Reichstag

Reichstag, Berlin, restorations and renovations by Norman Foster, 1999.

Reichstag, building in Berlin that is the meeting place of the Bundestag (“Federal Assembly”), the lower house of Germany’s national legislature. One of Berlin’s most famous landmarks, it is situated at the northern end of the Ebertstrasse and near the south bank of the Spree River. Tiergarten Park is directly west of the building, and the Brandenburg Gate is to the south.

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The Neo-Renaissance building was designed by Paul Wallot and was completed in 1894. It was the home of the Reichstag (“Imperial Diet”) from 1894 to 1933, during the periods of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the Weimar Republic (1919–33). A fire at the Reichstag on February 27, 1933, one month after Adolf Hitler assumed the chancellorship, triggered events that led to Hitler’s assumption of dictatorial powers in Germany. The disused building sustained additional damage from Allied bombing during World War II, and neglect in postwar years led to further deterioration. By the 1970s it had undergone partial restoration and became a museum of German history. More extensive restoration and renovation took place, under the direction of British architect Sir Norman Foster, after the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990. The building’s huge glass dome, once its most recognizable feature, was rebuilt. An interior ramp spirals to the top of the dome, affording excellent views of the surrounding city. After the restoration was completed, the Reichstag became one of Berlin’s most prominent tourist attractions, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

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The building became the focus of the art world in June 1995 when it was wrapped in more than one million square feet (more than 90,000 square meters) of silver fabric by the environmental sculptors Christo and Jeanne-Claude. More than five million people viewed the installation, which was regarded as one of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s most ambitious projects.

On October 4, 1990, the Bundestag of the newly reunified German state had met for the first time in the Reichstag and the following year voted to transfer the seat of government from Bonn to Berlin, with the Reichstag becoming the Bundestag’s permanent home. Though the use of the Reichstag was met with some criticism, the Bundestag opened its inaugural session there on September 7, 1999.

In the 21st century the Reichstag became a symbol of Germany’s commitment to renewable energy. The Reichstag’s iconic dome was designed to bathe the Bundestag chamber in natural light, and a massive solar array on its roof further increased the building’s energy independence. Biofuel generators provided for a significant amount of the Reichstag’s power needs, and in 2008 the Bundestag approved a plan to power the building with 100 percent renewable resources.