Reichstag Building

독일 국회의사당

The Reichstag is a historic government building in Berlin, Germany, and the home of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament. The word Reichstag was used for the parliament of the old German Empire, and today it mostly names the building. It stands on Platz der Republik in the Tiergarten district, beside the River Spree.

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At a glance

Country: Germany
Location: Berlin, Germany
Built: 1894
Height: 47 m
Type: Government building

Quick answers

Where is Reichstag Building?

Reichstag Building is in Berlin, Germany.

When was Reichstag Building built?

Reichstag Building was built in 1894.

How tall is Reichstag Building?

Reichstag Building is about 47 m tall.

Seat of the German Bundestag, crowned by a walk-in glass dome open to visitors.

The architect Paul Wallot designed it in a Neo-Renaissance style, and it was built between 1884 and 1894. The building is best known today for its walk-in glass dome, which visitors can climb. It was part of a major redesign by the British architect Norman Foster that finished in 1999.

A building with a dramatic past

The Reichstag housed the parliament of the German Empire and then of the Weimar Republic. A fire in 1933 damaged it so badly that the parliament could no longer meet there, and the fire became an important event in the rise of the Nazi regime. The building was damaged again in World War II during the Battle of Berlin. Afterward it was partly restored in the 1950s, but it stood in West Berlin and was not used as a parliament by either German state.

A new glass dome

From 1995 to 1999 Norman Foster rebuilt the Reichstag so it could serve as parliament in a reunified Germany. The keys were handed over to the Bundestag's president on 19 April 1999. The glass dome above the main chamber, an idea first suggested by the artist and architect Gottfried Böhm, lets visitors look down into the chamber where lawmakers work.