Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin

The Reichstag is the historic parliament building before you, and it has served as the home of Germany’s federal parliament since 1999. Its most striking feature is the walk-in glass dome above the debating chamber, created from an idea by Gottfried Böhm. Paul Wallot designed the original building, constructed from 1884 to 1894 in a blend of Moderne and Neo-Renaissance forms.

The building once housed the legislature of the German Empire and later the Weimar Republic. A fire in 1933 caused severe damage, and the Second World War brought further destruction. During the 1960s it was repaired in a modernised form, then Norman Foster reshaped it between 1995 and 1999 for its permanent parliamentary role.

On the nineteenth of April 1999, Bundestag president Wolfgang Thierse received the keys in a formal handover. Since 1994, the Federal Convention has also gathered here to elect Germany’s federal president. The building remains a powerful national symbol and draws almost three million visitors each year, making it the world’s most visited parliamentary building. Look at the dome’s clear shell and the curved interior ramp: they turn the chamber’s roof into an architectural landmark you can enter.