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[1.21Gigawatts]

I can see my office in this pic out of office today though so don't gimme "wanna see the receipts"

Merkel is watching you...

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Germany has a president?

Welp, TIL.

He is super unimportant. He just signs the laws (and can refuse and has so his fair share of influence), but the chancellor is way more important

 

[Bishop89]

My old manager had a better desk than this

 

[Playsage]

Merkel's is really nice and my favorite between these.

 

[Theonik]

Merkel's is great. France's is like they forgot about the French Revolution.

Well. After they offed their monarchs their properties reverted to the state so many of these buildings were in fact royal residences or property of the old Elite. A post-royal Britain might have some of the Royal Palaces move to that purpose.

Another thing to remember is that 10 Downing Street was pretty run down. It was originally purchased to be the residency of the First Lord of the Treasury (typically the PM these days) but was not used much and fell into disrepair as at the time the people who held that role had much nicer mansions of their own they preferred to stay in. The tradition of using it as the PMs residence is much newer. I would still say it's pretty fancy for modern standards though.

 

[Hjod]

The Swedish PMs office is so Swedish it's silly. My office look exactly the same haha.

 

[Christhor]

My old manager had a better desk than this

There's a lot of reasons why Sweden is the laughing stock of Northern Europe. This is one of the many reasons.

 

[Theonik]

There's a lot of reasons why Sweden is the laughing stock of Northern Europe. This is one of the many reasons.

IKEA though.

 

[Spiritwalker]

Merkel stays winning. She could use a new TV though.. unless that's an older picture.

Also the Norwegian PM's office was pretty basic last I checked. Looked better than the Swedish one though..

 

[Majine]

There's a lot of reasons why Sweden is the laughing stock of Northern Europe. This is one of the many reasons.

No we're not!

 

[DemWalls]

Clearly the French ambassador to Italy is some kind of JRPG final boss.

 

[fanboi]

There's a lot of reasons why Sweden is the laughing stock of Northern Europe. This is one of the many reasons.

I try to follow international news... but this I haven't seen.

Why are we laughing stock of the Northern Europe?

 

[Inkvoterad]

I try to follow international news... but this I haven't seen.

Why are we laughing stock of the Northern Europe?

This is either going to be some joke regarding how "lagom" we are, or go into a right-wing rant a'la "rape capital of europe".

 

[fanboi]

This is either going to be some joke regarding how "lagom" we are, or go into a right-wing rant a'la "rape capital of europe".

I was thinking the latter myself.

 

[Funky Papa]

Sweden won't be the butt of the Nordics as long as Finland keeps drunkenly stabbing other polandballs.

 

[Dingens]

Merkel's is okay but my god is it bland. Some color and plants wouldn't hurt.

perfectly fits her personality though!


seeing all these fancy offices, I thought the Austrian president (purely representational role) seems to treat his office like he gets treated by the public... he just doesn't give a shit.
And I think he ran out of antique furniture to put more stuff on top

(I kinda like the red-ish "warm" feeling though)

 

[KillerMan91]

Sweden won't be the butt of the Nordics as long as Finland keeps drunkenly stabbing other polandballs.

Hey! We drink less than Danes!

 

[Milly Osworth]

It seems like the poorer the country, the more majestic the government office.

 

[RocknRola]

Who likes pink Palaces?

The inside is also pretty cool too:

This is where the President of the Republic of Portugal, which is mostly a glorified tourism officer 95% of the time, lives/works (though he/she is always free to chose to NOT live/work there).

 

[Micael]

After seeing the French office I now get the Macron has balls comments, it takes quite a lot of balls or not caring about one head staying attached to one neck to stay in a office like that.

Also quick question how much of Italy GDP is spent on cleaning carpets?

 

[Fritz]

It seems like the poorer the country, the more majestic the government office.

It's called overcompensation

 

[Tyaren]

Germany has a president?

Welp, TIL.

Yes, we do have a President. It's a largely ceremonial role though. Something like the Queen/King of England.
While Merkel's office appears a bit too sterile and modern, the President resides in a former royal palace, like most of his European colleagues do:

 

[RocknRola]

It's called overcompensation

A lot of these buildings are pretty darn old though. The Portuguese one is from the XVIII century, originally used by the Kings of the country. It's not like they were built when there was no money to spend on these sort of things.

 

[KingSnake]

Clearly the French ambassador to Italy is some kind of JRPG final boss.

He must be one of the angels from Bayonetta.

 

[Catdaddy]

The French and Italian offices sure are "busy" - all that stuff on the wall would distract me way to much.

 

[Shiggy]

Fun fact: his office also serves as a shop for pens for tourists.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

I thought the Austrian was goose stepping.

I read Australian.

Spoiler

I'm Austrian

 

[Herne]

Hungarian Parliament

 

[Fritz]

I see a line between Catholicism and Protestantism

 

[GAMEPROFF]

All these post-communist-palaces

 

[jorma]

There's a lot of reasons why Sweden is the laughing stock of Northern Europe. This is one of the many reasons.

Lol. 1000% chance this was written by a salty Dane.

