740.00119 Control (Germany)8/–1545: Telegram
The United States Political Adviser for Germany ( Murphy ) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 17—7:30 a.m.]
305. The following are my comments on the questions raised in Department’s 214, August 2, 6 p.m.:74
For practical purposes, the title of my office has no direct importance to the functions expected of me by the Department, and I prefer not to raise this question with the military at this time but shall do so at the first opportune moment. There is no reason why it should not be referred to [as?] “American Mission to Germany” for administrative purposes.
Officers assigned to my staff should be commissioned as Secretaries of Mission and will be interchangeable between the US GCC (Group Control Council) office in Berlin and PolAd (Political Adviser) office, USFET (United States Forces European Theater), Frankfurt. Those assigned specifically to the Consular Section at Berlin should be given dual status, that is, both Diplomatic and Consular. To avoid misunderstanding with the military, the Consul General in Frankfurt should not be accorded diplomatic status. His functions will be separate from those of the PolAd’s (Political Adviser’s) office at USFET (United States Forces European Theater), Frankfurt.
It is assumed that the US Political Adviser will exercise supervisory consular functions through the senior consular officer attached to his immediate staff in Berlin.
I have informally discussed with my colleagues, the British Political Adviser,75 the question of opening Consulates in our respective zones and agree that care must be exercised regarding the titles which would be used for the consular officers in preliminary stage. Under present abnormal conditions consular representatives are dependent on the military authorities for practically every facility, communications, transportation, housing and food. Housing particularly is in short supply. The Control Council has not as yet considered the question of foreign consular representation in Germany but until it does it is desired to avoid publicity referring to the offices which the British and ourselves propose to open in our respective zones as Consulates.76 Strang and I believe that a designation such as a “Representative of [Page 957] the Political Adviser” would be satisfactory temporarily. We could thus start at once assembling, organizing and training consular personnel and setting up offices in Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen and Hamburg which would perform the customary consular functions. When the time comes for their formal opening as Consulates and Consulates General, they would be fully equipped to assume their responsibilities.
I would appreciate the Dept’s advice regarding the availability of consular personnel for Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen, Berlin and Hamburg.
- Not printed; in addition to the questions it raised, which are dealt with below, it authorized the reopening of Consulates in Stuttgart and Bremen, and Consulates General in Frankfurt and Munich, as well as a Consular Section in Berlin (740.00119 Control (Germany)/7–2345).↩
- Sir William Strang.↩
- For documentation on negotiations regarding the representation of foreign countries in Germany, see pp. 1084 ff.↩