Andreas-Hermes-Straße 5, Former embassy building in Hochkreuz, Bonn, Germany

The former Syrian embassy at Andreas-Hermes-Straße 5 consists of a three-storey chancery facing Andreas-Hermes-Straße and a two-storey residence facing Ferdinand-Lassalle-Straße, linked by a flat-roofed connector holding a representative assembly hall. Both cubic blocks have white banded render and inner light courts, and the complex covers about 4,000 m². The design by Cologne architect N. Kasri uses orientalising forms, with interiors imported from Syria and made with 40 Syrian craftsmen.

Syria opened a legation in Bonn in 1953, moving to Bad Godesberg by 1954. The new chancery and residence on Andreas-Hermes-Straße were built from 1989, designed by Cologne architect N. Kasri, and occupied in spring 1990 at a cost of 14 million D-Mark. The embassy moved to Berlin in 2002/03; in February 2026 a Syrian consulate general reopened here.

The interior was furnished entirely from Syria, with 40 Syrian craftsmen working on site, and the design was shaped by then-ambassador Suleyman Haddad. The complex is held in an orientalising formal language modelled on 8th-century Damascus, and since 2011 opponents of the Syrian government have repeatedly demonstrated in front of it, storming the building in November 2012.

The complex sits at the southern edge of the Bundesviertel, between Andreas-Hermes-Straße 5 and Ferdinand-Lassalle-Straße, beside the Rheinaue park. The chancery faces Andreas-Hermes-Straße; the residence is reached via the flat connecting wing on Ferdinand-Lassalle-Straße. The building is not open to the public, so it is viewed from the street; the Rheinaue paths nearby allow a walk past the site.

The interior was entirely imported from Syria, and 40 Syrian craftsmen worked on its handcrafted finish. The building cost 14 million D-Marks, with some furnishings donated by businesses and private individuals. It was the only embassy built in the planned Bonn embassy quarter and the penultimate one completed in Bonn overall.