Reichstag

Reichstag is the place for the German parliament; its inflected experience resembles the same history of Germany. It stranded for many years inside of Berlin Wall, and was renovated after the unification, decorated with a hemisphere glass dome; it became a popular place in Berlin.

William I stroke the cornerstones three time at Jun 9, 1884, he didn’t want to build a parliament, he reluctantly agreed to the design scheme of Paul Watts Lott, but design of the heavy stone dome lacked the permission of William I considering the parliament would be taller than Stadtschloss that way.

After 10 years of construction, the parliament building was completed in 1894. However, the top of the parliament building was still higher than that of Stadtschloss. William II, grandson of William I was emperor at that time, was furious and called the building "Reichsaffenhaus." The characters of Dem Deutschen Volke was written in 1916.

The parliament building was completed anyways and witnessed the German history. On Sep 9, 1918, Senator Philipp Scheidemann announced the establishment of the republic. On Feb 27th, 1933, a fire engulfed the building for an unknown reason. "The Reichstag fire" was used as an excuse for Nazis to eliminate political dissidents.

The parliament building was destroyed in World War 2; during 1961 to 1971, architect Paul Baumgarten removed the top part, and rebuilt the building with contracted style. After unification, German parliament decided to renovate the building. Architect Sir Norman Foster restored and expanded the building, the glass dome was controversial but it now has become a new landmark of Berlin.

From 1999, the Reichstag became the working place for the German parliament.

Note: Dome of the parliament building is only open to reserved customers; please make a reservation two days before on the Reichstag website.

Address: Platz der Republik 1110 11 Berlin Tiergarten

Telephone: 0049-030-22 73 21 of 52

Website: www.bundestag.de

Opening hours: 8:00- 24:00 every day, the last accessible time is 22:00 p.m.

Price: free (advanced reservation required)

Transportation: the Bundestag subway station