Embassy of Denmark, Washington DC

The United States and Denmark have always shared a strong bond with unbroken diplomatic relations dating as far back as 1791. The Royal Danish Embassy on the top of Whitehaven Street in the American capital symbolizes this relationship.

The land where the embassy stands was purchased in 1952 by Denmark’s Ambassador to the US from 1939 to 1958, Henrik Kauffmann, with money donated by Danish-Americans. The land was, at the time, part of Dumbarton Oaks where the cornerstones of the United Nations had been formulated a little over a decade earlier. The location was perfect for the embassy of a country which has always been a strong proponent of multilateralism and a NATO member since 1949.

The Danish Embassy was the first modern embassy in the American capital and is a textbook example of mid-twentieth century Danish functionalist architecture. It was designed by the renowned architect, Vilhelm Lauritzen, famous also for designing Copenhagen Airport. The embassy’s interior is an eclectic and dynamic mix of the old and the new, which characterizes the historic and yet modern country that is Denmark.

The United States has not maintained such long and unbroken diplomatic ties with any other country in the world. An example of the collaboration is the agreement between Denmark and the US during World War II, authorizing the US to defend Greenland from German aggression and thus setting the foundation for the Thule Air Base as well as Denmark’s contributions to the global fight against terrorism. As a European country, Denmark sees the US as a strategic ally in the work for global peace and safety. Denmark currently has 800 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.

In this sense, due to the longstanding good relationship between Denmark and the US, the Danish Embassy in Washington, DC, headed by Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, has a comfortable job, building on the existing cooperation and understanding in its daily work. Visits from Danish Parliamentarians who come to the US to meet with their American counterparts are thus frequent and have especially been so during the presidential election campaign. The Danish Prime Minister has likewise met with the American President on a number of occasions in the last seven years.

The economic ties between our two countries are extensive, with the US as the largest foreign investor in Denmark and our third largest export market. The embassy’s commercial section, the Danish American Business Council, assists Danish companies aspiring to enter the American market and vice versa. One of the big projects for the embassy now, and until the end of next year, is to promote knowledge about and political will for an American signature on an ambitious climate agreement when Copenhagen hosts the United Nations Climate Conference, COP15, from November 30 to December 11, 2009. The embassy itself has implemented a quota trade system and has become carbon neutral, just as it incorporates sustainable energy solutions in all renovation projects.