Designed by Christian de Portzamparc and completed in 2002, it is at the same address, Pariser Platz 5, as the former embassy which was destroyed in World War II.

[12] The present embassy building was designed by Christian de Portzamparc, who won the 1997 competition for the commission after German reunification and the decision to return the government of the Federal Republic of Germany to Berlin from Bonn.

[13][14][15][16] The Recouverte, the two-storey-high passage through the building between Pariser Platz and Wilhelmstraße, was intended to be open to the public, and is paved like the pavement outside to encourage visitors, but is closed for security reasons.

[23] The building was occupied in October 2002 and formally opened by Jacques Chirac on 23 January 2003, the 40th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty between Germany and France.

[27][28][29] The narrow windows meant to enliven and give "rhythm" to the massive stone base required by the regulations and by security concerns reminded some of gun-slits.

[27] However, the Berlin Senate's Director of Building, Hans Stimmann, defended it as an excellent interpretation of the restrictions and praised the inclusion of a garden, up to then unique in the square.