SOCIETY 368 / 2015
Nr. 368 I Nr. 2 - 2015
Nr. 368 I Nr. 2 - 2015
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DIPLOMATIE<br />
THAILAND<br />
Exterior view of the<br />
Royal Thai Residence in the<br />
Cottage Quartert<br />
Meeting room of the<br />
Ambassador<br />
The first owner of the house in<br />
Weimarerstraße 68, now the<br />
Residence of the Ambassador<br />
of Thailand to the Republic of<br />
Austria, was Dr. Gustav Ritter<br />
von Höfken.<br />
Dr. Höfken (1811-1889), a German citizen<br />
from Westfalen, was educated in the<br />
field of political science and national<br />
economy. His publications attracted a lot<br />
of interest in Austria. He was employed at<br />
the Austrian Ministry for Trade and later<br />
at the Ministry of Finance as Counselor to<br />
the Ministry. He had a successful career as<br />
the editor-in-chief of the economic magazine<br />
“Austria” and became one of the most<br />
remarkable journalists of his time.<br />
The house was constructed following<br />
to plans by architect Carl Haas in 1883.<br />
The family Höfken sold the house in 1901<br />
to the textile manufacturer and member<br />
of the General Council of the Austrian<br />
National Bank, Otto Wolfrum. The house<br />
remained the property of Mr. Wolfrum<br />
and was then purchased by the Federal<br />
Economic Chamber before being rented to<br />
the Royal Thai Embassy in 1982. From 1954<br />
to 1958, the building was renovated with<br />
slight changes.<br />
In 1898, Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), a<br />
lawyer from Budapest, moved in and stayed<br />
until 1902 with his family. Famous as a feature<br />
writer, Mr. Herzl's brochure “The Jewish<br />
State – an attempt to solve the Jewish<br />
Problem”, is one of the most important<br />
texts of early Zionism. Herzl envisioned<br />
the founding of a future independent Jewish<br />
state during the 20th century.<br />
Apart from engaging himself in political<br />
activity, Dr. Herzl still worked as a journalist<br />
for the “Neue Freie Presse”. When he<br />
died of a heart attack in 1904, about 6000<br />
people participated at the funeral cortege<br />
– a Zionist mass rally. Until 1938 and again<br />
from 1945-1949, every year Zionist youth<br />
organizations arranged a posthumous memorial<br />
service for Dr. Herzl in the area of<br />
the “Cottage Quarter” on his death anniversary.<br />
The house has been used by the Royal<br />
Thai Embassy since 1986 and 22 years later<br />
was purchased also by the Royal Thai Embassy<br />
in 2008.<br />
•<br />
The Thai Residence displays<br />
a variety of Thai art and<br />
handicraft<br />
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