Apr 3

Apr 3 Dem Deutschen Volke – Visiting the German Capitol Building

During our tour of Central Europe last year, our second stop was in Germany's capital city, Berlin. Our first full day in the city had an item already scheduled months in advance: a visit to the German Reichstag. Originally built in 1894 for the German Empire, it has seen a number of trials and tribulations, from the fall of the Empire, to the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, to the split and reunification of the city itself. It was designed in a Neo-Baroque style, which lasted until the lead up to World War II. The interior of the building caught fire in early 1933 under mysterious circumstances, which gave Adolf Hitler the pretext to start eliminating rights and consolidating his power. The structure itself survived the fire and World War II, but it was severely damaged.

The Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag. It honors the 96 members of Parliament that died from unnatural causes during the reign of the Nazi Party

Repaired enough to function, it received a full reconstruction that was completed in 1999, which added the (now) famous Glass Dome. Norman Foster (the architect) incorporated two symbolic aspects into the design of the dome. The dome itself has walkways for people to access, showing that the people are above the government and not the other way around (as it was during the Nazi period). The glass spire that descends from the ceiling allows for natural light into the Parliamentary Chamber, allowing for the building to reduce it's carbon footprint, and to "shine a light on the workings of the government, to prevent them from operating in the shadows."

The glass spire from inside the dome, with the electronically controlled sunshade

The spire from the Parliamentary Chamber

Tours have to be signed up ahead of time due to background checks and space availability. We were fortunate that the day we chose to go was not a standard tour, but one that included a 45 minute presentation (in English) about the German government. The guide was very well-spoken, and she discussed many different topics, from how the gov't is structured, how elections work, the history of the building itself, and even cool details like how the color of the chairs is a shade of blue unique to that building alone (called Reichstag Blue, appropriately enough).

A couple of pieces of information from that tour stand out to me even now. When the government is in session, every member of Parliament is permitted a certain amount of time to speak (say 10 minutes). If a member of a party goes over their allotted time, the difference is deducted from the remaining time the party has left (as overages are discouraged). This provides an incentive to each party to keep their discussions on point. As part of the restoration process, the German government opted to keep many of the examples of Soviet Army graffiti intact on the walls of the building. This was done with input from Russian officials at the time as well.

Examples I can translate include "2-5-45 Leningrad" and "Hi Moscow!"

Overall, we had a great visit to this unique building in Berlin, and informative as well. From my own perspective, many years ago I purchased on a whim a Time Magazine Top 50 Buildings issue. Among the structures highlighted, the Reichstag (with its amazing dome) became one of my top 5 places from that list to eventually visit, so I am thrilled to have had the chance to do so after all these years.