The Danish Embassy in
Washington, D.C. is the
Kingdom of Denmark
The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denma ...
's
diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. It is located at 3200 Whitehaven St.,
NW in
Washington, D.C. The embassy also operates consulates-general in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
and in
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was ...
.
History
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Danish Ambassador to the United States Henrik Kauffmann
Henrik Kauffmann (26 August 1888 – 5 June 1963) was the Danish ambassador to the United States during World War II, who signed over part of Greenland to the US.
Career
Kauffmann started his foreign career by serving as envoy in Rome, 1921� ...
(1888–1963) suggested that Denmark needed a new embassy and he found that the best solution would be to construct a new purpose-built embassy on a recently acquired piece of land. Leading Danish Modernist architect
Vilhelm Lauritzen
Vilhelm Lauritzen (9 September 1894 – 22 December 1984) was a leading Danish modern architect, founder of the still active architectural firm Vilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter.
Biography
Vilhelm Lauritzen was born in Slagelse, Denmark. He studi ...
was charged with the commission and the building was completed in 1960. It was the first
modern embassy building to be built in the United States.
On June 4, 2010 the 50th anniversary of the embassy was celebrated with a ceremony attended by
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
Building

The embassy building is perched on a hilltop, set back from the street, and houses both the Ambassador's residence and the chancellery. It is built to a simple and restrained Modernist design. Both the exterior and interior is clad in marble from
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...
.
Finn Juhl, another leading Danish Modernist designer, was put in charge of interior decorations and he furnished the embassy both with furniture of his own and design and other Danish furniture classics, such as
Arne Jacobsen
Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple wel ...
chairs and
Poul Henningsen
Poul Henningsen (9 September 1894 – 31 January 1967) was a Danish author, critic, architect, and designer. In Denmark, where he often is referred to simply as PH, he was one of the leading figures of the cultural life of Denmark between the Worl ...
lighting.
The ''
Ugly Duckling fountain'', by
Marshall Fredericks
Marshall Maynard Fredericks (January 31, 1908 – April 4, 1998) was an American sculptor known for such works as '' Fountain of Eternal Life'', ''The Spirit of Detroit'', ''Man and the Expanding Universe Fountain'', and many others.
Early life ...
, was installed in 1994.
See also
*
Denmark–United States relations
*
List of diplomatic missions of Denmark
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Denmark. Kingdom of Denmark as a sovereign state consists of three countries incorporated in to the unity of the Realm (Denmark (proper), Greenland, Faroe Islands) and maintains 68 embassies abroad.
In co ...
*
List of diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.
References
External links
wikimapiaEmbassy of Denmark, Washington D.C.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C.
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
Denmark
)
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Vilhelm Lauritzen buildings
Government buildings completed in 1960
Denmark–United States relations