 

[Saganator]

The super ornate and fancy offices are neat, but I'd hate to work in one of those. I'd feel like I'm working in a museum, afraid to touch anything or be too rough on the furniture. I'd hate to be the guy who broke the 400 year old chair.

Give me Merkel's office, it's perfect. Nice and clean, but not too nice or over the top.

 

[Gurgelhals]

Yes, we do have a President. It's a largely ceremonial role though. Something like the Queen/King of England.
While Merkel's office appears a bit too sterile and modern, the President resides in a former royal palace, like most of his European colleagues do:

The actual office of the President is fairly low key and matter-of-fact as well though:

 

[Vlodril]

No we're not!

you know not related to the thread but the older i get the less funny and the more truthful that picture gets.

 

[Nabbis]

I see a line between Catholicism and Protestantism

Haha, yeah sure. Finland did not build like France or Italy cause of protestantism.

The cultural heritage of the mediterranean is just far more rich.

Though i suppose money is also a factor. Russia basically copied chunks of French and Italian styles as well as architecture into St.Petersburg.

 

[Mimosa97]

Yep. Our french democracy is pretty unique. The president is more of a king than a president lol. That's what de gaulle wanted.

The palace where the president lives (Le palais de l'Elysée) is really something else.

 

[Skellig Gra]

The French and Italian offices sure are "busy" - all that stuff on the wall would distract me way to much.

I don't even have a window so I'd be in heaven with that

 

[CoolOff]

My man Steffe Löfvén in a random room somewhere in Stockholm.

 

[Moose Biscuits]

I guess it's really up to taste so good on ya! I couldn't really separate the history from the building in this case and felt it was completely oppressive and brutal. Bucharest in general feels like a defeated city, architecturally speaking. Really like most cities within the former sowjet block.

That's fair. I do like the Communist/Brutalist style so that might help, also that it's just a really big building and big things have more value to me.

I remember during our tour of Bucharest the tour guide referred to the deposed dictator as Nicolai "Concrete Fan" Ceausescu. And you can definitely tell the difference between the Soviet era stuff and what little remains of old Bucharest. Would have liked to have seen what it used to look like, certainly.

 

[Izuna]

Has a great view, it's called "Het torentje" ("The Little Tower"), pictured in the middle here:

Absolutely beautiful

 

[BlackRainbowFT]

Some of them look like baroque Snoezelen rooms.

If I were to spend a full day in one of those places, I'd probably develop photosensitive epilepsy or at least detached retinas.

 

[wrowa]

Got to admit, I like the Swedish one. It's just an office: humble, unpretentious and not pretending to be the most important place in the world. I like that a lot more than those extravagant (and, personally, kind of offputting) offices, even though those obviously have historic value.

 

[KillerMan91]

Haha, yeah sure. Finland did not build like France or Italy cause of protestantism.

The cultural heritage of the mediterranean is just far more rich.

Though i suppose money is also a factor. Russia basically copied chunks of French and Italian styles as well as architecture into St.Petersburg.

St.Petersburg actually has a lot of common also with old Berlin as a lot of buildings are designed by German architects . That is why big parts of Downfall were filmed there.

 

[ManUnkindH]

I love Romania's, not so much for the office itself as the building it's housed in:

The Palace of the Parliament: the THICCest building in the world.

That is a communism abomination and it doesn't house the president, but all the thieves in Romania are lurking there.

PS: french ambassador to Italy, WTF??

 

[Paganmoon]

My man Steffe Löfvén in a random room somewhere in Stockholm.

hehe, thing is, I'm not sure people realize how true the posts here about it looking like any office anywhere in Sweden are, no matter the job description. I mean, shit, I'm using the same type of desk right now at home.

 

[Fritz]

Haha, yeah sure. Finland did not build like France or Italy cause of protestantism.

The cultural heritage of the mediterranean is just far more rich.

Though i suppose money is also a factor. Russia basically copied chunks of French and Italian styles as well as architecture into St.Petersburg.

I was only half joking. Protestantism preaches frugality as a direct reaction to the opulence of the Catholic Church. It is very apparent in ecclesiastical buildings. It obviously had an effect on tastes to some extent.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

My old manager had a better desk than this

I'm under the impression that if we pan slightly to the right, we'll see a wall and see that his office is like any other minor office in an office building.

 

[Hrothgar]

Haha, yeah sure. Finland did not build like France or Italy cause of protestantism.

The cultural heritage of the mediterranean is just far more rich.

Though i suppose money is also a factor. Russia basically copied chunks of French and Italian styles as well as architecture into St.Petersburg.

Protestantism is definitely an important distinction though (maybe not for Finland's case in particular). For example, the Dutch Republic was the wealthiest state in Europe during large parts of the 17th century, but you won't see enormous palaces coated in gold here, largely due to the staunch Calvinism which reigned here.

 

[AnkhWeasel]

I'm under the impression that if we pan slightly to the right, we'll see a wall and see that his office is like any other minor office in an office building.

I'd suggest there'd be slightly more than the width of another window and that'd be about it. (Based on the lighting of the room and the position of the chair on the right.)

The chairs in Dutch PM's office would be amazing for a high-end home theatre.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Ireland looks like it was generated in some cheap 3D home design software from the 90s.

The shadows look completely off!