Berlin Reichstag — Look Down To Our Politician Tables!

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The Berlin Reichstag was constructed from 1884 to 1894 by Paul Wallot, is the seat of the German Bundestag or federal government and, with its new transparent dome, one of the biggest crowd-draws in Berlin.

Its colorful past reflects the turbulence of German history since the 19th century. For examle, on November 9th, 1918, the politician Philipp Scheidemann announced the establishment of the Republic from one of its windows. Or, part of the Berlin Reichstag, which borders the Berlin Wall, was destroyed in a fire on November 27th, 1933. They say, that the exact cause "has never been identified," but the fire was used by the Nazis to justify their persecution of political opponents.

Historical Reichstag

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After the war, the devastated building was rebuilt in a simplified form from 1961 to 1971, but it was not used for parliamentary functions. The dome, which had been blown up in 1945, was not rebuilt. After reunification, the German Federal Government decided to use the building as a parliament once again. By the way, we had a hurtful discussion that time, whether or not the German Federal Government should move from Bonn to Berlin.

From 1994 to 1999, the Berlin Reichstag was reconstructed and extended by the Architect Sir Norman Forster. He decided to add an accessible transparent dome, inwhich you can walk up and through as well as "participate" and view how political decisions are being made. One says, "We (the government) want to show that we have nothing to hide anymore."

However, before the renovation work began in 1994, the building became the stage for one of the most spectacular art events in Europe. The Reichstag was wrapped by Christo and Jeanne Claude (I'm telling you, at that time, we had a very amusing controversy and discussion here in Germany!) The glass dome has now become one of the newest landmarks in the city.

Warmly,

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