This is the only embassy situated in the government district of the city, close to the Chancellor’s office and the Reichstag building. Housed in an urban palais erected in 1870 by Friedrich Hitzig and redesigned by Paul Baumgarten senior in 1910, it was acquired by the Swiss Confederation in 1920. After the Second World War, it served as a consulate general. With the recent removal of the embassy from Bonn to Berlin, an extension became necessary to provide additional office space.