Reichstag

In front of you stands the Reichstag, the building that best sums up Germany's 20th century. Few façades in Europe have seen so many changes of regime in so few years.

1A parliament for an empire

Designed by Paul Wallot, it was built between 1884 and 1894 for the parliament of the newly unified German Empire. The famous inscription on the pediment, “Dem Deutschen Volke” (“To the German People”), wasn't added until 1916, in the middle of the First World War. Two years later, on 9 November 1918, the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the republic from one of its windows.

2The fire and the war

On the night of 27 February 1933, just weeks after Hitler became chancellor, the building went up in flames. A young Dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe, was arrested at the scene, and the Nazis used the fire to pass a decree the very next day suspending fundamental rights. In 1945, after the Battle of Berlin, Soviet soldiers raised their flag on the roof: Yevgeny Khaldei's photograph, set up for the camera, went around the world.

During the Cold War the building stood on the western side, a few metres from the Wall, and was barely used as a parliament.

3A transparent dome

After reunification, the architect Norman Foster transformed it and crowned it with a glass dome. Since 1999 it has been the seat of the Bundestag. Before the works began, in 1995, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the whole building in silvery fabric.

4What to look for

• The inscription “Dem Deutschen Volke”, above the columned portico.
• The glass dome: its spiral ramp lets you look down into the debating chamber.
• The four corner towers, inherited from Wallot's building.