier,

But we still got to try plenty of cheese.

This variety is called St. Albray and is a soft cheese made with cow's milk in a region of France on the border with Spain.

We next walked through the Ambassador's residence.

This building serves both as an official meeting place for German leaders and their American guests and as the private residence for the German ambassador and his family.  It was designed by German architect Oswald Mathias Ungers and finished in 1994...
--from event signage

The library is used for small, informal one-on-one meetings.  The furniture as in all other rooms, was designed specifically for the residence by architect Oswald Mathias Ungers.  The current exhibit was provided by the Leo Baeck Institute and is titled "Advancing Modernity: Jewish Berliners in the Weimar Republic 1919-1933."
--from event signage

This is the gentlemen's sitting room "with four corner paintings based on the four elements: air, water, earth and fire."

I think this is the fire corner.

And this is likely water.

The Ladies' sitting room "is used for social gatherings such as breakfasts, luncheons and dinner parties for up to 20 people."

This room is used to host meetings and meals, from small gatherings of German representatives to much larger official dinners for the Chancellor of Germany, for example.  Architect Ungers selected the silverware, china and even tablecloths to ensure that the overall concept was consistent (a Gesamtkunstwerk, "total work of art").
--from event signage

Once you leave the ambassador's residence you're not supposed to to turn around and go back the way you came.

We did remain on the porch/patio for a bit as I think it was sprinkling a bit.

We next headed onward towards the rest of the event.

There were two sets of stairs heading down into a garden area.

We bypassed a kids area since we didn't have our kids with us, but it was nice to know it was there when we decided to visit the event with kids someday.

The French Cafe was pretty much packing up by the time we came by.

There were still plenty of people sitting around eating and drinking though.

I thought about getting a pretzel but the line made me change my mind.

The German biergarten was definitely still hopping.

It was a good thing we didn't stop as there were plenty of people leaving ahead of us.

We made our way towards the bus stop by joining the very slowly moving queue.

The transportation company was apparently only contracted through a certain time and due to bad traffic they had a hard time getting vehicles out to the embassy.

They said at one point that the previous year they'd kept running people until the line was gone but hadn't been paid for their extra time, so it wasn't worth it to them.  I definitely think the event organizers need to be more clear about when the shuttles stop running, especially for a place like the Germany embassy that was far from normal Metro routes and was a bit far from downtown to walk easily, especially with rain threatening.  There were still plenty of people were still behind us.

But ultimately we ended up at the front of the line and got on the last bus out of there, so thankfully we didn't have to call an Uber or do something similar, but we would have if we'd been back a few people in line.

If you want to see more pictures from our time on the grounds of the Germany embassy check out this album.

~Matt