Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 45. (1997)
AGSTNER, Rudolf: Von Chandos House zum Belgrave Square. Österreichs Botschaft in London 1815–1997
FROM CHANDOS HOUSE TO BELGRAVE SQUARE. Austria (-Hungary) and her Diplomatic Mission in London 1815-1997 The history of the Austrian Embassy in London is remarkable in many ways. With the exception of the years between 1848 and 1860, and 1914 to 1952, it always had the prestigious status of an embassy. Since the Congress of Vienna, it has moved its quarters only once, in 1866, from Chandos House to 18 Belgrave Square. It is the only building of the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Foreign Service still used today by Austrian diplomacy. I. Chandos House 1815-1866 After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian Empire reestablished her diplomatic mission in London. On November 3, 1815, Paul Anton III Prince Esterházy de Galantha was appointed Imperial-Royal Austrian ambassador to the Court of St. James. In 1816, he rented Chandos House, N° 2, Queen Anne Street, London SW, as his residence and as chancery of the embassy. It had been built around 1770 by architect Robert Adam for the Duke of Buckingham and was considered one of the most beautiful townhouses. Not only was the London embassy of great importance, it was also very expensive to run due to the high cost of living. Esterhazy drew a salary of 1, 1 million LSt. (in today’s value) in London, while his boss, Prince Metternich in Vienna, only got one million. The spacious Chandos House witnessed the downgrading of the embassy to a legation in 1848, and the upgrading back to embassy in 1860. It served Austrian diplomacy for five decades, the last lease running until October 18, 1866. II. 1865/66 — search for a new embassy building In early 1865, ambassador Rudolph Count Apponyi drew the attention of the Austrian Foreign Office to the fact, that the lease will expire in October of next year, and cannot be renewed, as the building is old and dilapidated. The owner intends to pull it down and is just waiting for my lease to expire in order to build a new townhouse in the present garden. Chandos House, which 50 years ago was situated in the most elegant part of London, has recently lost much of its value, as the capital is developing to the opposite direction, and especially as the noble world has taken up residence in other parts of town ... Apponyi did not forget to inform Vienna that a new townhouse would not be available for less than 2000 LSt. annually. „The difficulty of finding a suitable house on acceptable terms has motivated most governments of major powers to buy houses for their missions in London. The embassies of France, Russia, Prussia and Turkey 48
