About the Consulate  

History

The decision to locate a consulate in Düsseldorf in order to serve the newly-created state of North Rhine-Westphalia was made in 1952. The renowned American architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the original building, which still stands on Cecilienallee as it was built in 1954. It was designed in a typical post-war style, one that is shared by numerous other consulates and America Houses across Europe.

The building housed a full-fledged consulate until 1987, when the decision was made to reduce U.S. Government presence in Düsseldorf to a single trade section, run by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service (FCS.) FCS Düsseldorf vacated the premises and moved across the river into office space in Meerbusch. The old consular building was rented out.

Richard Holbrooke, then Ambassador to Germany, was instrumental in getting the Consulate General reopened in 1994. However, the cold war being over, it was decided that the Consulate would not assume as many responsibilities as previously. As a result, much less office space was needed, and the "new" Consulate was relocated to a rental property. The old consular building, which had meanwhile been declared a historic landmark, was sold to private investors by the U.S. Government in 1996. This was also the year that the old Consul General’s residence, located in the fashionable Oberkassel district, was sold as well.

The Consulate General moved to its current location in January 2000.