Palais Strousberg
[2] After the Strousberg family's bankruptcy in 1875, the building was rented to the embassy of Great Britain and Ireland which eventually purchased the property in 1884.
Designed by August Orth the palace was built for 900,000 Goldmarks, re-using materials from an older building which had served as the residence of the Prussian statesman Friedrich Carl von Savigny.
Some details of the exterior such as the Baroque balustrade and the rich decoration of the interior, were borrowed from many other architectural styles, single the palace out as an example of eclectic historicism.
Strousberg, as an early railway pioneer, played a key role in Berlin's economic development, and commanded a considerable reputation as a man of progress.
After standing trial in Russia for alleged fraudulent transactions with a bank in 1876, he was deported and returned to Berlin, dividing his time between London and the castle in Bromberg whilst attempting his social rehabilitation with various projects and writing his memoirs.
The subsequent alterations were again overseen by August Orth; an open terrace and a section of the garden was replaced with a great hall which connected the two wings of the palace and permitted the accommodation of up to 600 guests for social functions.
By 1907 the Hotel Adlon, occupying the site of the Palais Redern (originally designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel), towered five storeys above the embassy.
The resulting smell and noise from the kitchens and loss of light led the last ambassador before the Second World War, Sir Neville Meyrick Henderson, to comment that the embassy was "cramped, dirty and dark".
Despite having survived a fire in revolution-torn Berlin in 1919, the building was severely damaged by Allied air raids in 1943, leaving it in ruins.
The vacant plot of land remained undeveloped until after German reunification when the decision was made to return the British diplomatic mission to Berlin.
The new British Embassy building opened in 1998 in the same location as the Palais and two adjoining properties, and retained the gate as a feature in the atrium, overlooking the main staircase.
Four Corinthian sandstone columns carried a pediment whose tympanum featured a bas-relief with five figures arranged in an unknown theme.
To the north side of the building, in place of the outermost windows to the cellar and ground floor, a double swing gate was located behind which was a passage which led into a yard for the coaches.
Visitors would ascend the stairs, walk through the portal in the Portico and arrive in a vestibule which extended vertically for two storeys and was lit by a skylight in a coffered, oval domed ceiling.
They employed August Orth to convert the old garden terrace on the west side of the building into a sumptuous state room.
Paired marble corinthian pilasters and columns lined the walls and punctuated the glazing to the central courtyard and vaults rose over an entablature to support a flat ceiling decorated with rich ornamental carvings and painting.
In 1877 the Berlin sculptor Otto Lessing created two stucco reliefs featuring dancing Maenads as part of the wall decoration for the great hall.
[13] Once again the lighting was provided by gas lamps with mobile shades integrated into the oval skylight, which simultaneously allowed ventilation.
The passageway to the north of the building led to a roofed courtyard which served as a coach house and also ramped down half a storey to the level of the basement.
In addition to the wine cellar, the boiler for the hot water heating was favourably located for both goods deliveries and the entrance to the servant's quarters.
