Politics and diplomacy

Germany’s foreign ministry is not called a ministry at all but das Auswärtige Amt, and its name carries a rule that trips up readers of the news every day. The capital letter makes the adjective part of a name, but it does not freeze it: the adjective goes on declining exactly as it would in front of any other noun. So a report quotes ein Sprecher des Auswärtigen Amts, a diplomat works im Auswärtigen Amt, and the plaque by the door, with no article in front, reads Auswärtiges Amt with the strong ending. Every institution named this way behaves the same: die Vereinten Nationen but bei den Vereinten Nationen, der Deutsche Bundestag but im Deutschen Bundestag. English gives no practice here, since an English adjective never changes its form; in German the ending is still doing its work, and it tells you the case even in the middle of a proper name.